Georgetown City Council adopts FY 2022 city budget

GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Georgetown City Council has adopted its Fiscal Year 2022 budget, which totals $483 million and decreases the City’s property tax rate by 1.7 cents.

Council also voted to increase the homestead exemption to the greater of $5,000 or 3 percent, contributing to $370,000 in additional taxpayer relief. However, the city says that because property values in Georgetown increased 15.4 percent, the average homeowner is expected to pay $56 more in property taxes in the upcoming year.

The adopted budget did not change from the proposed budget, which is provided online. The adopted budget book will be available later this year, says the city.

City staff used the results of recent public feedback opportunities, including the 2020 resident survey and council goals, to develop the preliminary version of next year’s budget, which spans Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022.

Major themes of the proposed budget are investing in transportation and utility infrastructure, public safety, and customer services, as well as providing the staffing, equipment, and software needed for record-setting growth and development. Adequately funding those priorities contributed to the preliminary budget being $87 million (or 18 percent) more than the current fiscal year’s budget of $396 million, says the city.

Highlights of the adopted budget include:

Providing taxpayer relief, despite significant increases to service demand and debt, including Winter Storm Uri and the 2021 mobility bond projects.
53 positions, the majority of which are in the fire, water, and electric departments
One-time start-up costs for a multi-year plan to fund a Police K9 unit
One of the largest investments in utility infrastructure in city history which includes $49.8 million in water projects ranging from a new pump station to the first phase of construction for the new South Lake Water Treatment Plant.
Long-range water supply planning, staffing, and resiliency programs to ensure water demands are met in the City’s water service area to meet current and future growth
Significant investment in transportation, including additional staffing, an Overall Transportation Plan Amendment, a Williams Drive Access Management Plan, a Pavement Condition Index, and additional resources to ensure 2021 mobility bond projects are started within the next five years
A strong projected electric fund balance of $36.7 million and investments in staffing, technology, and infrastructure to maintain system reliability
Investment in customer service staffing and programming, including establishing a program to improve intake and response to all customer complaints; improving water and electric outage notifications; and redesigning and organizing the City’s website

For more information, click here.

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