HSB begins budget process

By Phil Reynolds

THE HIGHLANDER

Horseshoe Bay City Council members got their first look on Tuesday, June 28, at the city’s draft budget for next year. It includes an expected 20.94 percent increase in revenue and a 25.03 percent increase in expenditures, but the staff expects to hold the line on property taxes at 25 cents per $100 valuation, same as this year’s tax rate.

However, the council was asked to set the proposed 2016-17 tax rate at 26 cents as a hedge. While the council can later decrease the proposed rate, it cannot increase it, according to Texas law.

Horseshoe Bay hasn’t changed the property tax rate since 2010, city records show – and at that time, the rate went down from 33 cents to the current 25 cents.

The staff estimates that the city will take in $8,086,750 from all forms of income next year, compared with $6,686,500 this year. The 2016-17 number includes $1 million in income from certificates of obligation issued to buy fire engines.

Expenditures for next year are expected to reach $8,078,000, according to the draft budget, compared to $6,461,000 this year. Those expenditures include salaries and benefits for three proposed jobs: Information technology administrator. geographic information science administrator and assistant planner.

The June 28 meeting was a workshop and no action was taken. City Manager Stan R. Farmer has until Friday, Aug. 12, to file a formal proposed budget. Public hearings on the budget would then be held Tuesday, Aug. 20 and Tuesday, Sept. 20, with the council formally adopting the budget on Sept. 20.

Horseshoe Bay’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.