Bellaire City Council will hold a public hearing and workshop Aug. 7 for its proposed fiscal year 2023-24 budget. Bellaire officials are proposing a $60+ million budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 through the end of September 2024.
In an internal memo to city officials regarding the budget, City Manager Sharon Citino said that meeting the city’s strategical goals to ensure regulatory compliance while holding the nominal tax rate flat was challenging.
What you need to know
Citino also stated in the memo that she expected real property and sales tax revenues to increase while the costs for goods and services would also increase due to inflation.
“Because the city is a service provider, its budget is largely comprised of personnel costs. As a result, these benefit increases have a significant impact on the overall budget,” Citino said.
The proposed FY 2023-24 also includes:
- Bellaire employee pension benefits would increase by 9% on Jan. 1, 2024.
- The cost of employee medical benefits could increase by as much as 13%.
- A 10% increase in water rates
- A 10% increase in wastewater rates
- A 7% increase in solid waste rates
- A 4% cost of living adjustment for employees
Get involved
Residents are welcomed to comment during the public hearing as well as submit comments online.
- Comments can be submitted online on the city’s website here: Public Comment.
- An email address for community questions throughout the budget process was created and officials stated that their response turnaround time is within one week: [email protected]
The details
Public hearing and workshop for FY 2023-24 budget:- Aug. 7
- 6 p.m.
- City Hall Council Chamber, 7008 South Rice Ave., Bellaire
City officials released the following dates this year for the city's budget:
- A second potential budget workshop: Aug. 14
- Budget adoption: Sept. 18
- Public hearing on tax rate and tax rate adoption: Oct. 2
