Copperas Cove proposes $77.4 million budget; utility rate increases planned to cover capital projects

City Manager Ryan Haverlaw on June 17 presented the City of Copperas Cove’s proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget, saying the plan would be “a $77,400,000 budget” and outlining a roughly $800,000 projected general‑fund shortfall tied to state changes in the disabled‑veterans exemption reimbursement and adopted salary adjustments.

Why it matters: The council must adopt a budget, tax rate and fee schedule by state law before the end of September. The city’s proposed plan includes significant capital spending and relies in part on enterprise and reserve balances; an updated utility rate model presented the same night shows rate increases would be required over multiple years to support planned water and wastewater capital projects.

Haverlaw told the council the budget is built on four major operating funds — general fund, water and sewer, solid waste and golf course — and that the general fund begins with an estimated $12.2 million, projects $24.6 million in revenues and $25.4 million in expenditures, and would end next year with about $11.4 million in balance. He said the gap stems largely from market and grade‑and‑step pay adjustments for public safety and from state legislative changes affecting the disabled‑veterans property‑tax exemption reimbursements.

Haverlaw presented four options to address the general‑fund deficit: hold a tax rate election, adopt a voter‑approval maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate (which allows a 3.5% increase over no‑new‑revenue rate without an election), use fund balance, or remove market/step pay adjustments from the proposed budget. He said the proposed budget as presented currently assumes using the third option (utilizing fund balance) but outlined the tradeoffs for council consideration prior to adoption.

Ariana Beckman, the city’s budget director, and department directors were credited by Haverlaw for preparing the proposal; he said council will take action to set a public‑hearing date and is scheduled to consider adoption on Aug. 19, 2025. Haverlaw also noted that state law (Local Government Code, ch. 102) sets timing for public hearings and adoption.

Updated utility rate model

Scott Osborne, director of public works, and consultant Matthew Garrett of NewGen Strategies and Solutions presented an updated rate model for water, wastewater, solid waste and drainage that incorporates a six‑year capital improvement plan and current debt assumptions. Garrett said the forecast includes roughly $100 million of capital projects from 2025 through 2030 and showed that, "if we do nothing" to raise rates, expenses would increasingly exceed revenues and available fund balances would be depleted.

The NewGen model recommends a multi‑year, phased increase in water rates (largest driver because of water system debt), more modest increases for sewer, and annual increases for solid waste and drainage. Garrett presented sample bill impacts for a typical residential 5,000‑gallon customer rising from about $133.32 today to roughly $146.74 under the five‑year plan — an increase of about $13 per month for the model customer — and emphasized that the increases are designed to restore debt service coverage and maintain policy reserves over the forecast horizon.

Garrett said the model anticipates modest customer growth (about 200 water customers and 215 wastewater customers over the horizon) and includes purposeful short‑term use of fund balance in the near term while debt service from planned issuances begins to phase in.

Council process and next steps

Haverlaw and staff said the presentations were introductory and that detailed budget and rate hearings and work sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks. The council will set a public hearing date on the budget, receive certified property values in July for tax‑rate calculations, and take action on the budget and tax rate at the Aug. 19 meeting.

The presentations did not include council votes on rates; staff recommended further detailed review and scheduled follow‑up workshops and public hearings before any rate ordinance or budget adoption.