The City of Brownwood has developed a proposed budget for the 2023/2024 fiscal year, which begins October 1.  A public hearing on the budget and supporting tax rates will be held next Tuesday, August 29, at City Hall.  The proposed budget totals $42,334,148, an increase of 6.89% over the current budget.  The increase is not really as large as it seems, however, as the current budget was supported by some funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, which are no longer available.  The missing ARPA funds would make up about one-fourth of next year’s budget increase.  Increases to payroll and health insurance account for almost one-half of the budget increase.  Some highlights of the proposed City budget:

SPENDING

Payroll Most employees will receive a 2% cost-of-living pay increase.  Some Supervisors and Department Heads will receive a separate salary adjustment.  Civil service employees (Police and Fire Departments) will receive a 10% pay increase.  The cost of payroll increases will total $964,230 (including benefits), which makes up about 35% of the budget increase total.

Health Insurance The cost of group health insurance for the City increased by 12.15%, even though the City raised the deductible to $5,000 from $3,000.  The higher insurance rate adds $303,115 to the budget.

New Equipment The new budget includes $2,079,600 for new equipment, which includes three new dump trucks, a side loader, a roll-off truck, a crane truck, fuel tanks, etc.  The new equipment will not all be paid for in the new budget, but instead the budget includes $268,201 for payments on the new equipment.

Ambulance The contract with the local ambulance service, Lifeguard, expires at the end of this year.  The ambulance service receives a subsidy from Brown County and all incorporated cities in the County.  Negotiations for a new contract are ongoing.  The City of Brownwood’s new budget allows $159,000 for its portion of the subsidy, up from $39,000.

Communications Department The City is adding a Communications Department, which will add $77,000 to the budget.

Senior Citizens Center The City is budgeting $390,460 for the Senior Citizens Center, which is 72.5% of the Center’s total budget. (The Center also receives grants from the State of Texas and the U.S. Federal Government).

Health Department The budget includes $174,210 for the Brownwood/Brown County Health Department, which is 50% of the Department’s total budget.

Non-profits The City budget includes $474,298 in funding for various non-profit organizations, which is about half of the funds requested.

Airport The City budget includes $1,123,057 for the airport, an increase of 11.5%.  Most of the increase is for higher insurance and fuel costs.

REVENUE

The great majority of the City’s revenue comes from property taxes, sales taxes, water sales, and fees for sewer, sanitation, and landfill services.

Property taxes The ad valorum tax rate will decrease to $0.6659 per $100 value from the current $0.6864.  This is the lowest ad valorum rate since 1994.  The average property valuation, however, increased by about $10,000, to $143,475 from $133,262.  The new valuation and the new tax rate will produce an additional $307,799 in City revenues.  The average property in Brownwood will pay an additional $46.38 in ad valorum taxes.

Sales Tax The new budget includes $6,883,402 in sales taxes.  While this is a large increase over the current budget, this year’s actual sales tax allocations from the State are running well ahead of the budget, and will probably total about $7,250,000 at the end of the fiscal year.  So the new sales tax budget is actually conservative; we could have a sales tax decrease next year of about 5% and still hit the budgeted amount.

Water Sales The water monthly base rate will increase to $30.98 from the current $29.50, an increase of $1.48.  The water consumption rate will increase to $2.85 per unit (100 cubic feet) from $2.76, an increase of 3.26%.  This was necessitated by an increase of 6.2% in the wholesale cost of water provided by the Brown County Water Improvement District.  For an average water customer in Brownwood this will add about $0.90 per month.

Sewer The sewer rate will increase to $3.90 per 100 cubic feet, from the current $3.62, an increase of 7.74%.  This will add about $2.31 per month to the average bill.

Sanitation The monthly sanitation rate will increase to $24.57 from the current $23.40, an increase of $1.17 per month.

Your monthly bill from the City will go up about $5.86, (water base rate $1.48 + average water consumption $0.90 + sewer $2.31 + sanitation $1.17 = $5.86).

Landfill There will be no increase in landfill rates for Brownwood residents ($44 per ton), however the rate for non-Brownwood residents will increase to $49 per ton from the current $46.

Here is a summary of the major revenue sources in the City’s 2023/2024 budget:

Total revenue:  $42,334,148

Property Tax:  $7,106,305    16.79% of total revenue

Sales Tax:  $6,883,402   16.26%

Water:  $7,700,700   18.19%

Sewer:  $4,357,709   10.29%

Sanitation:  $3,766,900   8.90%

Landfill:  $3,741,762   8.84%

Franchise, PILOT,

and Other Taxes:  $3,404,173   8.04%

Total of Above:    $36,960,951   87.31% of Total Revenues

The new City budget also discusses ongoing special projects. Event Center: Construction costs will be paid from reserves (surplus sales tax receipts).  The current budget does include money for operational costs, contracted services, and capital equipment.  Health Department: The Brownwood/Brown County Health Department will move to a new building at 305 Booker St.  The City has $500,000 in ARPA funds set aside for this project.  Bennie Houston Center:  Plans are being developed for major renovations at the Bennie Houston Center.  Renovation concepts are expected by late 2023 or early 2024. Current funds designated will be saved.  No funds are expected to be necessary in the 2023/24 budget for this project. Riverside Park: The City has some ARPA funds set aside for improvements to Riverside Park including new roads, landscaping, parking lots, and a pavilion.  The City is also applying for a grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department which would help pay for new restrooms, lighting, signage, playground equipment, and picnic shelters. Allcorn Park: New playground equipment is planned, with an expected outside donation.

Copies of the City of Brownwood 2023/2024 budget are available at City Hall and at the Brownwood Public Library.  The budget can also be viewed online at the City’s website www.brownwoodtexas.gov, by following this thread:  Government/Finance Department/Finance Reports/Proposed Budget FY23/24.