Waco City Council Adopts Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

Published on September 15, 2024

City of Waco Proposed Budget FY 2024

On Tuesday, August 27, Waco City Council approved the budget for Fiscal Year 2024 – 2025. The new budget maintains the current property tax rate and reduces tax-supported expenses while still providing employee salary increases and delivering the same quality of core City services. The new adopted budget will go into effect starting October 1.

View the Online Budget

Budget Highlights

  • $584.5 million city-wide budget.
  • $202.5 million general fund budget.
  • Estimated $35 million in general fund capital improvement projects.
  • The new budget maintains the current tax rate of 0.7550 cents per $100 in valuation, which is the lowest the tax rate has been in more than 16 years.
  • The tax-supported general fund was reduced by $1.2 million by reducing non-personnel related expenses.

Projects to be Completed in the New Fiscal Year

  • Aerial view of Fire Station #15 construction

    Construction of Fire Station 15. July 2024.

  • New regional landfill and landfill transfer station
  • Fire Station #15 at Richie Road and Panther Way
  • Three new fire engines and three brush trucks put into service
  • Design of the new regional park on Flat Rock Road
  • Water and wastewater improvements to support continuing investment and job growth in the Business Park near Bagby Avenue and Texas Central Parkway

Projects Starting in the New Fiscal Year

  • Aerial view of a rendering of plans for Downtown Waco

    Rendering of the Downtown Master Development Plan.

  • Construction of a regional park and heritage trail at the old Floyd Casey stadium site
  • Construction of a new animal hospital at Pet Circle Regional Animal Center on Circle Road
  • Construction of a new fire station on LaSalle Avenue
  • Construction of the Bledsoe-Miller STEM Center
  • Reconstruction of the riverwalk from Webster Avenue to the Baylor Law School
  • Implementation of railroad quiet zones from the Brazos River to South 11th Street
  • Implementation of Phase 1 of the Downtown Strategic Road Map

New Street Maintenance Fee

Aerial view of recently renovated Elm Avenue

Newly renovated Elm Avenue. September 2023.

The City of Waco has over 1,500 lane miles of road. Currently, street maintenance is funded through property tax revenue and sales tax. These taxes are not based on how much taxpayers impact traffic. However, taxpayer traffic is a big factor in how long roads last. The need for street repair exceeds available tax revenue, so the City of Waco's goal with the new fee is for taxpayers who create traffic to pay their share in maintaining our public roads.

The new street maintenance fee is charged monthly in the City of Waco utility bill and will cover about 12 percent of the cost of materials, engineering, and staff to maintain public streets, bridges, and traffic signals.

The proposed monthly fee for a single-family residential property is $2 per month. Non-residential property fees vary depending on the amount of traffic that is generated compared to a home. Tax-exempt organizations and households with no registered vehicles at the service address are exempt from the fee. Residents with no vehicle, can submit an exemption.

Learn More About Street Fees 

Informative Video

Watch this budget overview video to learn more about where city funds come from, how it's divided into categories, what it's used to pay for, and more!

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