Kyle City Council holds budget workshop

KYLE — At its budget workshop on Saturday, July 29, Kyle City Council heard updates to the ongoing proposal for FY 2023-24. The meeting was one of many to be held before adopting the budget in October.

City Manager Bryan Langley presented key points on the proposed budget to the council including changes implemented following the last workshop held in early July.

In an effort to increase community engagement, the city plans to implement a quarterly mailer to all residents and an increased advertising budget, as well as adding an audio and film production specialist position and an increase to the equipment budget to reach the public.

Another revised item on the proposed budget was to create an infrastructure plan for the development of retail centers and grocery stores on the east side of the city. The proposed budget now includes $2 million in design fees for a road from the Limestone Creek development up to FM 150, with an additional $2 million for the design of extending water and wastewater lines to that area for the future development of a retail center and grocery store.

Langley said a big focus of the budget is enhancing public safety, including several new positions across the Kyle Police Department. There are also plans to conduct a long-term staffing study of the police department, which would be used to implement changes — $250,000 has been set aside for the implementation of those recommendations.

Another change from the previous workshop was to the market-based employee compensation and benefits program.

“One of the things we proposed to you in July, and this budget does, is make sure that we have good benchmarks,” Langley said. Elements that are included for compensation include the following: 6% merit increases; police step increase year 2; review of the 457 deferred compensation plan; equity-based adjustments; employee compensation study; and review health insurance plan to determine if self-funding approach is feasible. These components total approximately $1.8 million.

The city also plans to address street maintenance and rehabilitation, adding $2.3 million to reconstruct roadways and increasing street maintenance from $750,000 per year to $1 million per year.

In the priority of "organizational excellence," three positions have been recommended to be eliminated, saving the city approximately $460,000. There will also be a chief development officer position proposed in the budget, as well as an in-house city attorney position.

“As the city continues to grow and have a more increasingly complex organization, we feel like we need that position to assist us on a daily basis,” Langley said, noting that the budget is developed with a long-term focus. For each of the major funds, there is a five-year financial plan associated with it.

“We don’t want to make decisions today that we can’t pay for in the future,” he said. “That’s how we developed the budget.”

Kyle Director of Finance Perwez Moheet presented the city’s funds and the proposed budget, outlining the fund structure. Based on the overall fund structure, the proposed budget for all 50 funds — 70% of tax supported activities and functions — is $250,690,888, with the largest share being capital improvement projects at approximately 62% or $176.6 million. The second is the general fund with 22% or $55 million, third is water utility at 6% or $16 million and fourth is debt service at 5% or $13 million, Moheet explained.

There are also 33 new positions proposed for a total of 390 positions at the city.

While the current tax rate is $0.5082 per $100 valuation, the proposed tax rate is $0.4693 per $100 valuation, which is the same as the voter-approved tax rate. The tax rate was calculated by the Hays County Tax Asssessor-Collector. There are no proposed increases in water service rates, wastewater service rates or storm drainage fees. There is a 2.52% increase in solid waste service rates per contract terms with TDS and eight new fees proposed for various services.

Moheet also said that revenue is increasing by $2.4 million for property tax, with a 15% growth totaling $1.2 million in sales tax revenue.

The next Kyle City Council special budget meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Aug. 24 at city hall.