The Jersey Village City Council adopted its budget for the 2013–14 fiscal year at a Sept. 16 council meeting. The budget was passed 4–0 with council member Sandra Joachim absent.

Revenues and expenditures for the general fund are projected at $9.8 million and $9.3 million respectively, continuing a trend where the city's revenues have been coming in higher than expenditures, said City Manager Mike Castro.

"When we generate more revenue than we have as expenditures, we put that money into reserves for times like the recession we just went through," he said. "We just completed Phase III of our street rehabilitation program. We paid for it with cash from our reserves, which completely negates the interest payment and saves the city several million dollars over the next 20 years."

Roughly 42 percent of Jersey Village's revenue comes from property taxes, while 27 percent comes form sales taxes and 15 percent from franchise fees and court fees. Although sales tax is projected to continue climbing, Castro warned that it tends to be more volatile, and construction on Hwy. 290 could have a negative effect on it next year.

"Right now I'm not forecasting a tremendously significant impact," he said. "I think our sales tax will be able to survive in fairly good shape, but that trend line won't be so steep next year."

The budget calls for the city's property tax rate to remain at 74.25 cents per $100 of valuation. Two public hearings are scheduled on the tax rate on Oct. 3 and 7, both at 7 p.m. The tax rate would be adopted at the Oct. 21 City Council meeting.

Although the tax rate is not expected to increase, the property tax levy—the amount of money the city receives from property taxes—will increase by 3.06 percent due to an increase in assessed values. The Jersey Village property tax rate has not increased since 2006, Castro said.

"We intend to keep it 74.25 cents for the foreseeable future," he said.

Castro also identified some key issues affecting the budget process this year. The city will need to work around the loss of revenue from five red light cameras, which the Texas Department of Transportation removed in preparation for Hwy. 290 construction.

"We're familiar with the cost associated with [Hwy. 290] in terms of lost sales and tax lost property tax, but there are other costs associated with that construction," Castro said. "We have it as a budget goal to identify some of those ancillary costs."

The maintenance of aging facilities was brought up as a long-term issue that, while not included in this year's budget, will have to be dealt with eventually. City Hall is among the buildings that needs attention, Castro said, citing an issue with rain leaking through the roof. Other plans on the radar include a project that will allow Jersey Village to use reclaimed water on its golf course and future sewer rehabilitation projects.

The 2013–14 budget can be accessed in its entirety from the Jersey Village city website.