Government
BY RACHEL LELAND & JAMES T. NORMAN
Friendswood, Manvel, Pearland approve FY 2025-26 budgets
to help reduce the cost to taxpayers. In Friendswood, city officials made cuts to cer- tain areas in the budget throughout the summer, officials said at City Council’s Aug. 25 meeting. Officials in each city are also projecting an increase in sales tax revenue compared to last year, which in Friendswood’s case helped the city keep its tax rate flat, officials said Aug. 25.
tax rate than the previous year, some cities, such as Manvel, saw a tighter squeeze in the budget. New facilities, a budding population calling for more services and ongoing incentive agreements with developers made this budget cycle more difficult compared to previous years, officials said. Meanwhile, Pearland saw some residents at City Council’s Sept. 22 meeting asking the city to cut additional expenses, such as new staff members,
The cities of Friendswood, Manvel and Pearland each approved their respective budgets in August and September for fiscal year 2025-26, with fiscal years for each beginning on Oct. 1. Each city saw its budget increase in total revenue and expenditures compared to the previous year, but approvals were not without their challenges. With each city opting for either a flat or lower
Friendswood
Manvel
Pearland
Friendswood’s total budget is up by more than $8 million from last year, with public safety being the highest expense in the city’s general fund, documents show. In total, the city is putting $15.9 million into the police department and $6.5 million into emergency services, according to budget docu- ments from the city. Parks are at $6.3 million. Capital improvement funding is the largest expenditure of the entire budget, totaling $45.5 million, according to the budget.
Manvel’s growth was the story of the budget for FY 2025-26. A $2 million injection from the city’s general fund balance will help the city meet several needs. “It seems like the general consensus is that ... we’d rather put that money to good use for the community,” Mayor Dan Davis said. In total, the city will bring on 13 new full-time equivalent staff positions and nearly three dozen additional equipment and programming requests. The city will also keep its tax rate flat.
Pearland opted for a lower tax rate than FY 2024-25. However, the rate was still higher than the no-new-revenue rate. In the city’s general fund, revenue is expected to increase by nearly 3.9% from last year, while expenditures are up by about 2.2%, according to city documents. Some highlights in the new budget include 12.5 full-time equivalent staff positions added. This is down from last year’s total of 30, according to city documents.
$0.514172 tax rate
$0.56 tax rate
$0.63 tax rate
$367,599 median home value
$359,719 median home value
$372,103 median home value
$1,892 average tax bill on median home
$2,014 average tax bill on median home
$2,344 average tax bill on median home
$20 increase from last year
$55 increase from last year
$12 decrease from last year
Budget breakdown
Budget breakdown
Budget breakdown
Police: 38.1%
Police: 35%
Public safety: 61.5% Infrastructure: 14%
Development services: 10.5% Other: 8% Public works: 15% Information technology: 4.8% Municipal Court and Fire Marshal: 4.9% Administration: 15.3%
Administration and finance: 15%
Government services: 11.5%
Parks and recreation: 14% Emergency services: 14%
Total $19.3M
Total $45.9M
Community programs, events: 8.5% Economic development: 2.4% Financial management: 2.1%
Total $132.4M
Public works: 7% Information technology: 6% Other: 5% Community development: 4%
Finance: 3.5%
NOTE: THE CHARTS REPRESENT EACH CITY'S GENERAL FUND BREAKDOWN. SOURCE: CITIES OF FRIENDSWOOD, MANVEL AND PEARLAND/COMMUNITY IMPACT
8
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook