The Henderson City Commission on Monday approved a real property tax rate equal to last year’s, holding steady at 47 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Additionally, the city commission approved the personal property tax rate at 58 cents per $100 of assessed value, which is 2.6 cents lower than last year’s rate.
The combined property taxes, as well as a motor vehicle/watercraft tax at 38 cents per $100 assessed value, are expected to bring in $8.1 million revenue during this fiscal year.
Property taxes are one of three main revenue streams for the city. The other two are the occupational license tax and the license tax on insurance companies. The occupational license tax is expected to generate about $12.5 million, and the insurance license tax is expected to bring in $7.4 million.
With those three legs of the tax tripod, plus assorted fees the city charges, the budgeted revenue is about $41.14 million.
Meanwhile, the city has budgeted $49.7 million in expenses, which is a shortfall of about $8.56 million.
City Finance Director Chelsea Mills said the city’s practice is to budget revenues conservatively while budgeting expenses “at the maximum.”
With this approach, the city’s audits in recent years show that revenues and expenses equal out at the end of the fiscal year.
For example, the city last year budgeted expenses at $7 million more than what it budgeted for revenues, according to City Manager Dylan Ward. He said the city ended up bringing in $600,000 more in revenue than it spent.
Additionally, Ward said there are several big-ticket items scheduled to be paid for in future years that the city must account for on its expenses in the current fiscal year. Even though the money won’t be spent in the current fiscal year, he said, it still must be listed in the city’s current year expenses.
Examples of two large expenditures are two fire engines that the city has on order that total almost $2 million, one with an arrival date in August 2026 and the other a year later.
“We have to budget like we’re going to spend that money,” Ward said. “We have to show that we have enough reserves.”
If expenses don’t come out as evenly with revenues as they have in recent years, the city would need to balance its budget with money from its general fund reserves, which currently sits at about $24 million.
In other news, the city commission:
- Approved a memorandum of understanding between Holy Name School and the city for the assignment of a school resource officer at HNS to provide security. Henderson Police Department will provide one officer. The cost to the school is $63,061.46 paid in four installments of $15,765.37.
- Approved a contract extension for Bermex to provide meter reading services. According to a city document, Bemex was awarded a three-year contract in 2022 for meter reading as the city moves to electronic meter reading. That transition should be 99% complete by the end of the fiscal year, wrote City Manager Dylan Ward. Until then, Bermex has agreed to a contract extension. Early on, two meter readers and one supervisor will cost $32,500 per month. Near the end of the fiscal year, the city anticipates needing one meter reader a supervisor at $23,500 per month.
