Numbers stole the show at the most recent council meeting, the majority of which focused on discussions of the budget for the next fiscal year.

City staff presented the budget to councilmembers during a workshop session at the Monday, Aug. 1 meeting. The city’s current fiscal year ends Sept. 30 with the new fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and running through Sept. 30, 2023.

Director of Finance David Baldwin presented most of the upcoming budget assumptions along with an overview of the city’s budget process. Sachse’s total appraised values were $3.57 billion, Baldwin said, and his department projected a 4.6% increase in property tax revenue.

Each year, one-time budget approvals or capital project funds are removed from the budget snapshot and broken out into supplemental requests, said Baldwin.

“That gives you the base we start looking at for this budget,” Baldwin said. “It’s the cost of continuing your existing service levels.”

Projections were made using conservative growth estimates, said Baldwin, including budgeting no change in revenue from last year’s budget. Part of this is because the impact the pandemic has had on city revenues, he added.

“Four years in a row, we’ve over-collected significantly on revenues, which has led to some rather large fund balances,” Baldwin said. “I’ve taken a realistic approach and recognized the revenues that are there as we come out of COVID.”

For the full story, see the Aug. 11 issue of The Sachse News.