BELLAIRE, Texas — On August 12, Bellaire City Council members continued to debate whether to ask residents to approve a higher tax rate for the 2024-25 fiscal year or try to balance the budget with a rate that would not require voter approval.

The deadline to place a tax rate choice on the November ballot is August 19. The council has scheduled another workshop for August 14 to continue the discussion.

Current situation

City leaders have considered calling a tax rate election to fund a number of additional budget items that could not be funded with the voter approval tax rate, which is the highest tax rate allowed without voter approval.

The City Council, in a record vote on Aug. 5, called a public hearing on a proposed tax rate of up to $0.4766 per $100 of assessed value. That rate would allow the city to fund all additional budget items while setting $1 million in reserves, according to city officials. Since then, a combination of new property assessment data and cost-cutting efforts has enabled the city to meet those goals with a tax rate of $0.4657 per $100 of assessed value, officials said.

Council members could choose to adopt the voter-approved tax rate of $0.4333 per $100 of property appreciation. After factoring in new property assessment data and spending cuts, city staff was able to add about $375,400 to that budget on August 12.

The funding increase will allow the city to fund the hiring of three new police officers as well as a local grant for a crime victim specialist with voter approval. Both initiatives were previously considered supplemental items and would have only been funded with a higher tax rate.

The city’s total ongoing supplemental costs were reduced from about $600,000 to $296,000. Additional items still on the list as of Aug. 12 include hiring a new fire marshal, assistant city clerk, risk manager and safety and training specialist.

SEE ALSO: Fort Bend ISD holds tax rate election to raise money for pay raises for teachers and armed security guards

Clarify details

At the August 12 meeting, council members debated the remaining items on the supplemental list and in the voter approval rating budget.

After a lengthy discussion, the Council identified several additional items as “wishes” rather than “needs”, allowing them to be postponed to a later budget year. These items include:

• $86,000 for a deputy city clerk

• $270,000 to replace lighting and install nets in Field Park

• $20,000 to repaint Betsy’s in Evelyn’s Park

After several of these items were cut from the budget, some council members suggested that the city might not need to raise the tax rate beyond the rate approved by voters.

After the Aug. 12 workshop, City Manager Sharon Citino said the council appears to be moving toward the voter-approved tax rate for the 2024-25 fiscal year, but may seek a higher tax rate in the 2025-26 or 2026-27 fiscal years.

Remember

The council has until August 19 to call a tax rate election. If it decides against the tax rate increase, the budget and tax rate will not have to be approved until later in the fall. A public hearing is currently scheduled for August 19.

Another budget workshop will take place on August 14 and is open to the public.

This article comes from our ABC13 partners at Community Impact Newspapers.