The Cleburne City Council in a workshop Tuesday discussed the possibility of raising the city’s sales tax by one fourth of a cent.
Cleburne and Rio Vista currently have the lowest sales tax rates in Johnson County at 7.75 cents per dollar.
The increase, if approved by voters, would be dedicated to street maintenance.
State law caps city sales taxes at 8.25 percent, of which the state collects 6.25 percent.
Of Cleburne’s current 7.75 percent rate, 1 percent goes into the city’s general sales tax fund and one half a percent goes into the city’s 4B sales tax fund.
In 2001, Cleburne residents approved the tax and the creation of the Cleburne 4B Economic Development Corporation, which funds quality-of-life projects.
Like 4B, a street maintenance sales-and-use tax would need to be proposed by the Cleburne City Council but ultimately approved by the voters.
If approved, the tax would sunset after four years unless the council calls for a second election to continue it, and the voters approve it.
The tax would, based on data from the last 12 months, generate about $1.1 million per year, said Kim Galvin, budget and purchasing director.
“Food and medication would not be taxed,” Galvin said. “But, as an example, if someone spent $8 at a local restaurant, the tax would be 2 cents. If they bought a $500 TV, the tax would be $1.25.”
Money collected could only be used to maintain and repair municipal streets in existence at the time of the election and could not be used to fund new street projects.
The city spent about $1,465,000 on maintenance and repair costs during the last year, said David Esquivel, public works director.
The tax, if approved, would go into effect the first quarter after the election, which would have to be either in November or May.
Council members appeared to favor the idea but made no decisions on it.
“I think we just need to stress that this would be purely for Cleburne city roads, not county roads, state highways and roads controlled by the Texas Department of Transportation or anyone else other than the city,” Councilman Bob Kelly said.
With expectations of a difficult budget year imminent, Assistant City Manager Rick Holden called the proposal a viable option.
“As we go through the budget in the next few weeks, we’re going to see the need for different levels of funding to ensure we maintain city services,” Holden said.
Sales-tax revenues
The latest sales-tax revenues show an 8.19 percent increase over the amount collected the same month last year, Finance Director Greg Wilmore reported.
This marks the third month of increase after several months of decreases below budgeted expectations.
City officials budgeted for a 20 percent decrease over the last fiscal year. Right now the city sits at 21.75 percent down, Wilmore said. The current fiscal concludes on Sept. 30.
“These next two months are going to be crucial to see if we can make budget,” Wilmore said.
Gas royalty revenues for leases on city-owned properties are well ahead of projections, with two months still to go, Wilmore said.
Officials budgeted for $2.760 million and the city has so far collected $3.785 million this year.
Road work
Work on improvements to Elmo Street should begin in a week or two, once workers complete testing water lines on that street, Esquivel said.
Contractors should be back to complete renovations of Westhill Drive next week, he said, once Atmos workers finish their work on that street.
In other news, the council set the first budget workshop for 5 p.m. Aug. 5 in city hall.
Local News
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