HOUSTON – Mayor Sylvester Turner presented the proposed fiscal year 2024 budget Tuesday.
The mayor, who was joined by finance director Will Jones in a news conference, said the budget represents a “balanced and responsible spending plan” for the city.
“This is my final budget and I am proud to say I leave to the next mayor a budget that is better than it has been in a long time,” he said.
According to a document from city officials, the proposed budget for all funds excluding transfers totals $6.2 billion, an increase of $379.2 million, or 6.6% compared to the 2023 fiscal year budget of $5.8 billion.
The new budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $97,346,209, which is a 7.65% increase.
Watch the full news conference below:
“Of that amount, $29,933,405 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year,” the document said.
The budget will also utilize $160 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to replace millions of dollars that “would have been used for government services to maintain and sustain critical city services.” With the assistance of ARPA funding, the city plans to continue to combat violent crime with the “One Safe Houston” Crime Reduction Initiative.
Turner said the city’s net position is an indicator of the government’s financial standing and is the highest it has been in almost 20 years with $5.9 billion as of the end of fiscal year 2022.
“We are better today than we were yesterday, and we’ll be better tomorrow than we are today,” Turner said.
The budget begins on July 1, 2023, and ends June 30, 2024.
See a copy of the full proposed budget below: