Correction: This article has been edited to reflect a 6-1 council vote in favor of the tax rate and a tax rate decrease. 

McKinney’s City Council voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2018-19 general fund budget and tax rate at the city council meeting on Sept. 17.

The approved general fund budget includes a 1.5-cent per $100 property valuation tax rate reduction, an additional 9.9 percent increase to the public safety fund, $2.5 million for street reconstruction, a 5 percent water rate increase and a 7 percent wastewater rate increase, according to a presentation given at the meeting.

Council approved a decreased tax rate of $0.52570 per $100 property valuation.

“This budget will raise more total property taxes than last year's budget by $7,465,085 or 7.02 percent, and of that amount, $5,183,635 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year,” council member Tracy Rath said.

Council Member Chuck Branch voted against the proposed tax rate. Branch said that he would like to move money out of the general fund budget in order to see the property tax rate decrease more.

Council member La’shadion Shemwell voted in favor of the budget and tax rate ratification, but said that he would like to see the city more diligently and innovatively compile the budget in FY 2019-20.

Rath said that McKinney’s residents have showed the greatest demanded for an increase in parks and recreation services and public safety, and she believes this budget addresses those needs.

“They city of McKinney works more, statistically, with less than any of our surrounding cities, so when we talk about our staff per capita we are working with less than any other city,” Mayor George Fuller said. “When we talk about our fire and police we are working with less than any other city. So I think our city is a shining example of a city that figures out how to budget an amount of money to do much more than our surrounding cities.”