Prosper Town Council members approved a $102.28 million appropriations budget and a $0.51 per $100 valuation tax rate during a Sept. 12 meeting.
No residents chose to speak during the meeting’s two public hearings for the tax rate and budget.
Breaking it down
The FY 2023-24 budget also includes a general fund budget of $48.85 million.In a preliminary presentation to council Aug. 8, the general fund was listed at $48.91 million. However, it was updated due to minor adjustments, according to budget documents.
Other notable general fund items include an additional $2.37 million for additional staff to support Prosper's stratified policing mode and an additional $117,926 for the fire department’s emergency management.
The town is also adding 28 new positions across multiple departments, some of which are part time, according to a budget presentation.
Here is how many new positions are being allocated to each department:
- Finance: 0.5
- Human resources: 0.25
- Information technology: 1
- Police: 14
- 911 communications: 2
- Fire: 2
- Parks: 4.5
- Library: 0.5
- Facilities: 2
- Code compliance: 1
What else?
A property tax rate of $0.51 per $100 valuation, the same overall rate since fiscal year 2021-22, was also approved at the Sept. 12 meeting.
Here is how the tax rate is broken down in Prosper:
- $0.33 for maintenance and operations
- $0.18 for debt service
Some council members stated they wished the property tax rate was lower due to new information since the budget was presented Aug. 8, such as updated capital improvement project funding.
The budget and tax rate passed as is after some discussion.
“This is what this body is supposed to do,” Council Member Amy Bartley said. “The fact that we’re struggling with it a little bit and having a discussion means that we are not taking our taxpayers for granted, nor the revenue that we get from them.”
Also of note
The fiscal year 2023-24 budget should push town leaders toward their overall strategic vision, which was adopted April 25, according to a meeting presentation. One aspect of the vision was accelerating infrastructure.
“[Accelerating infrastructure] really is a key part of the budget,” Deputy Town Manager Bob Scott said.
The town is adding over $90.1 million in governmental capital projects for fiscal year 2023-24, Scott said.
Prosper will also see a combined water and wastewater rate increase of 7% due to cost increases from the town’s water supplier and the planned expansion of a wastewater treatment facility. This is the first rate increase for Prosper since 2019.
Stay tuned
The budget will go into effect when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
