The budget for the city of Navasota for next fiscal year has been approved by city council.
City Manager Jason Weeks gave a rundown of some of the city staff wishes that are included in this round of funds.
“You asked for a facilities assessment. Many of our facilities, although they appear brand new, are aging. With that, we need to look at facilities assessment, especially related to the library, fire station, animal shelter, etc. You also stressed we need start looking at design, and to find ways of funding for a new fire station, so that has been included,” said Weeks. “We included downtown signage, continuing the street capital improvement project, possible renovation of public works facilities…looking at an impact fee study, and implementation. We also looked a city staffing needs.”
Included in the budget as well is $1 million dedicated toward employee retention and pay raises.
As mentioned a few weeks ago, the tax rate is decreasing, and there are no other utility rate increases forthcoming with his budget.
Weeks also said another key focus this year was public safety.
“We are behind on Police Officers…so we included three patrol officers, a dispatcher, and a firefighter,” said Weeks. “Then on the gas side, we are including a gas technician.”
The total budget went down about a million from last year, totaling $32.3 million, compared to $33.6 million last year.
