Buda City Council adopted a new Fiscal Year 2023 budget during its regular meeting Tuesday.
The new budget totals $102,559,173, including $49.9 million in capital projects related to implementation of the 2021 General Obligation Bond and other planned capital projects of the City. The budget proposes to hold the tax rate at $0.3423 per $100 of valuation, one of the lowest municipal tax rates in the state for full-service cities. The budget also proposes a combined average utility rate increase of 15% on customers’ water and wastewater bills. No rate adjustments are proposed for the sanitation fee.
The proposed $16,923,353 general fund budget for FY-2023 represents a $1,274,855 increase over the FY-2022 general fund adopted budget and includes funding for two new police positions, a new development navigator position that will serve as a liaison between commercial- and small-business developers and the City’s Development Services staff to assist in navigating the City’s development process, and two additional parks maintenance employees.
The budget also includes additional funding for employee compensation in order to retain and attract staff to provide outstanding service to the community, $49.9 million in capital projects, and a shared expense with Hays County Emergency Communications Center for $598,000. Focus areas for the upcoming budget year include improvements to the development process and economic expansion, implementation of the 2021 bond propositions, pursuit of federal and state grants for projects, enhanced park programming, employee retention, downtown parking, and increased broadband communication.
“We have produced a budget aimed at meeting the needs of the Buda community. While the City’s proposed tax rate exceeds the No-New-Revenue tax rate, it does not exceed the Voter-Approval tax,” Buda City Manager Micah said. The Fiscal Year 2023 proposed tax rate is .3423 per $100. The Fiscal Year 2022 preceding year’s tax rate also was .3423 per $100. The 2023 No-New-Revenue Rate is .2844 per $100, but the Voter-Approval Tax Rate is .3432 per $100.
On Tuesday, Sept. 6, the City held a courtesy public hearing on the proposed tax rate and a hearing on the proposed budget. This courtesy public hearing allowed citizens an opportunity to express their support for or opposition to the proposed tax rate at the same time as the public hearing on the proposed budget. The statutory required public hearing on the tax rate was held Tuesday, Sept. 20, during the Council meeting.
