Cap the Budget and the Debt

The city held the first reading of an Ordinance adopting Fiscal and Budgetary Policy to be used in preparation of the 2015/2016 budget.  Unfortunately, there is no mention of a "not to exceed cap" in the policy document, therefore a presentation was made at today's Council meeting calling for a budget cap to be included.  The chart following is a summary of the presentation.

                                                                             4/14/2015

1.      Governor and Lt Governor advocate budget cap of population growth plus inflation

2.      Texas Senate has imposed budget cap of population growth plus inflation

3.      If it is good enough for the State, why is it not good enough for the City?

4.      Population growth plus inflation over the last 10 years = 3.59% + 2.3%= 5.89%

5.      City budget has growth 7.34% over the last 10 years, not including current amendments

6.      Why is this not included in City budget policy?

         
This policy needs to be adopted for the City budget and for the issuance of City debt.

Contact your city council person if you agree and urge them to put a cap of population growth plus inflation on the budget and debt.

ps  The Texas State Senate passed a 2 year budget today that increased less than 5%.