Government
BY ZARA FLORES, SIERRA MARTIN & JARRETT WHITENER
Proposed budget to have lower tax rate New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno presented the proposed scal year 2023-24 budget to City Council on Aug. 7 along with the new tax rate. The breakdown The proposed tax rate for FY 2023-24 is the fourth consecutive year with a property tax decrease, Camareno said. The total tax rate is $0.4089, lower than last year’s $0.4139. The maintenance and operations portion of the rate is $0.20, and the interest and sinking portion of the rate is $0.2089. The operations portion goes directly to the city’s general fund, while the interest portion goes toward debt service. Camareno added this year’s proposal is a balanced budget with equal revenue and expenditures, both slated at $419.55 million with a 19.1% increase in revenue from last year. The revenues are broken down as follows: • Revenue: $198.07 million • Beginning capital reserves: $151.25 million • Beginning fund reserves: $70.23 million For budgeted expenditures, the largest portions would go toward capital improve- ment projects and public safety. What’s next? There will be public hearings Sept. 7 and 11 with adoption Sept. 11.
Restoring railroad horns The following 10 railroad crossings in New Braunfels have resumed sounding train horns, e ective Aug. 4, by Union Paci c Railroad.
1 Bridge St.
337
10
2 Mill St.
San Antonio St.
3
4 Coll St.
5 Jahn St.
1
2
9
6 Elm St.
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
4
3
7 Castell Ave. 8 Comal Ave.
5
8
6
9 Rusk St.
35
7
Church Hill Dr.
ELM ST.
10
N
SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS COMMUNITY IMPACT
Train horns at multiple railroad crossings to resume E ective Aug. 4, Union Paci c Railroad tempo- rarily resumed sounding train horns at 10 railroad crossings in New Braunfels, according to a city news release. quiet zones. Those guidelines are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
“City sta will work diligently to restore quiet zones at those crossings as soon as possible,” the news release states. “Train horns will remain in e ect until the crossings meet compliance.” Updates on railroad quiet zones and tra c alerts for roads throughout the city can be found at www.newbraunfels.gov/tra calerts.
Recent inspections have identi ed the railroad crossings listed below are out of compliance with federal regulations that allow a municipality to designate crossings as safe for no train horn to reduce urban noise. City o cials have contracted a specialist and are developing a plan to restore all crossings to the compliance level that allows for
Guadalupe County Veterans Outreach Center to serve over 17K area veterans
contract was awarded to The Koehler Co. in March 2022 for a bid of $4.3 million. Guadalupe County will now provide services to all veterans in the area, including those who do not live within the county. Services will assist veterans with accessing Veterans A airs bene ts, providing guidance and referrals for employment, education, health care and other services that veterans and families of veterans may need.
A new Veterans Outreach Center opened in Guadalupe County on Aug. 9. The center is located at 205 E. Weinert St., Seguin, and will provide services to over 17,000 veterans living in the Guadalupe County area, according to an Aug. 9 news release. The project The idea for the center started around 2017; the project design was presented to the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court in 2021; and a
90
E. WEINERT ST.
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9
NEW BRAUNFELS EDITION
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