Bellaire city staff presented updated fiscal forecasts to the city council at its Aug. 26 budget workshop to account for an increase in new growth that exceeded initial estimates. The growth in the property tax base of about $250,400 was $50,400 over previous estimates and means that the previously proposed property tax revenue increase of 8% can be lowered to an increase of 7.1% while still maintaining a similar effect of fiscal forecasts. “We have suggested all along that a key variable is how much actual growth we have so that we can avoid a burden on existing property taxpayers,” City Manager Paul Hofmann said. A 7.1% revenue increase would translate to a slightly smaller increase in the operations and maintenance tax rate. The new proposed tax rate, including debt service, would be $0.454 for FY 2020 as opposed to the 2018-19 rate of $0.4313, a 5.26% tax rate increase. At a previous hearing on Aug. 12, residents voiced concerns over the property tax increase. “Let’s pause these increases—we can always raise taxes in the future—and let’s really spend time vetting what we’re spending money on and what these capital expenditures are,” resident Michael Jacobs said. Council Member Gus Pappas said such cuts are not a long-term solution. “We can certainly look at all the various little low-hanging fruit, whether it’s trash bags or this or that or the other,” Pappas said. “But at the end of the day, the big-ticket items that our citizens expect are what is driving this, and that is debt on our infrastructure and streets and drainage and providing security and safety.” Comments on the budget and tax rate will be accepted by the council until Sept. 16, when it will deliberate and vote to adopt a new budget.