Council hears prelim budget

By KEVIN RICH
Special to the PRESS

South Padre Island Chief Financial Officer Rodrigo Gimenez presented the fiscal year 2017-2018 draft budget to City Council during a special meeting held on June 7.

Gimenez noted that updates to the budget process this year included the formation of a budget committee, the creation of business plans by department heads, and a DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) analysis.  “The funding for some replacement programs were justified through this DMAIC process,” explained Gimenez.

“We’re presenting to you a balanced budget,” stated Gimenez. The proposed budget includes replacement programs for computers and vehicles, and reflects a slight decrease in preliminary assessed property tax valuations. Gimenez stated the decrease was minimal — under 1 percent — and has been the trend over the past few years.

Gimenez presented statistics comparing the property tax rate on the Island with 574 other cities in the state. The comparison showed that property tax rates are higher than SPI in 85 percent of the other cities across the state, with property owners in just 15 percent of Texas cities paying lower property tax rates than the Island.

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