Proposed 2019/2020 City Budget Includes Rate Increases in Water, Sanitation, Sewer

Brownwood News – The City of Brownwood proposed budget for the 2019/2020 fiscal year is $36,232,668 which is a 2.5% increase over the 2018-2019 budget.  The budget is based upon the existing tax rate of $.7869 per $100 valuation. The City is budgeting an increase in sales tax revenue of 3% over current year anticipated revenue.

Water consumption revenue is down significantly because of generous rains over several months.  To project consumption revenue for the next fiscal year, the City used a four-year average.  The proposed water consumption budget is 3.1% lower than the 2018/2019 budget, or down $187,766.  The City does not propose any change in the water consumption rate.

Due to the under-performance of water consumption over the past four years, the City is proposing an increase in the water base rate of $3.00 per month for a residential three-quarter inch meter with proportionate increases for larger meters.  An average residential household’s monthly base would go from $25.23 to $28.23.

Sewer revenue is down due to decreases in water consumption, therefore, the City is proposing a 3 percent increase in sewer rates to address the shortfall.  This would cause the minimum monthly rate to go from $26.88 to $27.68, an increase of 80 cents per month or $9.60 per year.

Also proposed is a 3 percent increase to the sanitation rate.  This would cause the monthly residential rate to go from $21.74 to $22.39, an increase of 65 cents per month or $7.80 per year.

Also in the proposed budget, an increase in the landfill rate of $2.00 per ton.  The gate rate would go from $42 per ton to $44.

As far as pay raises for city employees, there is a 2 percent non-civil service pay increase which adds $204,290 to the budget.  Civil service pay raises through Meet and Confer for Police and Fire are proposed at $124,170.

The City has included software and additional meters to implement the first phase of Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) this year.

This is the second year of the Enterprise fleet management program.  The City plans to replace 17 vehicles.

A copy of the city budget has been placed on file in the City Secretary’s Office but you can also find it at the Brownwood Public Library where the public may view it during normal hours of operation.