Alongside the bond issuance, City Council set the no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rate for fiscal year 2025-26, and set a public hearing date for the budget and tax rate.
The details
Aug. 7 bond sales are the second of three planned issuances, following an issuance of $3.7 million in 2024. A total issuance of $18 million was projected when the city planned water and wastewater projects. Director of Finance Summer Flemming on June 5 said the intention is for the city to issue additional bonds in FY 2026-27. In the 2025 plan, two water projects were added along Dietz Elkhorn Road and Ammann Road.
The Dietz Elkhorn project would construct a new 12-inch main along around one mile of roadway. This project is cost-shared between the city and the upcoming Corley development, with the city contributing 75% of the total project cost.
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority extension project will extend the existing GBRA main off Ammann Road up to the new location of the upcoming water tower and the city of Boerne’s future water plant.
Bonds are planned to be repaid through revenue earned from the Water Debt Service Fee and Wastewater Debt Service Fee.
According to agenda documents, the estimated Water Debt Service Fee would go from $23.85 in FY 2024-25 to $23.89 in FY 2025-26, and the estimated Wastewater Debt Service fee would go from $17.03 to $16.91.
Also on the agenda
Ahead of the budget adoption, City Council had to adopt the no-new-revenue rate, which is the rate the city would earn the same revenue as the previous fiscal year, and the voter-approval tax rate, which is the maximum rate the city could adopt before needing an election.
Overall, city staff recommends setting the maximum tax rate for FY 2025-26 at $0.2853 per $100 of assessed value. This is the current tax rate for the FY 2024-25 budget.
While the rate is recommended to remain the same, homeowners may see a slight increase in property taxes paid due to increased home appraisal values.
Flemming said the average home value in 2024 was $683,160, while the 2025 average value increased to $713,497. Using the increased home value, the amount of taxes paid to the city would increase by around $87 compared to last year.
City Council will have a public hearing on the fiscal year 2025-26 budget and tax rate Sept. 15.
