The gist
On Aug. 14, Pearland City Council attended a budget workshop—the first for the new budget—to discuss city staff’s proposal for a $124 million budget for the city, which has a total tax valuation of $18 billion.
The meeting agenda included a proposal to allow the city to pass up to a $0.6554 tax rate per $100 valuation of a home, which Mayor Kevin Cole said would provide City Council with “wiggle room” as officials plan the city’s budget.
Several members of City Council made the motion and ultimately voted to lower the potential tax rate to $0.6350—a tax rate recommended by city staff—before discussions begin, essentially guaranteeing that the adopted tax rate won’t exceed that value.
Pearland's FY 2024-25 budget calls for $124 million in revenue and expenses, which is up from FY 2023-24's revenue and expense totals of $114 million, according to city documents.
The largest factors contributing to the increased budget are inflation as well as enhancements for police, fire, customer service, and streets and drainage, according to city documents.
What they’re saying
We want to be able to give ourselves a little bit of wiggle room for comment's sake, but ultimately ... we’re not setting a tax rate; we’re just setting the playing field in which we can play,” Cole said.
Because $0.6350 is below the voter-approval tax rate of $0.733351, it would not trigger an election no matter what the tax rate is council approves, Pearland City Manager Trent Epperson said.
“We’re not going above what we set tonight; I’m fine with dropping that down to the proposed [tax rate],” Council Member Tony Carbone said.
Dropping the tax rate would reduce the revenue increase from 9.32% with the higher tax rate to 7.11%, according to city documents.
What’s next?
City Council will again discuss the FY 2024-25 budget on Aug. 19 and will potentially vote to approve the budget on Sept. 9, according to city documents.
