SAN BENITO — City commissioners are taking the final steps to approving their budget.
During last night’s meeting, commissioners for the first time held a reading of the ordinance pertaining to the budget.
Before they can fully adopt the budget, they will have a second and final reading at a future meeting.
Once the approval of the 2016-2017 proposed budget is finalized, the city will be closer to its long-term fiscal goals.
The city will be able to likely boost its reserves and give employees up to a 2.5-percent wage increase.
Last week, the city manager and officials spoke at length about the more than $12 million budget.
The new budget has a new item, raises.
It will have a revenue surplus of about $178,000 before the planned employee raises.
The raises are expected to take up about $158,000 of that surplus. During the budget planning stages officials agreed to earmark that money specifically for future employee raises to be analyzed at a later time.
The budget also ensures the city has enough reserve cash in the bank to operate for 110 days, at $35,000 per day.
Residents who wish read the proposed budget can find a copy online at the city of San Benito’s website.
City officials urge all residents to download a copy and if they have any questions to call the city.
Commissioners also heard the first reading of the ordinance pertaining to this year’s tax rate. That will remain unchanged after they vote.
However, the proposed tax rate exceeds the effective rate of about $0.721, which would be the rate needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year.
The city has among the highest tax rates in the Rio Grande Valley.
Most people will see a slight increase in their bills for the city’s portion.
In 2014, the average value of a home was $60,837. With the same tax rate of $0.728125, the amount of taxes imposed on those homes would have been $442.97.
This year, the average value of a home has gone up to $66,454. Now that the city is considering the same tax rate, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $483.78.
Residents with concerns about the tax rate are also urged to contact the city.
