The FY 2024-25 proposed budget totals at $180 million—a 25% increase from last year, per city documents. The proposed budget was developed using a property tax rate of $0.462222 per $100 valuation of a home, which represents a decrease from the FY 2023-24 tax rate of $0.491818.
City staff published the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-25 on Aug. 5 and held further discussions Aug. 13.
"The proposed budget balances revenues and expenditures, maintains the city’s infrastructure and enhances existing service levels, all while considering the challenges affecting revenue streams, including state legislation, the increase in the cost of goods and ... inflation," a city news release states.
The details
This budget includes a $31.1 million transfer to the infrastructure maintenance fund to fully fund facility and traffic projects for the next five years. Without the transfer, the budget increase from last year would be 3.52%, per city documents. The proposed tax rate would generate almost $2.4 million more in property tax revenue in FY 2024-25 than in the previous year, with a total of $54.1 million estimated to be collected.
Other than the proposed rate, there are two other possible tax rate options the city could adopt in FY 2024-25. One is the voter-approval tax rate, which is the highest tax rate that the city may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the rate, and for FY 2024-25 is $0.464202 per $100 valuation—higher than the proposed rate, per city documents.
The other is the no-new-revenue tax rate, which would be 4.56% lower than the proposed tax rate at $0.441134 per $100 valuation. The no-new-revenue tax rate is based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both the current and previous fiscal years, according to Texas Comptroller documents.
More details
Because property values have increased by almost 10% since 2023, with the average household valued at $537,331, the proposed new tax rate would equate to around a $2,483 tax per household, an increase of about $75 from last fiscal year.
While Coppell is largely built out, City Manager Mike Land said it anticipates $191,213 to be raised from new property added to the tax roll in 2024-25.
“A community like McKinney, Frisco, Proser, those high-growth communities, are able to obtain that additional revenue and it not be counted towards the no-new-revenue rate and voter-approval tax rate,” Land said.
Zooming in
Budgeted revenues total nearly $173 million, an increase of 27.51% from the previous fiscal year. The increase in revenues is primarily due to the proposed transfer to the infrastructure maintenance fund for $31.1 million. This transfer is recorded as a revenue and an expenditure in the general fund, according to documents. Without this transfer, revenues are projected to increase by only 4.58% over the previous year.
Some proposed budget expenses include:
- Coppell Recreation Development Corporation funding for park infrastructure improvements, amenities, replacements, and repairs of capital equipment
- Funding for two new positions, including an economic development coordinator and a senior code compliance officer, that officials said will help the city attract economic development and maintain neighborhoods
- The use of fund balance and retained earnings for one‐time expenses such as the purchase of body cameras for the police department
- Funding for facilities, including the Wagon Wheel Tennis Center, the Biodiversity Education Center, and the Senior and Community Center
- The reconstruction of Royal Lane
- Various public safety initiatives
