Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — After multiple workshops and meetings, Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved the budget and tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year (FY)at its Sept. 16 meeting.
Amendments
General fund
Starting off his presentation, deputy city administrator Shawn Cox explained that there were some amendments made to the budget since it was last presented to council at the Sept. 2 meeting.
However, the majority of the amendments, especially on the revenue side, were based on cleaning up where the city thought it would end FY 25. This is with the exception of transfers in from parkland dedication, development and landscaping; Cox said those specifically were put in to fund parks projects that were put back into the budget.
Cox also highlighted a $70,392.69 difference in expenditures related to salaries, explaining that there were not any salaries added, but there was a calculation error.
Dripping Springs Ranch Park
For Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP), similar to the general fund, the majority of the amendments in revenue made since the last presentation were what changed by the end of FY 25: “We always, with DSRP, tend to save that to last, so we can capture all the revenues for them and we want to make sure our projections are as strong going forward as they can [be],” Cox said.
In the expenditures, the improvements number of $320,000 was dropped to $170,000 because $150,000 was included in FY 25 for roof repair and maintenance, Cox said.
“Obviosuly, that is a bigger project than that $150[,000] can cover, so it’s being moved forward into FY 26,” Cox stated.
Improvements to DSRP, including Daikin/HVAC at $98,000, lighting at $27,250, wash rack at $8,000 and parking at $5,000, have been added back into the budget for a total of $138,250. That will be coming out of the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) budget to fund the projects.
Hotel Occupancy Tax
In the HOT budget, amendments include an increase of $4,000 — from $22,000 to $26,000 — in revenue based on actual receivables. Also, for expenditures, along with the DSRP improvements, there was a reduction in transfer from $400,000 to $375,000 to the Dripping Springs Visitors Bureau, based on funding needs and strong balance forward.
Utilities
Delayed connection fees revenues increased from $16,300 to $33,750 in the utilities fund based on actual receivables, along with a portion of sales tax increase in revenue by $80,000, based on general fund projective revenue.
Other
Additional amendments include:
$392, 690.61 transferred to parks for improvements
$116,610 transferred to parks for improvements
$25,000: Park landscaping costs covered from Landscaping Fund for Sports and Rec Park
$10,000: Park landscaping costs covered from Landscaping Fund for DSRP
$10,000: Park landscaping costs covered from Landscaping Fund for Founders Memorial Park
$10,000: Park landscaping costs covered from Landscaping Fund for Charro Ranch Park
$5,000: Park landscaping costs covered from Landscaping Fund for Veterans Memorial Park
Budget
Ultimately, council unanimously approved the FY 2025-26 budget, which includes the amendments presented by Cox earlier in the meeting.
The consolidated general fund — consisting of city, parks and Founders Day budgets — came out to $17,817,127.57 in total revenue and $16,616,527.79 in expenditures, with a balance forward of $1,200,599.78.
Other highlights of the budget include the following:
Farmers Market: Revenue at $96,795.17; expenditures at $89,297.92.
Parkland dedication: Revenue and expenditures at $392,690.61
Parkland development: Revenue and expenditures at $116,610.00
Landscaping: Revenue at $478,767.00; expenditures at $62,000.00
Sidewalk: Revenue at $828.96; expenditures at $0
DSRP operating fund: Revenue at $1,880,908.46; expenditures at $1,695,429.69
HOT: Revenue at $1,465,044.60; expenditures at $1,413,723.50
Visitors Bureau: Revenue at $657,761.68; expenditures at $574,103.12
Texas Water Development Board: Revenue at $1,915,956.24; expenditures at $1,915,000.00
Impact fund: Revenue at $2,023,927.18; expenditures at $0
The consolidated utility fund — which consists of development/capital, TWDB project, wastewater, water and operation — totals to $12,591,592.19 in revenue and $9,950,474.92 in expenditures.
Additionally, there are several debt service funds that make up the budget: the 2015 fund at $886,624.25 in revenue and $670,405.60 in expenses; 2013 at $202,475.39 in revenue and $90,375.00 in expenses; 2019 at $1,195,670.72 in revenue and $1,073,553.00 in expenses; 2022 at $1,396,565.64 in revenue and $1,191,177.50 in expenses; and 2025 at $14,146,913.86 in both revenue and expenses.
Tax rate
Lastly, council unanimously approved the ad valorem tax rate at $0.2267 per $100 valuation, which is the sum of the maintenance and operations (M&O) at $0.1850 and interest & sinking (I&S) or debt service at $0.0418.
According to the approved ordinance, the tax rate will raise more taxes for M&O compared to last year’s tax rate — which was $0.1794. The rate will effectively be raised by 2.24% and will raise taxes for M&O on a $100,000 home by approximately $4.06.
More information on the budget will be posted on the city’s website at bit.ly/48pD7jl.
Dripping Springs City Council meets next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7. To read agendas and watch recordings of the meetings, visit www.drippingsprings-tx.municodemeetings.com.
