New Braunfels City Council postpones final approval of $322.87M FY 2021-22 budget

During the regular Sept. 13 City Council meeting, New Braunfels City Council members postponed the second and final reading of ordinances adopting the operating budget and the property tax rate for fiscal year 2021-22.

According to city officials, the readings were postponed to allow for a second public hearing Sept. 27 before the tax rate and budget are adopted.

During the first public hearing during a Sept. 9 special City Council meeting, City Council gave initial approval to adopt a balanced $322.87 million budget, which included $271.07 million in expenditures and $51.8 million in year-end fund balance. The proposed budget is approximately $40.81 million greater than the adopted FY 2020-21 budget.

Factors such as increased property tax revenue, American Rescue Plan Act funding and the return of revenue sources to prepandemic levels contributed to the larger budget, according to city documents.

The proposed budget includes funding for public safety efforts, infrastructure maintenance and improvements, additional city staff in various departments and more.

The budget was calculated with a proposed combined property tax rate of $0.475376 per $100 valuation. The interest and sinking portion of the rate totals $0.227983 per $100 valuation, and the maintenance and operations portion of the rate totals $0.247393 per $100 valuation.

Though the new rate is lower than the current rate of $0.48.3194, it is approximately $0.02 higher than the $0.449967 no-new-revenue tax rate.

City Council members are anticipated to adopt the proposed budget and tax rate during the council’s regular Sept. 27 meeting following the public hearing, Mayor Rusty Brockman said.