Prosper
Prosper’s FY 2024-25 budget brings property tax rate to its lowest since FY 2007
Prosper Town Council members approved a $102.62 million total budget and a $0.505 per $100 valuation property tax rate for fiscal year 2024-25. The new property tax rate is the town’s lowest since FY 2006-07. Even with a lower rate, which is a half-cent lower than last year’s and the lowest it has been in 18 fiscal years, town officials expect to receive more from property tax payments as property values rise and the town’s population climbs.
Prosper adds to townwide license plate camera network
Town officials are adding new cameras and accompanying operating systems to Prosper’s Flock Camera system, a license plate-scanning network of security cameras. The town’s network of nearly 50 cameras has been operating at major intersections and thoroughfares in Prosper since spring 2023. In that time, it has alerted police officers to more than 9,000 vehicles that were stolen or belonged to someone suspected of a crime.
Design process kicks off for Teel Parkway construction in Prosper
The project is to design two Teel Parkway southbound lanes from just north of its intersection with First Street to its intersection at Freeman Street as part of the town’s infrastructure improvements along the road. This includes paving, drainage improvements, building a retaining wall and sidewalks, as well as median landscaping. The designs are projected to take around a year to finish. Construction is expected to begin in winter 2026 and finish in summer 2027.
Prosper adds 10 minutes to some school zones for 2024-25 school year
School zones surrounding Prosper ISD’s seven elementary schools will end 10 minutes later to reflect new, slightly longer school hours for the district’s grade K-5 campuses. The time limits for school zones surrounding PISD’s middle and high schools will stay the same as their school hours were not changed.
Celina
Celina’s FY 2024-25 budget plans for growth, lowers property tax rate
Celina City Council approved additional funding for public safety and other city departments in its fiscal year 2023-24 budget. Council members approved a $54.32 million general fund budget and a roughly $0.60 per $100 valuation tax rate for fiscal year 2024-25. Even with a lower rate, the city expects to raise more in revenue from property taxes as both property values and the city’s population continue to climb. Another 11,000 people are projected to move into Celina, pushing the city population to 54,000.
Celina approves new costs, name for Downtown Center project
Previously referred to as the Celina Government Center, the city’s Downtown Center and parking garage are on track for construction. Celina City Council members approved a $19.3 million maximum price for the Downtown Center’s parking garage, one piece of a city project to house city departments in one facility. The parking garage, located near Pecan Street and Arizona Drive, will feature nearly 400 parking spaces across four stories and an off-site library book drop.
Celina’s EDC buys up downtown site in ‘strategic land purchase’
The decision to purchase 32 acres of land next to Celina’s downtown was one of many major firsts for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Director Anthony Satarino said. The “strategic land purchase” of the Martinek tract allows the EDC to have another way to attract businesses to the area. It also allows the city and EDC to have land that could be leveraged for future developments, he said.
Celina to add traffic control devices along Preston Road ahead of landscape improvement project
The Preston Road Green Ribbon project will add improved landscaping, and replacing plant beds and damaged irrigation along Preston Road. It is expected to start sometime in fall 2024 and be completed in March 2025. The request to add traffic control devices, which included truck-mounted attenuators to help cushion the trucks from a car crash, and flashing message boards, came from officials with the Texas Department of Transportation. Work on the project can start once the city receives the devices as TxDOT will not allow the city to close lanes without them.
