Buda City Council voted during its meeting Tuesday night on the city's maximum proposed tax rate for the next fiscal year. Residents will have opportunities Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 to attend public hearings to comment on the proposed tax rate and city budget. The public hearings will start at 6 p.m. at City Hall. For the public notice, click here. Here are five takeaways from the budget before attending the hearings: 1. The property tax rate will decrease by 0.0031 to 0.3673 from last year's rate of 0.3704. With the average home value increasing by $13,346 in 2017, according to the city manager's budget presentation, the proposed new rate would potentially bring in an additional $5.7 million in revenue.
2. While the property tax rate is proposed to decrease, the city has plans to increase the water rate by 6 percent and increase the wastewater rate by 3 percent. Afterward, Buda will consider increasing the water and wastewater rates by 5 percent in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 and water rates by 5 percent and wastewater rates by 10 percent and 2 percent, respectively, in fiscal years 2021 and 2022.  
3. With rapid growth happening in the city, Buda aims to create 13 full-time and one part-time position using the general, wastewater and economic development funds. 4. A total of $29,000 dollars will be allocated to Austin Angels, Buda United Methodist Church Food Pantry, CASA of Central Texas, Girls Empowerment Network, Greater San Marcos Youth Council, Hays Caldwell Women’s Center, Hays County Early Childhood Intervention  Homespun,  Hays County Food Bank and Onion Creek Senior Center.
5. Buda has set aside $400,000 to add a splash pad with restrooms and a pavilion at Summer Pointe Park.