Killeen: City council adopts budget with pay increase, tax rate stays same

The city of Killeen has adopted a new budget for the fiscal year 2020 which includes a pay increase for city employees.

On Tuesday night, the $209.4 million budget was unanimously approved by city council members.

Killeen Mayor Jose Segarra called the process “smooth.”

The budget includes no tax rate increase for property owners and no increase on utility rates.

Segarra also says there will be no cut to services.

“We were able to maintain our services and add better services with the budget by providing pay raises to our employees, who in turn give those services to our citizens,” Segarra said.

Employees will see a 2.4 percent increase to their salary. The goal is to make the city an attractive place for workers to stay and decrease the amount of employees leaving the city.

In previous meetings, there was also a concern about a possible cut to The Hop bus service. After a revision, close to $222,000 will be given to the service instead of the previous proposed amount of $120,000. That also means current routes across Killeen will continue.

The budget also includes the expected revenue from the street maintenance fee which has started to appear on utility bills. The maintenance fee will help with much-needed street repairs.

Last year, a budget of $181 million was adopted for the fiscal year of 2019.

“It’s a long way from where we were at three, four years ago when we had a budget shortfall,” Segarra added.

To see the full budget, click on the link posted on this page.