The Bellaire City Council approved a $32 million budget for fiscal year 2015, with a slightly reduced tax rate to prevent triggering a tax rollback election.
The city’s tax rate of .399 per $100 of property value will be lowered to .3936 per $100 of property valuation — due in large part to the Harris County Appraisal District’s recent reevaluation of properties across the Houston region.
The total appraised property value in Bellaire now stands at $4.9 billion — compared to $4.18 billion in 2013. That meant an average 13 percent average for Bellaire homeowners. With the lower proposed rate of .3936 per $100 of property value, the average tax rate increase will be about 7.6 percent for Bellaire property owners.
Before approving the new tax rate, the Texas Property Tax Code requires cities to hold two public hearings. The council unanimously approved an ordinance setting those hearings on the new proposed tax rate for Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, and Monday, Oct.6, 2014, at 6 p.m. in the city council chamber at Bellaire City Hall.
The new city budget was approved by a 6-0-1 vote by the council, after Councilman Pat McLaughlan abstained. He had earlier objected to an item in the budget for the Bellaire Fire Department, which includes $48,360 for a new Command Vehicle.
“I think the staff has done a good job on the budget, but I really believe there are items we do not need to spend money on,” McLaughlan said. He noted that the Fire Department’s current Command Vehicle has only 37,000 miles on it, and said, “It is in pristine condition.”
The council also voted, 5-2, to transfer $250,000 for the Holly Street Trail renovation project, to general parks improvements in the city budget.
City Manager Paul Hoffman had proposed renovating the Holly Street Trail as part of his efforts to beautify Bellaire.
But Mayor Pro Tem Mandy Nathan said the trail renovation had not been recommended by the city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, and there were other more important improvements needed at Lafayette and Gaither parks. Those two parks need new playground equipment, and wooden fences at other city parks need to be replaced, Nathan noted.
Mayor Phil Nauert and Councilman Roman Reed voted against Nathan’s amendment to the budget. Nauert said the tree-lined esplanade on Holly Street “looks rather neglected. It could be managed a little better.”
Hoffman insisted that improvement of the Holly Street Trail, where 16 trees have died or are dying, would benefit the entire city. He said the upgrade to the trail would “make a significant improvement on a street that gets lots of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.”
Reed, who had advocated spending more money on salaries for Bellaire’s police officers, agreed to drop his proposal to transfer the funds for the Fire Department’s new Command Vehicle to the police department, to fund raises and “retention packages” for Bellaire police officers.
Hoffman assured Reed that a new compensation plan, which will be considered at the council’s Oct. 6, 2014 meeting, would boost salaries. The city of Bellaire will hear from consultants at that meeting, who will make recommendations on ways to make salaries for Bellaire police officers and other municipal employees, more competitive in the Houston market, Hoffman said.
The 2015 fiscal year city budget includes $16.8 million in general revenue fund spending, $8.7 million in spending from the city’s Enterprise Fund, and $6.6 million in debt service payments.
The city’s General Fund accounts for all spending for Police, Fire, Parks, Recreation & Facilities, Administration, Streets and Traffic, Library, and Development Services.
Salaries and benefits make up the largest portion of the city’s General Fund budget at 71%.
The general fund also finances the city’s Capital Improvement Fund.
The capital improvements proposed in the 2015 budget include:
**$70,000 for foundation repair at the city Library;
**$25,000 for master planning of the city’s former Evergreen Well site, and;
**$100,000 for the design of the S. Rice Avenue Esplanade and Entryway Feature.
The $8.7 million Enterprise Fund accounts for the city’s water, wastewater, garbage and brush pick up and curbside recycling services. All services provided by this fund are fee based and are paid by users.
The largest expenditure in the Enterprise Fund is the purchase of water from the city of Houston. Each year the city of Bellaire receives an increase in the cost of water from Houston based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The $6.5 million Debt Service fund is used to pay down the city of Bellaire’s debts.
Current principal outstanding at September 30, 2013 was $70.875 million and total debt service (principal and interest) was $96.838 million with the final payment due in 2038. Standard and Poor’s rated the city’s most recent bond issue “AAA”.
The most recent bond election was held in November of 2013 with voters approving $16.5 million. The City Council recently authorized the sale of $10.5 million of General Obligation Bonds. Those bonds will be used for $5.5 million in parks improvements, including capital improvements at the Nature Discovery Center and the first phase of construction at Evelyn’s Park. The recent bond sale also included $5 million from for street and drainage improvements that were part of the Rebuild Bellaire program approved by voters in 2006.
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