Bridge City works on budget, tax rate

The Bridge City City Council Tuesday evening voted on a general operating budget of $10.06 million budget includes a 3 percent pay increase for employees. The budget is for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which will begin on October 1.

The budget goes with a proposed tax rate 48.2 cents per $100 valuation. A public hearing on the tax rate will be held a council meeting Tuesday, September 6, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

Mayor David Rutledge told The Record the city staff and council keep "an eye toward providing the services our citizens want and need, while keeping our rate down."

He said inflation has been hard on city expenses and keeping within the 2021-22 budget. Higher fuel costs and overall rising prices in goods have affected the city like it has families.

"This trend is expected to continue into the next fiscal year, and we're having to factor that into our budget," he said.

According to city information, the budget has revenues of $11.43 million and expenditures of $11.43 million. The total expenditures cover the $10.06 million for the general operating fund, plus $1.37 million for the "unlimited use" budget.

The budget year is forecast to end with nothing left for put aside for savings.

The proposed tax rate is 48.2 cents per $100 valuation, down from the current $52.4 cents per $100 valuation. But that does not mean property owners will see a lower tax payment. Tax payments will be based on the latest property values set by the Orange County Appraisal District.

The appraisal district operates under state law and works with all the public taxing entities in the county. The appraisal district board is selected by votes from each taxing entity. The elected officials of each taxing entity approve their votes for the appraisal district board.

The housing market nationwide has experienced a booming increase in home values during the past couple of years, and Orange County has, too. The tax rates will be calculated with the property values. If someone's property value went up 10 percent and the tax rate went down 8 percent, the taxes could still be higher.