Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard is proposing a $220.87 million budget for 2009-2010 that would maintain the city’s existing tax rate of 30 cents per $100 of property valuation.
At the same time, the proposed general fund operating budget would increase 2.7% over the current budget and maintain current service levels. It also includes more money earmarked for capital improvement projects – $86.87 million – than any budget in the city’s history.
The budget “strives to maintain current service levels within available resources while providing increases needed to serve an estimated population of 83,819 as of January 2010,” which includes the annexation of 3,600 residents of River Park, beginning Dec. 1, Bogard said.
The proposed 30-cents-per-hundred tax rate is one of the lowest in Fort Bend County and the state, and second-lowest for cities with a population of more than 25,000 people.
Presumably the city with the lowest rate also is right here in Fort Bend County. Stafford levies no property tax at all on its residents.
Other than Stafford, according to the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District, only the small towns of Fulshear and Simonton had lower property tax rates than Sugar Land’s in Fort Bend County, with 20.5921 cents per hundred and 27 cents per hundred, respectively.
Arcola charges the highest tax rate in the county, at 95.2580 cents per hundred, followed by Richmond and Meadows Place, which are tied at 79 cents, CAD figures show.
Sugar Land has been helped because, unlike what many Texas cities are experiencing, Sugar Land still is seeing sales tax revenue growth. Also, property values in the city still are increasing.
Figures Bogard released show the average property has been reappraised at about a 4% increase, although city officials believe that number ultimately will drop after readjustments based on the large number of property owners who’ve filed protests with the CAD over their reappraisals.
“The challenge in preparing this year’s budget is to be fiscally
conservative during an economic downturn while meeting a growing demand for services with the added population and completion of capital projects,” Bogard said.
The largest of those projects includes:
→ The extension of University Boulevard south through Brazos Landing, and the North Bridge and Lexington Boulevard projects and reconstruction of Dulles Avenue;
→ Construction of Fire Station #7 in Telfair;
→ Improvements to First Colony, Imperial and Eldridge parks;
→ Construction of hike and bike trails along Brooks Street;
→ And traffic improvements at the U.S. 59 and State Highway 6 intersection.
The budget also includes 12 new positions, which Bogard said would mainly not be paid for through the general fund.
The proposed budget, presented to Sugar Land City Council on Tuesday, will be discussed in five workshops beginning July 30, and may be adopted at the Sept. 15 council meeting.
A public hearing on the budget has been scheduled for Sept. 1.
conservative1, I partially agree with you and have rewritten the headline thusly:
Bogard Proposes $220.87M Budget With No Increase In Tax Rate
Does that constitute a tax increase? It depends on what the appraisal district did to your property, and can’t be answered or reflected in a headline.
We do what we can.
Bob Dunn
If the tax rate stays the same but revenues increase to the city, is that still a tax increase?
You should be specific, tax rate stays the same but taxes go up. It means a tax increase, whether it came from property, sales, user fees or whatever. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck.
Very dissapointed in this headline. Unless! homeowners businesses saw their actual tax amount go down.