Wylie City Council last week took its first look at the fiscal year 2018-’19 budget, a spending plan that will not be very much different from the current year.

City Manager Mindy Manson gave a quick rundown on early estimates at a budget workshop conducted Tuesday, June 12.

Over the next few weeks, the council will hear budget request presentations from department heads as it fine-tunes the numbers. Public hearings on the proposed property tax rate will be held Aug. 28 and Sept. 4, a public hearing on the budget will be held Aug. 28 and the budget and tax rate are tentatively set for adoption Sept. 11.

“This is the beginning of a long summer,” Mayor Eric Hogue pointed out.

General fund figures presented by Manson show revenues of $42.9 million and expenses of $40.5 million. The expenditure estimate includes $61,000 for public safety pay raises, $416,000 in increased health insurance costs and $237,000 for a three percent merit raise for non public safety employees.

On the table are requests by department heads for 19 new employees and nine position upgrades, $1.67 million; equipment costs of $286,519 for new personnel; and $2.25 million in non-personnel requests. The city currently employs 262 people.

For the full story see the June 20 issue or subscribe online.

Joe Reavis • [email protected]