The Brownwood City Council moved forward in the process of adopting their fiscal year 2014/2015 budget, tax rate and utility rates on first readings.  The final adoption of these will be considered in second and third/final readings at the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, September 23rd.

City of Brownwood Finance Director Walter Middleton presented the proposed budget of $31,571,063, which is an increase of 3.02% from the FY 2013/2014 budget.  This budget includes 3% raises for city employees and no increases for tax, water, sewer, sanitation or landfill rates.  Public hearings were held in previous meetings this month.

The certified tax roll was received increasing the property values from an estimated $780,000,000 to the certified value of $784,554,432, an increase of projected property tax revenue by $33,989, which is the cause for the effective rate of property taxes in Brownwood rising 6.36% within the city.

Although the effective tax rate is increasing due to an increase of properties on the tax roll and the recent significant rise in property valuations, the property tax rate citizens will pay will not increase.  According Middleton, Brown County Appraisal District reported that the value of the average home in Brownwood increased 9.38% from $75,738 to $82,839 this year.

The council also approved on first reading to approve the ordinance setting charges, fees, rates and deposits for customers on the Brownwood water, sewer and sanitation system for FY 14/15.

The following changes in the ordinance have been proposed:

• Water Consumption Rate decreased by .5% to correspond with a .5% decrease in the city’s wholesale water rate from the Brown County Water Improvement District.
• Water Tap Fees for 3/4″ and 1″ taps are being increased to cover the increased costs of material.  The city is removing the 1 1/2″ tap from the rate listing and will include these with other larger taps for which the fee will be determined by the Utility Director at the time they are requested.
• Landfill Compost- A section is being added for rates related to the sale of compost which is a new service at the Landfill.
• The wording related to the fee charged for returned checks is being changed to remove any confusion about the fee being inclusive of returned drafts and credit card charges.

In other matters, citizens presented opinions of the Willis Creek Channelization Project, both in support and against the project.  The city will consider taking action at its next meeting on September 23rd to have a study completed which will determine the design and cost of the project.  According to City Manager Bobby Rountree, the council has been guessing at the cost of the project based on project costs established in 2002.  The study would give more accurate estimates of costs of the project in today’s dollars.

The cost of the study will be approximately $400,000; however, the maximum amount the City of Brownwood will pay is $200,000.  This cost to the city may be reduced due to in kind payment including man hours supplied by the City of Brownwood.  The remainder of the project would be paid for by federal funding.