Boerne staff outlines budget timeline, key priorities and economic indicators ahead of summer workshops

City of Boerne staff presented a public update on the 2025 budget process at the June 10 council meeting, outlining timetable, guiding principles and preliminary fiscal indicators that will shape budget deliberations over the summer.

Sarah Buckalew (city staff) told the council departments have submitted operational budgets and supplemental requests, capital projects are under review, and council will see budget items at most meetings through the September 9 timeline. Staff reiterated the city’s budget guiding principles: strategic alignment with master plans, attention to growth management, structural balance (current revenues to fund operations), maintaining optimum fund balances (six months for major funds, three months for minor funds) and efforts to remain an employer of choice.

Buckalew said the staff used a conservative baseline for departmental budgets, asking departments to remove one‑time items from last year’s budget and submit any additional needs as supplemental requests. She said key priorities remain similar to last year: managing inflationary cost increases, advancing capital projects on the capital improvement program (CIP), and targeting tax relief where feasible.

On economic inputs, Buckalew reported a March cost‑of‑living index of about 3.6% (the city uses the June employee cost index for final COLA determinations) and noted benefits costs near 3.8%. Preliminary appraisal roll indicators showed market values up about 6% and exemptions down about 6%, producing roughly a 10% increase in taxable value; new taxable value on the rolls was reported at about $113,000,000. Staff said final appraisal roll and sales tax modeling work will continue through July, and that interest revenue assumptions may decline if market interest rates fall.

Buckalew told council that Kendall Appraisal District will present its annual budget on June 24 and asked council to expect a capital improvement projects workshop next. No council action was required for the presentation; staff will return with more detailed revenue and expenditure estimates as the process advances.