Here is the 2020-21 Plano budget breakdown

PLANO, TX – The Plano City Council on Sept. 14 approved the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which will go into effect on Oct. 1.

The main takeaways from the budget boil down to three items: property tax rate, changes in community investment programs and cuts to city expenditures.

The official property tax rate is 44.82 cents per 100 dollars of assessed property evaluation.

The effective property tax rate is the same as last year according to Karen Rhodes-Whitley, budget director for the city of Plano.

With regards to cuts in city expenditures, Rhodes-Whitley said this was deemed necessary.

“We’ve had a loss of revenue (due to the COVID). It’s affected many of our revenue sources – sales taxes, municipal court fines, hotel/motel taxes, building permits, I mean it’s really affected a lot,” Rhodes-Whitley said.

In addition to cutting these costs, nearly every department in city government was required to implement a hiring freeze, with the exception of law enforcement and homelessness services.

“At the end of the day, really the only program that the City Manager and City Council added was for homelessness,” Rhodes-Whitley said.

This hiring freeze will likely stay in place until the beginning of 2021, according to Rhodes-Whitley.

Rhodes-Whitley said this hiring freeze has saved Plano $3.5 million this calendar year. Although the city is not hiring at the moment, this is the only change in employment policy caused by the pandemic. There have been no furloughs, no pay cuts, and no increases in salary for city employees.

The only department that was approved to receive more funding in the upcoming fiscal year is Housing and Urban Development. The increase in funds is going to a variety of projects aimed at preventing homelessness and assisting those experiencing it. The department will also be adding a new role — homeless services coordinator.

In addition to investment in programs preventing homelessness and assisting those who are experiencing it, the city is prioritizing other forms of community investment this fiscal year. Rhodes-Whitley said the Community Investment Program budget totals $299 million.

Notable community investment expenditures include an additional $1.3 million allocated toward books and digital materials for Plano libraries and significant investments in infrastructure: $117 million on street improvements and $48 million on municipal drainage projects, including refurbishing 42-year-old piping underneath Collin Creek Mall.

“Due to the rebuilding of the mall … we’re having to … renovate the pipe,” Rhodes-Whitley said.

The city also approved new funding to the Agape Resource and Assistance Center, which is a homeless housing assistance service for homeless single women, moms and their children located in East Plano. Habitat for Humanity of Collin County will also receive $30,000 this year.

Interested residents can access a copy of the 2020-21 budget breakdown in more detail here for all city expenditures and here for community investment program expenditures.