In a nutshell
Southlake City Council approved the fiscal year 2023-24 budget at its Sept. 19 meeting.
The budget includes more tax relief, cash-funded capital projects, and more safety and security investments.
The new property tax rate of $0.319 per $100 valuation is the lowest rate since the mid-1980s, according to city officials. The city’s FY 2022-23 tax rate is $0.36.
The homestead exemption will remain at 20%, which is the maximum allowed by law. This reduces the taxable value by $201,479 based on the average appraised Southlake home, Chief Financial Officer Sharen Jackson said.
The $0.319 tax rate is split between the general fund operations and debt service, according to the budget document. The allocation for the upcoming fiscal year is $0.264 for general operations and $0.055 for debt service.
City staff is estimating $28,140,607 in property tax revenue, an estimated 4.3% increase from the FY 2022-23 budget, according to the budget document.
The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
What else?
The $127 million total budget is an 8.9% increase from the FY 2022-23 budget, according to budget documents. Funding priorities listed in the FY 2023-24 budget include:
- $31.3 million for public utilities operations and maintenance
- $761,000 for facility maintenance, which includes $174,000 for HVAC upgrades at Southlake Town Hall and $215,000 for flooring replacement at DPS headquarters
- $436,000 for pickleball operations, which includes adding personnel, equipment and supplies needed to operate the new pickleball facility
- $120,000 for comprehensive plan updates
- $93,000 for school safety enhancements, which would add one non-full-time school resource officer
“It is a joy to be able to deliver further tax relief to our residents and to be able to tell everyone that we are managing their money well,” Mayor John Huffman said.
