West University adopts FY 2022-23 budget, tax rate and FY 2023-27 capital improvement plan

As fiscal year 2021-22 fiscal year comes to a close, West University Place City Council approved its FY 2022-23 budget and tax rate as well as its FY 2023-27 capital improvement plan.

The city’s proposed tax rate of $0.277402 per $100 valuation is 0.4% lower than the FY 2021-22 rate, a margin of $0.001120 per $100 valuation.

The adopted budget remains in line with expenditures from previous fiscal year. The $22.91 million general fund, while lower than the previous year's, will spend 7.93% more on city departments.

The largest of the city’s departments, the police, will receive $6.04 million and see the smallest year-over-year growth at a 4.91% increase in FY 2022-23.

The finance department was allocated $2.08 million, and the parks and recreation department was allocated $4.6 million for FY 2022-23. The two represent the largest percent growth in expenditures at 12.43% and 10.58%, respectively.

Since meeting in June to discuss the city’s five-year capital improvement plan, the estimated cost to complete the projects increased to $192.1million, up from the $174.3 million presented three months earlier.

The FY 2023-27 CIP does not represent a guaranteed financial statement of capital projects, but an outline for what the city hopes to accomplish, City Manager Dave Beach said.