Government
Government
BY RACHEL LELAND
BY RACHEL LELAND
Seabrook approves FY 2024 25 budget, lowers property tax rate
A new battery energy storage facility, or BESS, is set to come to League City. What you need to know On Sept. 24, League City City Council voted 6-2 to approve an ordinance that would allow a BESS— owned and operated by Peregrine Energy—to be built between Hwy. 3 and Dickinson Avenue, south of Washington Street, according to city documents. The votes against came from council members Tom Crews and Justin Hicks. A BESS is a facility of batteries that stores energy and sells it back to the grid when more power is needed to meet demand, Community Impact previ- ously reported. League City OKs 150 MW battery storage facility
What else?
Peregrine Energy BESS facility
WASHINGTON ST.
20 single-family homes within range of smoke from “catastrophic failure”
battery storage facility 150-megawatt
The city expects to spend about $25 million in capital improvement projects this year, according to city documents. Other budget expenses include general operations for the city, public works and some funding for economic development, documents show.
OAKS OF CLEAR CREEK HOMES
in League City 2nd BESS
acres of land 15 acres
Seabrook property tax rate (per $100 valuation)
3
Seabrook City Council unanimously approved a $56.5 million budget for scal year 2024-25 and a property tax rate of $0.455156 per $100 valuation at its Sept. 24 meeting. The property tax rate is lower than the FY 2023-24 rate of $0.457755 per $100 valuation but is higher than the no-new-revenue rate of $0.455237, according to agenda documents. In the past year, Seabrook’s average homestead market value has increased by around 1.9%— from $392,215.54 to $399,601.41, according to agenda documents. Based on this rate, the city’s portion on the average home’s property tax bill will be $1,390.11 after a 20% homestead exemption is factored in, according to an Oct. 1 news release from the city. This year, Seabrook’s expenditure needs will
-19.5%
0 $0.1 $0.2 $0.3 $0.4 $0.5 $0.6
96
SOURCE: CITY OF LEAGUE CITY COMMUNITY IMPACT
LEAGUE CITY PKWY.
N
Capital projects: 33.2% Public works: 20.88% Public safety: 16.9% Seabrook expenses
In their own words League City resident Christine Thomas was one of several residents who spoke against building the facility in League City during the meeting. “I think we still have a signi cant level of discomfort with having this relatively new tech- nology so close to our neighborhood and to our school,” Thomas said. Council member Chad Tressler said he would vote to grant the special use permit because he felt the facility would support energy customers in
League City during power outages. “I’m much more not a fan of the lack of hearti- ness in our grid,” Tressler said. “I’ve seen too many of our citizens su er when we have power outages during the worst possible times to have power outages—during deep freezes and the hottest parts of summer.” Despite voting against it, Crews said he felt the project was safe. “My problem is that the people who are around it are legitimately scared, whether it’s a reasonable fear or not,” Crews said.
General government: 11.5% Debt service: 7.9% Economic development: 4% Transfer out: 6.2%
Total: $56.5M
SOURCE: CITY OF SEABROOK COMMUNITY IMPACT
be partially ful lled by using funds from the city’s stabilization fund, port fund and revenue surpluses from previous years.
SOURCE: CITY OF SEABROOK COMMUNITY IMPACT
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