Manvel City Council passed its fiscal year 2025-26 budget at its September 15 meeting, following months of deliberation, amendments, and lingering doubts.
According to budget records, the budget will eventually incorporate 34 of the 35 requested additions and a total of 13 new full-time equivalent staff positions, after first appearing to omit any new staff and include only minor supplemental requests from staff.
The council also adopted a tax rate of $0.56 per $100 valuation of a residence, the same as last year, according to papers.
Long story short.
According to prior budget reports, the city’s general fund will be around $19.3 million out of a total budget of approximately $96.3 million.
According to papers, this is an increase over last year’s general fund total of $15.7 million.
Meanwhile, the tax rate of $0.56 is greater than the no-new-revenue rate of $0.539339, according to city records. However, the rate is the same as previous year, resulting in a $2,014 cost for a median property valued at $359,719.
How this new bill compares to past bills will be determined by whether a resident’s home’s worth increased during the previous year.
Dive in deeper
Some of the budget’s highlights include an increase in sales tax income of approximately $1.5 million over the previous year. Officials with the city have attributed this surge to new businesses building in town, including a new Lowe’s Home Improvement shop that is set to open later this year.
According to papers, six of the new personnel hired by the city will be assigned to the police department, raising the total number of officers to 157.
According to papers, the city expects to hire 131 new employees in fiscal year 2025-26. The budget also provides a 3% cost-of-living increase for full-time workers.
According to budget documents, 34 of the 35 supplemental requests, which might include items such as equipment or specific projects such as parks, were finally authorized for a total of $2.75 million.
The city’s capital fund, the largest fund in the city budget, totals $55.2 million, up from $11.2 million last year but still lower than budgets in previous years, when the fund fluctuated between $94 million and $101 million.
How We Got Here:
Officials had previously classified the city’s fiscal cycle as problematic.
Several factors, including increased costs, more buildings to operate, such as the new police station, and tax incentives reducing new revenue, make it more difficult to hire necessary personnel while keeping the tax rate flat, Community Impact previously reported.
Originally, the budget proposed by city staff in the summer included no additional hires and just minor supplemental increases. Conversations over the next few sessions led to the notion of using the city’s fund balance to pay any further demands.
Overall, the city intends to spend $2 million from the fund balance, with an additional $1 million available later, Community Impact previously reported. In August, Mayor Dan Davis described the fund balance as “pretty bloated.”
“It seems like the general consensus is that … we’d rather put that money to good use for the community,” he told me.
The decision allowed for both new and supplemental hires. As a result, the city’s general fund balance is expected to be around $7.5 million, enough to cover the city’s operations for several months in the event of an emergency.
What they said.
During a workshop before to approval, a couple of council members expressed a desire to take a more active role in budget discussions throughout the year.
Keith Bonner, a council member, stated that he would like to examine the budget midway through the year. Council member Harry Opliger stated that he wanted to be more proactive in making some decisions, such as whether the city required extra personnel in the upcoming budget.
“I understand that we’re growing,” Opliger stated. “But it’s just really a tough pill to swallow … when it’s late in the year.”
The council also complimented city officials for their efforts in putting together the budget.
