The city of College Station’s budget, property tax rate, and associated fees for fiscal year 2017 have been adopted.
There were three votes that were not unanimous.
The first, was a 6-1 vote on the budget.
Mayor Nancy Berry says the budget takes care of everything addressed by 8,000 residents who participated in a survey last spring.
James Benham voted against the budget for two reasons. He is opposed to giving the Research Valley Partnership $350,000 dollars.
Karl Mooney was among those saying the economic development agency has been put on notice.
Benham was opposed to the budget including revenue from a proposed roadway maintenance fee that the council won’t consider until November.
Blanche Brick supported the transportation fee.
The council voted unanimously for a two cent increase in the property tax, reducing electric rates by one percent and increasing wastewater rates by eight percent.
After that, the council approved new water and wastewater impact fees.
Blanche Brick and Steve Aldrich were part of the 4-3 majority vote to phase in the additional costs over a two year period. They were joined by Nancy Berry and John Nichols.
Updated 9/27/16 from blog.cstx.gov: Karl Mooney voted for the two year phase in, bringing the vote to 5-2.
Julie Schultz voted no. She wanted to give developers three years to pay the fees.
Edited 9/27 due to updated information from blog.cstx.gov: While Karl Mooney also voted for the two year phase in, that was after he suggested a two year period for water while phasing in the wastewater fees over three years.
Before the final vote, was an amended motion that was defeated 5-2 to spread out the fees over a three year period. Schultz and James Benham voted for the three year phase in.
The council starts final discussions on a transportation impact fee next month, followed by a public hearing in November.