The Katy City Council held their regular meeting Monday night, which included two public hearings, street closure rules and other items. See what the council discussed:
1. Public hearings for the fiscal year 2017-18 budget and 2017 tax rate were held. T
he first was related to a proposed a $.048672 per $100 valuation, a two cent reduction from the 2016 rate.
The second public hearing was for the 2017-18 budget, and no residents spoke at either hearing. The proposed FY 2017-18 budget is $26.1 million, an increase of about $1.6 million from the FY 2016-17 budget.
The proposed FY 2017-18 budget includes a new city planner planner position to replace the current planning technician position. The new position will cost the city an additional $12,781 per year, city Finance director Becky Wilkins said. The planning technician's spot will be left vacant once the planner is hired
Expenditures also include a new Gradall machine which will be used to clear ditches and other drainage. The city has received a quote for the new machine for $350,120. The new machine will replace an older Gradall which has become undependable in recent years.
A second hearing on the proposed budget and a vote on the proposed tax rate will be held consecutively Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. at Katy City Hall, 901 Avenue C, Katy.
2. Street closures were approved for the Katy Christian Ministries’ Heroes Race Against Domestic Violence on Oct. 21, co-sponsored by the Katy Police Department. Closures were also approved for the Third Annual Graeme’s Run on Feb. 10, which starts and finishes at No Label Brewery, 5351 First St., Katy.
3. Hotel occupancy tax grants, which are
used to promote tourism and development within the city, were approved Monday. Awards included:
- A $24,800 grant for the Katy Traithlon at Firethorne scheduled for Oct. 29
- A $16,000 grant to Texan Live online video streaming from September 2017-2018
- A $12,000 grant for online advertisements on Texas Sports Radio Network
- $22,180 for advertising on KUBE Channel 57 in FY 2017-18
4. Unpaid water, sewer and trash services bills were written off. The debt came to total of $3,294 and included 45 unpaid accounts for Katy residents between October 2014 and September 2015. The city had made all reasonable attempts to collect on those debts over the last two years, Wilkins said.
