by WES FERGUSON
Buda City Council is delving into the annual budget process.
City staff has made a preliminary request of about $4.1 million for operations and maintenance in the next fiscal year. That’s a five percent increase from last year’s $3.9 million general fund.
“One of our goals is to maintain existing city services and find better ways to provide city services,” City Manager Kenneth Williams said Tuesday, one week after the council held its second budget workshop for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
The requests are in line with the city’s comprehensive plan, he said, and they address priorities outlined by residents in citizen surveys.
“A lot of it is based around quality of life,” Williams continued. “One of those main things is transportation issues, relieving congestion, and we’re looking at building some things into the budget to alleviate that.”
Projects up for discussion include a transportation plan for the city, he said, as well as possible roadwork to ease traffic on Main Street.
New Mayor Sarah Mangham has a unique perspective on the budget process as the city’s former finance director. She offers her thoughts following last week’s workshop:
What areas of the 2011-12 budget are you focused on in particular?
We’re looking to ensure that we have a balanced budget that is conservative but not too conservative. We’re also looking to be sure that if we take on any new debt, that we are not taking property taxes from the general fund – operations and maintenance – to pay for it.
Will the city’s property tax rate – 25.76 cents per $100 valuation – remain the same?
Without having the certified numbers from the Hays County Appraisal District, it will be hard to predict whether we’ll be looking at a new tax rate. There are a lot of projects that we are trying to fund.
You have said that city employees deserve a raise.
The staff has had limited raises over the past few years. This year they did receive a 3 percent raise in the middle of the fiscal year. I think that staff should get at least 2 percent more in October.
