BY KAMERYN GRIESSER
Bee Cave weighs growing capital projects costs Between a new library, public safety building, Central Park improvements and dozens of road projects, a lot is on the horizon for Bee Cave. However, in the past three years, estimated costs have climbed from a total of $104 million to $158 million, giving city leaders pause as they head into budget season. What happened The Capital Improvements Plan, approved in 2021, identifies financial sources and timelines for 42 projects related to roads, pedestrian infrastruc- ture, building and facilities projects through fiscal year 25-26. At a July 17 workshop, the council reviewed updates to the CIP with the intention of identify- ing new priorities going into FY 24-25, according to a staff report from the city.
Lakeway to install license plate readers In the coming months, the city of Lake- way will install cameras with license plate readers along major roadways such as RM 620 and Hwy. 71. The technology has become increasingly popular among Austin-area law enforce- ment, allowing police to identify license plates associated with criminal activity, Lakeway Police Chief Glen Koen said. Lakeway first installed LPRs inside its fleet patrol cars in March as a part of a pilot program to test the technology. Since then, Koen said the department has identified eight actionable hits, including missing person reports and stolen vehicles. Koen said the process could take two to six months to implement, partly depending on which software is chosen.
Increasing costs The dollar figure in each category represents the original project cost estimate in 2021 and the new projected cost in 2024.
2021
2024
Public roads
Pedestrian trails
Building & Facilities
Total
SOURCE: CITY OF BEE CAVE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
The breakdown While the original CIP envisioned the creation of a new city hall, the scrapping of those plans decreased estimated project costs by $10.6 million. The council is required to propose a new tax rate and budget for FY 24-25 by September.
Lakeway kicks off budget, higher tax rate discussions Lakeway City Council kicked off budget discus- sions for fiscal year 2024-25 at an Aug. 5 meeting. The workshop touched on the possibility of a higher tax rate and plans to dedicate more savings towards future capital improvement projects. The rundown 23-24 tax rate was $0.1440 per $100 valuation. This new tax rate would generate about $644,000 in new revenue for the city, according to the document. City Manager Joseph Molis said if the city
Lakeway tax rate
$0.1996
$0.1625*
$0.20
$0.15
$0.10
adopted the no-new-revenue rate instead, the council would have to cut $1.1 million out of the operations budget as it is today. A final review will take place Sept. 3, and the budget ordinance will be adopted Sept. 16.
0
The budget workshop included a proposed tax rate of $0.1625 per $100 valuation, while the FY
*PROPOSED TAX RATE
SOURCE: CITY OF LAKEWAY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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LAKE TRAVIS - WESTLAKE EDITION
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