Commission approves new city budget, tax rate, more
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
The amount you see on your city property tax bill this year most likely will go up … or down. If it goes up, don’t blame it on the city. On Monday, the Brentwood City Commission approved a tax of 44 cents per $100 of assessed property value for the new fiscal year.

That’s five cents less than the current $.49 rate.

City manager Mike Walker explained that the city has had the same effective tax rate for 21 years.

County reappraisals which set the assessed value saw an average increase of about 10.2 percent in Brentwood home values in the past five years, average being the operative word. With the ongoing economic climate over the past five years, some city homes’ values went up, some went down and some stayed about the same.

It was a big night for the commission, which unanimously also approved the 2011-12 fiscal year budget; the six-year Capital Improvements Plan, the city’s pay plan for employees, city department’s 2011-12 non-routine work plans, and the new general fund balance.

In three required amendments to the agenda item that contained the city’s fiscal year budget, traditional allotments to  local public schools and programs that provide youth sports and senior programming that serve city residents as well as one to raise the city manager’s salary, were all approved unanimously.

Commissioner Jill Burgin, who offered amendment on the school allotments, explained that the money, a total of $225,000, goes directly to the individual schools’ parent-teacher organizations not to Williamson County Schools. In the past, “this money has funded things like band uniforms and science equipment,” things that you would think would be covered by regular school funding but aren’t, she said.

Vice Mayor Rod Freeman explained that the city supports the FiftyForward Martin Center, the Brentwood Civitan Club, YMCA and Brentwood Blaze as they offer programming the city might otherwise need to provide. That allocation totaled $87,000.

Saying that Walker continues to effectively lead the city through big issues as well as the “minutiae,” Commissioner Rhea Little made a motion to increase his salary by 3.536 percent.

The $101-million Capital Improvements Plan includes 51 projects the city has identified as needing to be completed within the next six years. Not just a long-term wish list, all of them are funded, with a combination of local, state and federal funds.

“I think it’s almost more important than the yearly budget,” Commissioner Anne Dunn said. “It’s like planning ahead for your family.”

Complete details on the fiscal-year budget, CIP and other financial decisions approved Monday night are available as part of the meeting’s agenda packet, accessible by clicking here.