City Manager Mister Lizzie presented the City of Commerceproposed fiscal 2025 budget and capital-improvement plan at a public budget workshop, proposing to keep the property tax rate the same at $0.798909 per $100 valuation while planning targeted utility rate increases and capital borrowing.

Lizzie said the administration is proposing to hold the tax rate steady while recognizing that new valuations and new construction would generate about $250,630 of additional tax revenue for the general fund.

The measure matters because staff said the proposed budget would increase general-fund expenses faster than projected revenues and would still balance without raising the tax rate. The package includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for most employees, a proposed $529,119 public-safety radio replacement, and a $1.9 million ladder truck already under purchase order, with the university agreeing to reimburse roughly one-third of that ladder truck cost.

Most important elements:
City Manager Mister Lizzie led the presentation and framed three budget principles: (1) the city is a service organization heavily leveraged on personnel costs; (2) public dollars must be treated as the community's resources; (3) preserving public trust is the highest priority. He emphasized that about two-thirds of the general fund revenue is tax-funded and that personnel costs make up a majority of general-fund spending.

Revenue, rates and affordability
The city projects fiscal 2024 general-fund revenue of about $8,154,179 and presented a fiscal 2025 general-fund budget with proposed revenues and expenses that staff said would balance (staff provided projected fiscal-25 figures in the workshop materials). Lizzie noted the state's tax-rate calculations, including the "no-new-revenue" and the "voter-approval" rates, but said the administration does not recommend adopting the no-new-revenue rate and instead proposes to keep the current rate at $0.798909 per $100 valuation.

On utilities, staff said the public-utility fund is fee-supported (not tax-supported) and proposed an adjustment that would raise the bill for a typical residential household using 4,000 gallons from $76 to $78 a month (a $2 monthly increase, about 3%). City staff estimated that increase would bring roughly $170,000 more from water charges and $246,000 more from wastewater charges annually. The presentation included an affordability check: at the proposed lifeline usage (4,000 gallons), the annual water-and-sewer bill would total about $936, roughly 2.3% of the city's median household income of $41,382, near the EPA's 2.5% affordability threshold.

Public safety and staffing
The proposed general-fund budget includes a 3% COLA for most employees (the COLA cost for the general fund was listed as $111,285) and flagged a roughly 12% rise in health-insurance premiums that staff said they were actively negotiating. Lizzie introduced Price Robinson of SGR as an interim police chief consultant to support operations and the ongoing chief search; Lieutenant Don Waddle remains serving in an interim capacity. Staff said multiple police positions and the CID (criminal investigations division) are shorthanded.

Capital investments and debt
Staff outlined planned certificates-of-obligation (CO) borrowing for several capital projects in fiscal 2025:
- Completion of current street projects (Washington Street, Park Street from Maple to Culver, and portions of Hickory), targeted for completion by October 2025 (contract date October).
- Reconstruction and widening of East Sterling Park (from Busbarn Road past Centennial Park to Oak Lane), including conversion to two travel lanes plus wide shoulders; construction timing is planned for summer 2025 to limit school-year impacts.
- Phased downtown streetscape and sidewalk improvements (Washington, Main and Alamo) now under design; staff estimated roughly $4.5 million of total work to be timed across FY25'FY26 depending on grants and financing.
- A proposed $1.5 million upgrade to Eddy Moore Baseball Complex (all four fields) to support regional tournaments.

Fire apparatus and equipment: the city has placed the purchase order for a $1.9 million ladder truck; the university has agreed to cover approximately one-third of that cost (staff cited a university contribution of $578,000). The presentation also included a proposal to replace aging public-safety radios at a cost of $529,119, an opportunity tied to Hunt County's wholesale radio-system upgrade and associated pricing.

Utilities and environmental compliance
Staff reported the public-utility fund projected fiscal-24 revenue at about $6,843,577 and a proposed fiscal-25 utility budget of about $7,329,098 (a roughly 7% revenue increase). The presentation described the utility fund revenue mix (about 40% water, 39% wastewater, 20% solid waste). The city plans limited rate increases for residential users while increasing commercial/industrial shares to correct historical cross-subsidies.

Lizzie said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) invited the city to participate voluntarily in the Sanitary Sewer Overflow Initiative (SSOI). Participation would require dedicated sewer staffing and would limit the potential for large enforcement fines on a future overflow; opting out, staff said, could expose the city to stricter enforcement. Separately, staff said the city's wastewater treatment plant likely needs $6'$8 million of improvements; the administration is seeking an EPA grant that would be 100% federal funds with no local match if awarded. Staff reported the EPA $20 million grant application had cleared a first hurdle.

Department budgets and operational items
The workshop included department-level reviews for administrative services, finance (including utility billing and meter repairs), community development (building inspections and continued use of Bureau Veritas for plan review on large projects), code enforcement (contract mowing and high-grass enforcement), parks and recreation (maintenance of roughly 83 acres), library (city contribution to Friends of the Library), and streets/public works (about 100 miles of streets; recent increases in pothole repairs and asphalt purchases). Staff said meter communication failures are driving meter-repair work this year because nonreporting meters shift charges onto other customers.

Next steps
The presentation was a workshop request for council direction; no formal adoption or vote on the FY2025 budget or tax rate was recorded in the transcript. Staff asked council for guidance on the proposed tax rate, utility adjustments, and specific capital financing. City officials said they will refine numbers as final appraisal values and insurance-rate notices arrive and will return with adoption items and formal ordinances at the required meeting(s).