College Station staff propose $492 million budget for 2024

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The City of College Station presented a 2024 budget proposal to the City Council Tuesday, it totals $492 million. This budget will mainly be used to increase compensation for employees and retain staff but also to invest in capital projects.

While residents will see an increase in certain utilities like roadway maintenance, solid waste, drainage fees and wastewater rates, there will be no rate increases to electric or water utilities. Property tax rates are being proposed at just over $0.01 decrease. City manager Bryan Woods said the property tax decrease will help lower costs, but the total cost will still increase due to rising appraisal values.

When presenting the proposal, city staff say their main concerns in the next few years are keeping up with inflation and the possibility of a recession.

The College Station City Manager says they’re excited about investing in staff. This includes 6% pay raises while maintaining the same cost for benefits. A large piece of the budget will be dedicated to capital projects. Woods says this will help keep up with growth while also replacing aging infrastructure.

Highlights in the budget include the following:

$6 million to hire and retain city staff$135 million for capital projects$1.3 million for the police department, including $321,000 for a new K-9 officer

Strategic plans were created for each department. Focuses on tourism include local job growth, bringing visitors with tournaments and conventions, sustaining a high quality of life and increasing sales tax revenues. The city predicts College Station will see a 2% increase in sales tax for 2024 due to an increase in visitors, which is better than the staff anticipated.

The human resources and risk management strategic plan details goals for being a place of choice for employees. City staff say by raising salaries and enhancing workplace culture, they’ll achieve this goal.

The City Council will meet for three days of workshops beginning Monday, July 17. This will be open to the public but will not be streamed. A public hearing for the budget will be held July 27.

College Station FY24 Proposed Budget by KBTX on Scribd