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Sandy Oaks opens public hearing on FY2027 budget; proposed tax increase would raise $772,251.63
Summary
At the public hearing on the FY2027 budget, city leaders said the draft budget would increase property-tax revenue by $772,251.63 (a stated 53% increase) and includes proposed hires — a full-time city administrator ($100,000) and a deputy court clerk — alongside investments in police staffing and code enforcement.
The Sandy Oaks City Council opened a public hearing on the proposed FY2027 budget, which the mayor said would raise $772,251.63 in additional property-tax revenue compared with last year — a figure the council characterized in the meeting as a 53% increase.
“The budget will raise more total property taxes than last year's budget by $772,251.63, which is a 53% increase from last year's budget,” the mayor said during the hearing. The mayor and other council members said part of that lift will come from new property added to the tax roll and from line items included in the proposed rate of roughly 0.633404; removing a planned I&S tax tied to a police/ACL building reduces the rate estimate to about 0.568357 per $100 of value.
Council discussion focused on staffing and operating changes baked into the proposal. The mayor said the budget includes $100,000 for a full-time city administrator intended to pursue grant opportunities and economic development, a deputy court clerk to manage court/privacy functions, a kennel technician for animal control, and an additional police patrol position. The mayor said the city is currently understaffed for policing relative to national averages and estimated the city should have about 12–13 officers.
Council members and staff also scrutinized revenue assumptions and line items. Members questioned estimates for municipal court security and technology fees, CenterPoint Energy receipts, opioid-abatement funding (budgeted at $800 but year-to-date $0), and vehicle/registration-based revenues. Staff described many lines as estimates and emphasized accounting allocations need correction to match actual expenditures. The council discussed amending the current budget to account for an outstanding website redesign payment (~$7,200) rather than carrying it into next year's budget.
Public access to the detailed budget figures was discussed: staff said monthly budget vs. actual reports are posted following council approval and that the June report had not yet been posted because it had not been approved at the previous meeting. Councilmembers requested clearer line-item allocations and more conservative revenue assumptions before adoption.
