League City City Council on Aug. 24 held a public hearing and approved the first reading of the budget, which includes cuts compared to what was originally proposed. The budget totals $250.03 million, which includes $163.18 million for operations and $86.85 million for capital projects. The FY 2020-21 amended budget is $254.48 million and includes $158.48 million for operations and $96.01 million for capital projects.
The FY 2021-22 budget as originally proposed included hiring 14 new positions and buying seven new vehicles. That was cut down to only eight new positions—including two police officers, an EMT and a paramedic—and only one new vehicle, which is for utility inspections, said Angie Steelman, budget and project management director.
The original budget included a firearms training facility study and a police academy needs assessment, both of which were also cut due to council setting the tax rate $0.01 lower than proposed, according to a League City news release.
The budget includes other cuts made during workshops, including $6.96 million worth of revitalization projects along Main Street, the design of Bay Colony Park at $693,456, the construction of a nature center at $412,721 and others.
The cuts came as a result of City Council action.
On Aug. 10, staff recommended City Council set the maximum proposed property tax rate at $0.475526 per $100 valuation, which is the no-new-revenue rate, or the rate at which the city would collect the same amount of property tax revenue it has in fiscal year 2020-21. The FY 2020-21 property tax rate is $0.515.
However, this was not low enough for several council members, who suggested the rate be lowered further. Eventually, council members voted Aug. 10 to set the maximum property tax rate at $0.465526, which is $0.01 lower than the no-new-revenue rate.
By lowering the maximum property tax rate, general fund property tax revenue for FY 2021-22 was reduced about $1 million, which resulted in some of the cuts, the release reads.
Additionally, the originally proposed budget included 116 days of reserve funds. That has since been reduced to 112.6 days, which is 2.6 days more than required by city policy and 22.6 more than required by state law, according to the release.
The reduction in days is the result of moving about $1 million from reserves to pay off future debt, the release reads. The reserves are monies set aside that can be used to operate the city for months in case of an emergency.
The budget’s second and final reading will be held Sept. 14. The property tax rate will also be set at this time.
