Tomball City Council held its first budget workshop Monday night for fiscal year 2018-19, proposing a budget totaling $65,519,810 in expenses and $48,084,331 in overall revenue, according to city documents. FY 2018-19 runs Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019. Although expenses are expected to exceed revenues by $17.4 million, according to city information, the city’s fund reserves are still expected to total more than $50.3 million at year’s end. While this marks the third consecutive year the city’s total expenses have exceeded its revenues, money is being spent on capital projects the city has set aside funding for as planned expenditures for quite some time, City Manager Rob Hauck said. “Our overall goal with all funds is that [fund balance] number should actually be going down if it’s directly related to capital projects,” Hauck said. Revenues in the general fund—which funds the daily operations of the city—total $20,891,315—an 11.2 percent increase from the approved budget for FY 2017-18. General fund expenses for FY 2018-19 total $24,482,608, a 7.4 percent increase from the approved budget for FY 2017-18. According to city documents, the increase from last fiscal year is due to capital projects, supplemental items and salary adjustments. Additionally, Tomball anticipates collecting $12.5 million in sales tax revenue in FY 2018-19, an increase from the $10.85 million budgeted in FY 2017-18, according to city documents. Although the city’s property tax rate for FY 2018-19 cannot be determined until the Harris County Appraisal District certifies appraisal values in August, the property tax value within the city of Tomball is expected to total more than $2 billion this fiscal year, a 9.9 increase over last year, according to city information.

Items to note

Council members and department leaders discussed highlights of the proposed budget Monday night, noting several items of interest for residents. Hauck said council members would discuss proposed capital projects for FY 2018-19 in more detail during the next workshop set for July 16. A possible third workshop could be held July 30 before the council takes action on the proposed budget. The proposed budget includes a 3 percent salary increase as well as funds for six full-time firefighters. The six full-time positions would replace about 20 part-time positions at the city’s two fire stations and allow teams of three full-time employees for all three shifts at the two fire stations, city officials said. Additionally, the proposed budget includes $50,000 for improvements to Theis Attaway Nature Center and $35,000 for the addition of a pickleball or sport court at Juergens Park, located on Ulrich Road. To further enhance the city’s parks, the proposed budget allots $350,000 for restrooms and improvements to Broussard Park, which is under construction on East Hufsmith Road. Wayne Stovall Sports Complex is also expected to see improvements this fiscal year with a redesign of the parking lot. The project is expected to go out to bid by August, according to city information. Additionally, the budget allots $100,000 for repairs and upgrades to Matheson Park, based on a playground safety audit completed earlier this year. View a copy of the proposed budget below.