The months-long task of balancing City of Pearland budgets with revenue kicks off this month with a city council workshop on Monday, June 22.
A budget and tax rate for the city must be adopted before a new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
After the initial workshop in June, budget workshops are set for July 13, July 27, Aug. 10 and Aug. 24.
The first reading of the budget, property tax rate and any fee changes is planned Sept. 14, with a final reading expected on Sept. 28.
City staff are working on a “no-new-revenue based budget” based, which would raise the same revenue from the same properties as the year before.
“With the implementation of a no-new-revenue rate, property tax growth will come only from new value added in the last year,” budget officer Rachel Winslow said during an April 27 discussion.
About half of the city’s general fund revenue comes from property taxes, with another quarter from sales tax. The rest is a mix of service charges, transfers, investment earnings and fines.
“Sales tax has continued to perform well in the City of Pearland but we have seen it dip in other communities,” Winslow said. “We continue to monitor it closely.”
Councilman Rushi Patel asked for a closer look at the portion of sales tax that goes to economic development funding.
“I want to see where the ends meet the justification,” he told staff. “How can we use EDC funds to try to help us cover some of these expenses?”
During that meeting, then Councilman Tony Carbone asked for clarification on transfers in and out of the city’s operating fund.
“That’s 22 percent of the budget that’s just a big question mark,” he said. “All the data is out there. Let’s show the citizens how to get to it.”
