Background
The City has a long history of recognition as a leader in financial stewardship, with strategies specifically tailored to the community and designed to maximize both the conservative nature of the City’s finances and to offset the residential tax burden.
The Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) proposed budget and five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) were presented to the City Council on July 18, 2023, in accordance with the City Charter. The proposed budget includes $288 million for operations and $65 million for capital projects.
The Five-Year CIP totals $291 million, with $65 million in projects funded in FY24. It is important to understand that only the first year of the CIP is included for funding in the annual budget, while the remaining years are included for planning purposes only and will change from one year to the next based on the best information available at the time.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget and five-year capital improvement program (CIP) follow City Council-adopted Financial Management Policy Statements guidelines. This year’s budget focuses on continued leadership in conservative, resilient, and responsible stewarding – making strategic investments in our high-priority areas – with the goal of maintaining flexibility for the City to respond to opportunities and disruptions in a time of economic uncertainty.
The proposed budget ensures continued financial strength and resiliency by meeting all fund balance requirements, including the structural balance of the General Fund, and includes significant investment in public safety, infrastructure, and Sugar Land’s high quality of life.
The City continues to be recognized as a leader in financial stewardship, with strategies specifically tailored to the community and designed to maximize both the conservative nature of the City’s finances and to offset the residential tax burden.
Priorities for FY24 Budget & Five-Year CIP
The FY24 budget provides leadership in conservative, resilient & responsible stewardship through strategic investment in priority areas. The focus of the proposed budget is an investment in priorities and services that provide high value to the Sugar Land community today and into the future, including public safety, redevelopment, data-based decision-making, and a championship workforce.
Record Vote on Proposed Tax Rate
The Fort Bend Central Appraisal District (FBCAD) is charged with assessing property values within Fort Bend County. The City of Sugar Land contracts with the Fort Bend County Tax Office (a separate entity from FBCAD) for Tax Assessor/Collector services, including the calculation of tax rates as directed by the Tax Code. Based on calculations performed by the Tax Assessor/Collector, the required rates have been calculated and submitted to the governing body as follows:
- No New Revenue Tax Rate: $0.340667
- Voter Approval Tax Rate: $0.351234
- Voter Approval Tax Rate (with Unused Increment): $0.364512
These rates were recorded in the minutes of the August 10th budget workshop meeting. After discussion at the workshop, staff recommended, and City Council concurred with the proposal for the tax rate to fund the FY24 budget, including an increase of 0.35 cents to the tax rate to fund the fourth year of the voter-approved GO bond projects. With that, the recommended tax rate for 2023 is 35 cents, or $0.3500 per $100 valuation, resulting in an average residential tax bill impact of $108 per year or $9 per month. The remainder of the GO bond projects are planned to be funded by FY25.
At this meeting, the City Council will discuss a proposed tax rate for consideration, take a record vote on that tax rate, and direct staff to publish a notice of the proposed tax rate and set a public hearing date and time. The results of this vote will be published as part of the Notice of Proposed Tax Rate - a draft is attached without the voting results filled in.
This is not the final vote on the proposed tax rate for 2023. This action is to set a proposed tax rate for publication in the Notice of Proposed Tax Rate and set a public hearing date to receive feedback from the public - currently planned for September 12th at 5:30 p.m. Action to adopt the 2023 tax rate will be taken after the budget for FY24 is approved on September 19th.
Recommended Action
Vote to propose a tax rate for 2023 and set a public hearing date for September 12, 2023, at 5:30 p.m.