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Home My WebLink AboutBudget in Brief 2017 F Y 2017 BUDGET-IN-BRIEF A Message from the City Manager: US Census Data showed Georgetown was the fastest growing city in America in 2016, with a population over 50,000. It is estimated Georgetown’s population increased by 7.8% With growth comes the reality of increased demands for fundamental City services like public safety, transportation, and utilities. Throughout the budget process, it was our goal to respond to growth through sound financial investments in key service areas and infrastructure. In order to achieve this goal we developed the FY2017 Budget around three core ideas; issues of growth, continued initiatives and investments, and Council focus areas. It is the culmination of these three ideas from which the $325 million FY2017 budget is developed. This document is intended to highlight some of the upcoming initiatives the City is taking to provide greater core services to our residents. Through the visionary leadership of the City Council, and a staff dedicated to the implementation of Council’s direction, this document builds upon the solid foundation already established in Georgetown. TAX RATE The adopted budget includes a property tax rate of 42.4 cents per $100 valuation, which is 1 cent lower than last year’s rate. The City of Georgetown’s property tax rate is the lowest of all cities in the Austin MSA with a population greater than 20,000. Taylor - $0.8038 Killeen - $0.7498 Temple - $0.6648 Leander - $0.599 Pflugerville - $0.5399 San Marcos - $0.5302 Hutto - $0.5204 Cedar Park - $0.4700 Austin - $0.4118 Round Rock - $0.4250 Georgetown - $0. 4240 City Manager David Morgan Fund FY2017 Base FY2017 Changes FY2017 Budget General Fund 55,648,876$ 1,843,769$ 57,492,644$ Electric 66,718,081 613,288 67,331,369 Water 81,357,992 2,263,535 83,621,527 Other Enterprise Funds 7,408,877 453,276 7,862,153 Special Revenue Funds 30,781,053 726,268 31,507,321 Internal Service Funds 34,465,380 1,641,856 36,107,236 General Capital Projects 27,053,883 - 27,053,883 Debt Services 14,804,714 - 14,804,714 Grand Total 14,804,714$ 7,541,992$ 325,780,846$ CITIZEN SURVEY A 2016 citizen survey performed by Texas State University found that nearly 80% of our citizens believed the value of the city taxes paid was either “good” or “excellent”. Additionally, our citizens rated the services provided as either “good” or “excellent” higher than all other levels of government. FY2017 Notable Operational Enhancements New additions in the general fund include eleven new full time positions and two part time positions across the transportation, fire, police, and parks departments. Other enhancements include one-time expenses for a comprehensive plan update, records preservation, branding guidelines, and fire equipment replacement. Ongoing operating expenses increased for library book funding and park maintenance and operations. Responding to growth in calls for service, public safety positions will increase with the addition of three Firefighter-Paramedics and two Emergency Communication Operators. In partnership with Georgetown ISD, a School Resource Officer will also be added to provide an officer at each middle school. Street Maintenance: Projects include segments of 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, and 17th streets for rehabilitation, as well as sealant and asphalt overlay on many neighborhood streets. The total budget is $3.8 million for 2017, funded by the street maintenance sales tax and General Fund revenues. Electric fund enhancements in FY2017 include a new Utilities Analyst to provide additional support for power supply planning and a Fiber Infrastructure Tech to support the City’s growing fiber network that connects its facilities. Additional enhancements include upgraded radio equipment, communications systems, and a hydro-excavator. Notable Enchancements for FY2017 Public Safety Enchancements •3 Firefighters •3 Paramedics •School Resource Officer Transportation Initiatives •Public Works Director •Transit Plan •Williams Drive Study Economic Development Initiatives •Fiscal Impact and Cost to Serve Model •Retail Recruiting •Economic Impact for the Arts Study Utility Enchancements •Inspection Supervisor •Water Operations Contract •Assistant Building Official General Government Initiatives •2030 Comprehensive Plan Update •Community Resource Officer •Garey Park Marketing Coordinator FY2017 Capital Improvement Projects The City of Georgetown annually updates and adopts a five‐year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) as part of the operating budget adoption process. Generally, the City defines high dollar fixed assets to be capital improvements. Ongoing maintenance and major repair costs are included as capital expense within the Departmental operating budgets. Needed capital improvements are identified through system models, repair and maintenance records, and growth. The CIP is divided into three major categories: the Georgetown Utility System (GUS), Transportation, and General Capital Projects. GUS manages Water/Wastewater Services and Energy Services. Transportation manages Streets, Stormwater Drainage, and the Airport. Finally, General Capital Projects manages Parks, the Downtown Master Plan, Sidewalks, Public Safety, and Facilities. Each of these funds is further dissected in this Capital Projects budget. FY2017 Notable Capital Improvement Projects Garey Park •The City of Georgetown received the largest gift in its history when Jack and Cammy Garey announced that they will be donating their 525-acre ranch to the City to be developed as a public City park. The ranch on west of the City features scenic hill country terrain and borders the San Gabriel River. Planning and construction is set to begin in early 2017 and the park is scheduled to open in early 2018. The budget for this project totals $13,500,000. San Gabriel Park •Funding for renovations to San Gabriel Park were approved by voters in the 2008 parks bond. A master plan was completed in 2015 which has divided the project into four renovation phases. Phase one is scheduled to begin in early 2017 with future phases to follow in subsequent years. The budget for this projected totals $13,700,000. Southwest Bypass: •Construction of the Southwest Bypass is currently underway, and is anticipated to be completed in 2020. The Southwest Bypass will connect SH 29/DB Wood Rd. to Leander Rd. and will provide a high capacity north/south thoroughfare to relieve traffic from Williams Dr. (to I-35) and the western portion of Georgetown. Water Projects: •GUS Water Services Utility maintains a Capital Improvement Program to address the community’s need for superior water, wastewater, and irrigation services. The largest project in water is the Domel Project, totaling $4,500,000. This project will take the existing pressure plane from 1178 to 1015 and provide a secondary feed to Sun City. CIP FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 Airport 12,500 - 516,500 250,000 - Electric 4,781,000 6,568,000 5,113,000 4,913,000 5,953,000 Facilities 7,338,383 5,922,000 3,322,000 322,000 15,222,000 Parks 14,800,000 4,100,000 2,300,000 4,400,000 13,330,000 Sidewalk 2,179,000 1,351,000 1,212,000 299,000 3,600,000 Stormwater 975,000 1,900,000 1,500,000 1,200,000 2,000,000 Streets 3,325,000 3,695,000 3,285,000 3,975,000 6,225,000 Wastewater 28,323,000 5,650,000 11,969,563 8,026,000 1,550,000 Water 18,404,000 10,894,520 18,967,500 2,480,000 250,000 Grand Total 80,137,883 40,080,520 48,185,563 25,865,000 48,130,000