Cedar Park City Council approved a $133 million budget on Thursday for fiscal year 2016-17 and lowered the tax rate for the fourth consecutive year. Council also approved a property tax rate of $0.474 cents per $100 valuation for FY 2016-17. The rate is a half-cent less than the FY 2015-16 property tax rate of $0.4795 cents per $100. However, the rate is higher than the effective rate of $0.448887 cents per $100 of property valuation, which is the rate that would generate the same amount of money as the 2015-16 budget. According to city documents, the average home value in Cedar Park has increased by 9.1 percent from 2015-16—from $265,991 to $290,223. With the new tax rate, the owner of an average-valued home in Cedar Park could see an increase of $101 in their tax bill. The $133 million budget adds more than a dozen positions, pays for new equipment, invests in road infrastructure and drainage maintenance and includes $30.2 million in voter-approved bond projects. Assistant Director of Finance Chad Tustison said the $133 million budget was slightly different from the last time it went before council earlier this month because city staff decided to add an additional $1.5 million to the budget to pay down general obligation debt. Mayor Pro Tem Lyle Grimes said the budget would pay for quality city services, pay down debt and lower the tax rate. "If you can meet those three goals, I'm a happy camper," he said.