by WES FERGUSON
Buda City Council members on Tuesday voted to raise the the city’s property tax rate nearly one penny, approved a citywide comprehensive plan and handled several other points of business during a busy night at City Hall.
The council also voted to join a coalition of cities opposing a private utility’s efforts to raise and consolidate water rates for customers around the state. Buda joins five other cities, including Kyle, that are fighting to block Monarch Utilities LC from increasing rates as much as 62 percent.
“I am really concerned they will raise their rates and then not do a thing for their infrastructure,” Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Tenorio said. “It’s detrimental to us and our economy that their infrastructure is so bad.”
Monarch has exclusive rights to provide water to an area that Buda is targeting for commercial growth, but city leaders said the company’s infrastructure and high rates could slow growth there. The City Council also hoped to ensure that Monarch would not raise rates in Buda to pay for improvements made elsewhere.
New budget, tax rate increase
The council unanimously approved a new budget and tax rate for the coming fiscal year.
Under the new tax rate of 26.66 cents per $100 of property value, the owner of an average home valued at $159,000 will pay about $424 in city property taxes, or about $16 more than last year.
Earlier in the budget process, council members had thought they might be forced to slash funding for some projects and events. But because the city received more sales tax revenue than expected in the current fiscal year, the council was able to approve a budget of $15.35 million that includes money for events such as Red, White ’n’ Buda without drawing down the city’s fund balance, city officials reported.
The council also approved a 3 percent increase for water and wastewater rates. The average residential customer will pay $3.70 per thousand gallons, plus a monthly fee of $8.22 for water; and $3.42 per thousand gallons plus a monthly fee of $28.12 for wastewater service.
Under a new contract that includes single-stream recycling, the monthly garbage rate will also increase to $16.14 from $12.85.
Council member resigns
Councilman Scott Dodd resigned his seat Tuesday after announcing that he had accepted a job in Belton. Other council members commended Dodd for his ability to see “outside the box” on council initiatives such as the use of reclaimed water.
“Buda’s heading in a great direction,” Dodd said. “I’m looking forward to seeing where you’ll be in a few years.”
A special election will be held Nov. 8 to fill the vacant seat.
The comprehensive plan approved by the City Council aims to guide future policy decisions as the city continues its transformation from a small, sleepy town into a suburban bedroom community.
