On Aug. 12, Humble City Council reviewed the preliminary fiscal year 2025-26 budget, which features about $22.8 million in capital outlay expenditures, such as infrastructure projects and public safety equipment.

Budget explained

Humble’s proposed FY 2025-26 budget is a balanced budget, and it includes $125.7 million in beginning balance for revenues and about $95.7 million in budgeted expenditures, City Manager Jason Stuebe said Aug. 12. Expenditures increased 18.5% since the FY 2024-25 budget, largely due to major infrastructure projects, he added.

“This year's budget is no doubt ambitious," Stuebe said. "While we are spending down reserves that have been built over the years, we are putting tax dollars to work for our residents and businesses by reinvesting in the community, modernizing our operations to better serve our citizens and planning for the future."

According to Aug. 12 meeting documents, the proposed budget also includes capital outlay projects such as:
  • $16.8 million for street drainage and improvement projects
  • $15.7 million in water and wastewater improvements such as the Northshire lift station and force main project
  • $1.5 million in roofing and general repairs for the Humble Civic Center’s arena
  • $1 million for a new ambulance and new uniforms, radios and other equipment for Humble Fire Rescue
  • $965,471 for 15 leased patrol vehicles, four new vehicles and other equipment for the Humble Police Department
City Council took no action on the preliminary budget Aug. 12.


The breakdown

Humble’s estimated tax rate for FY 2025-26 is $0.259683 per $100 evaluation, Stuebe said. This is a slight decrease from the city’s FY 2024-25 rate, which is $0.261476 per $100 valuation.

The tax rate will not be finalized until the city receives its final certified appraisal values from the Harris Central Appraisal District, but the final rate should not be very different from the current proposed rate, Stuebe said.

What else?


Humble’s FY 2025-26 budget includes a 3% “step increase” for city employee pay, Stuebe said. Payroll for the city’s 282 employees covers 44% of the maintenance and operations portion of the budget, he added.

“With our employees being our best asset for the city, we've invested in personnel,” Mayor Norman Funderburk said. “We've added positions where we felt like we needed to build depth and efficiencies in the departments.”

In case you missed it

Humble City Council members allocated $27.2 million toward infrastructure projects in the FY 2024-25 preliminary budget, as previously reported by Community Impact. City Council’s first hearing on the proposed FY 2024-25 budget and tax rate was held Sept. 12, 2024.


Jessica Shorten contributed to this report.