What’s changing?
The council made several budget amendments before final approval, which included allocating an additional $15,000 from the general fund balance to support the Hays-Caldwell County Women’s Center and allocating another $15,000 to support the Hays County Food Bank.
The two amendments increased the total amount of expenditures in FY 2024-25 by $30,000 and simultaneously reduced the estimated ending fund balance in the general fund by the same amount, Director of Finance Perwez Moheet said in an email to Community Impact.
Council also eliminated the $65 million Sportsplex Capitol Improvement Project from the city’s 5-year CIP spending plan, which also eliminated $7 million in CIP expenditures in FY 2024-25. Additionally, the change eliminated the remaining $58 million in planned CIP spending for that project over years two through five.
The dais added a new CIP project, the Lake Kensington project—which would be a signature park facility on the east side of the city—totaling $17 million. This project will be funded through the issuance of CO bonds in the future, Moheet said. As a result, the city increased CIP expenditures for FY 2024-25 by $5 million. The remaining $12 million for the Lake Kensington project will be spent over years two and three of the five year CIP spending plan.
More details
The ad valorem tax rate is above the no-new revenue tax rate of $0.4562 per $100 valuation—which is an increase of $0.0131, or 2.87%— from the no-new revenue tax rate for tax year 2024, according to agenda documents. The approved ad valorem tax rate is the same tax rate as the voter-approval tax rate for FY 2023-24.
Quote of note
Council member Robert Rizo said it took months of work to bring the budget forward and thanked council members and staff for their hard work.
“This budget’s a true reflection of how much y’all care about the city,” Rizo said.
