Council members will consider formally adopting the tax rate at their Oct. 13 meeting.
Due to increased property values and the addition of new properties in the area, the city will take in roughly $500,000 in additional revenue in the coming fiscal year based on the proposed tax rate, City Manager Jason Stuebe said.
Council members previously approved a roughly $145.4 million budget for fiscal year 2022-23 during a Sept. 13 meeting that includes 3% raises for all employees, additional 3% raises for eligible employees, 18 new city positions, and funding for several infrastructure and drainage improvement projects.
In other business, council members authorized the city to enter into contract negotiations with LDF Construction to construct Humble Fire Station No. 2, which is estimated to cost about $6.13 million. The new fire department was originally projected to cost roughly $4.5 million when it was designed in 2018, but supply chain issues and inflation have caused the cost to rise.
Stuebe said recent efforts to procure additional funding from Harris County and the state to address the cost increase have fallen short.
“We have had extensive conversations with the state and at the county level, and unfortunately, I think we’ve exhausted all other options,” Stuebe said, noting neither entity was able to allocate additional funding. “We are working some other angles to recoup some of those dollars.”
Stuebe said a budget amendment addressing the additional funding needed for the fire station will be presented at the council's Oct. 13 meeting.
