The change was made as part of council’s approval for the fiscal year 2023-24 budget Aug. 28. As part of a presentation given to council, city staff said the pay increases were expected to cost the city a little more than $6 million.
Zooming in
In addition to the pay raises, city officials said Richardson homeowners are likely to see a change in their property tax bills.
City Council approved the property tax rate at $0.56095 per $100 valuation, based on City Manager Don Magner’s recommendation.
The tax rate itself, however, did not change from last year’s rate, encompassing both the $0.34316 maintenance and operations rate—which includes general spending—and the $0.21779 interest and sinking rate, which is used for debt service.
With the same tax rate, the average homeowner’s tax bill will increase by $141 because of property value increases.
Council also approved increases to the city’s water, sewer and residential solid waste rates as part of the budget.
- Water charges will increase by $29.
- Sewer charges will increase by $14.
- Residential solid waste will increase by $12.
What else?
The 2023-24 fiscal year budget has revenues of over $380 million. The budget has a little more than $399 million in expenditures, which creates around a $17.54 million shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. Officials said they expect the deficit to be offset by the timing of federal grants, previously set aside funds and certain planned expenditures.
Quote of note
“The council really wanted to prioritize continued reinvestment in infrastructure,” Magner said. “So almost $3 million [is going] to infrastructure and the compensation and other benefit enhancements that we made so that we can continue to focus on recruitment and retention, especially.”
