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Belton council hears FY2025 budget presentation; Children's Advocacy Center asks for $6,230 in city support
Summary
Staff outlined FY2025 budget priorities — water/sewer plant expansions, a 52.25¢ property tax rate, two new positions, and draws on reserves — and Deborah Longley of the Children's Advocacy Center asked council to include roughly $6,230 (25¢ per capita) in the budget to support forensic interviews and services.
City finance staff presented key elements of the proposed FY2025 budget during a public hearing at the Aug. 27 meeting, emphasizing utility-related capital projects and operating impacts.
Finance director Mister Rogers told council that the largest new pressures for 2025 are the planned water and sewer treatment plant expansions, which will increase debt-service costs and be reflected in utility rates. The proposed property tax rate in the packet is 52.25¢ per $100 of taxable value, down from the current 53.26¢. The recommended FY2025 budget includes two new positions (a park superintendent and a water/sewer maintenance technician), a 5% increase in street maintenance funding to $1,050,000, and planned draws from reserves in six of nine budgeted funds to maintain operations. Citywide resources were summarized at about $50.9 million and expenditures at about $48.7 million.
During the public-comment period, Deborah Longley, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Central Texas, asked the city to include a $0.25 per capita contribution (about $6,230) to support local forensic interviews, family advocacy and mental-health services for child-abuse investigations. Longley said Bell County ranks eighth in confirmed child-abuse cases and urged the council to partner financially so the Belton Police Department and local victims have access to services locally.
Council closed the hearing with no further public speakers and scheduled the formal adoption vote for Sept. 10, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. at the Harris Community Center.
