The Round Rock City Council approved the fiscal 2014 budget and tax rate on second and final reading at its regular meeting Thursday, Sept. 26. The fiscal plan features a tax rate that is slightly lower than the current rate, and adds a new engine company for an eastside fire station and additional funds for new traffic signals.

The $144.3 million budget includes $90.6 million for general services, $40.9 million for utilities and $12.8 million for debt.

“Because the Round Rock economy is strong – just look at our growing sales tax revenue and commercial property growth – we are able to reduce the tax rate for 2014 while continuing to improve service levels,” Mayor Alan McGraw said. “We’re making additional enhancements on everything from fire resources to addressing youth needs at the Library, along with increasing our efforts to continue making downtown Round Rock a true destination for both residents and tourists alike.”

The tax rate is 41.949 cents per $100 of property value, slightly lower than last year’s rate of 42.035 cents per $100. The City continues to have a property tax rate that is among the lowest of any medium-to-large city in the state, including those cities with an additional ½ cent sales tax for property tax reduction.

Residential utility rates for water and wastewater services will remain the same.
Sales tax revenue is extremely important to Round Rock because it reduces reliance on property taxes and makes up approximately 51 percent of General Fund revenue. While Dell sales tax figures continue to show declines from previous years, sales tax from other sources within the City negate the impact. Dell is expected to produce 30 percent of sales tax revenue.

The budget includes 11 additions to personnel for the General Fund:

• Fire services includes the addition of six firefighters to staff an additional engine located at Gattis School Road which will provide better emergency response coverage
• Transportation includes additional funding for traffic signal replacements
• General Services includes the addition of four staff positions to better maintain over $700 million in City assets
• Library includes an additional youth librarian to serve the growing demand of children’s programming
• Additional funding to support programming to attract tourists and citizens to the historic downtown