The city of Hutto will hold a public hearing for the fiscal year 2024-25 budget and tax rate Sept. 5. This is the first opportunity for City Council to adopt the budget with a vote, although council members are still split over the proposed tax rate.

Current situation

City Council held a special meeting Aug. 22, making it the fourth week in a row that council met for budget discussions. So far, the officials have not been able to collectively decide on a tax rate.

Three members, including Mayor Mike Snyder, are pushing for nothing above the no-new-revenue tax rate. Because the tax rate must pass with at least five votes, proceedings have focused on negotiating budget cuts ahead of the Sept. 15 tax rate deadline.

The details

At the most recent meeting, council members looked at line items in the $438 million proposed budget, which includes a 12.83% tax increase, to suggest cuts. Suggestions focused on limiting city staff salaries and benefits, subsidizing a new sidewalk and drainage crew with county funds, and tightening road maintenance allocations.

Place 5 City Council member Evan Porterfield suggested cutting the city employees' insurance budget, specifically.

“I don’t think it’s right that we have people who get all that insurance off of people who can’t afford insurance,” he said.

However, Place 1 City Council member Brian Thompson said that the city benefits are important for job performance.

“We have to make sure we are providing staff with the resources needed to serve the citizens that they are being asked to provide city services to,” he said.

What’s next

City Council must provide a tax rate to the appraisal district by Sept. 15. It has the opportunity to adopt a tax rate at the upcoming public hearing Sept. 5, as well as at the next meeting Sept. 12.

The deadline to approve the budget is Sept. 30.