Pflugerville - Hutto Edition | September 2023

Government

BY GRANT CRAWFORD

Pugerville voters to decide on council pay The city of Pugerville will hold a special election to consider an amendment to the city charter, which would allow council members and the mayor to be compensated. Overview Pugerville City Council approved a resolution to call the Nov. 7 special election, asking voters to decide whether council members should be paid and the city’s executive assistant to City Council position be eliminated. Council members would receive $9,000 annually, while the mayor would be com- pensated $12,000 a year. The executive assistant to City Council position—dened as an employee who acts as a point of contact, manage calendar and assist with collecting information—is empty.

The new court at Gilleland Creek Park is meant to provide a workout in seven minutes. (Grant Crawford/Community Impact)

GRANT CRAWFORDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Pugerville parks system sees increase in guests After the city of Pugerville saw a 14% increase in visitors throughout its park system last year, ocials are making plans for more improvements to trails, playgrounds and other amenities. The gist Director of Parks and Recreation Shane Mize said in a July 25 Pugerville City Council meeting he expects continued growth at the city’s parks, Property tax rates, city budgets in the works The cities of Pugerville and Hutto are both looking to adopt new tax rates and budgets for scal year 2023-24. The overview Pugerville City Council approved a maximum property tax rate—the highest rate council could set without triggering an election—Aug. 8 of $0.5362 per $100 valuation for scal year 2023-24.

as the overall system is on pace to have more than 1 million guests in scal year 2022-23. City sta have also been making improvements, including the recent installation of a new tness court at Gilleland Creek Park, located at 700 Railroad Ave., Pugerville. By the numbers Pugerville park system visitors:

Election information

Pugerville voters will decide whether to amend the city’s charter to provide compensation for City Council members. Early voting in Travis and Williamson counties will be held Oct. 23-Nov. 3 . Election Day is Nov. 7 with voting centers open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Information about voting locations can be found at www.pugervilletx.gov .

• FY 2018-19: 883,530 • FY 2019-20: 600,750 • FY 2020-21: 828,590 • FY 2021-22: 960,970 • Projected FY 2022-23: about 1.01 million

SOURCE: CITY OF PFLUGERVILLECOMMUNITY IMPACT

The proposed rate—set to be approved Sept. 12—marks an 11% increase from last year’s adopted rate of $0.4813. Council is also considering a budget with around $616.3 million in spending. Hutto City Council, meanwhile, is eyeing a $351 million overall budget, including $263.6 million in capital improvement projects. It was built on a proposed no-new-revenue tax rate—the rate at which the city would raise the same amount of money as last year before accounting for new property—of $0.402114 per $100 valuation. However, as of press time Aug. 31, Council was considering a measure to repeal its adopted no-new-revenue rate and set it at the maximum rate allowed without an election.

"This isn't our operational budget per se, but this is the total budget for all combined funds—over $350 million for the coming year. That is an astoundingly large number that says that this city is serious about investing in infrastructure."

JAMES EARP, HUTTO CITY MANAGER

PFLUGERVILLE HUTTO EDITION