By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños and city workers can breathe a sigh of relief as the city’s new $1.5 billion budget becomes law without the stroke of the mayor’s pen. The plan avoids resident trash fee hikes, locks in funding for core community services from public safety to senior programs and includes upcoming retention raises for city employees.
Mayor Tim Keller allowed the 10-day signing deadline to pass, letting the budget become law without his signature so employee raises could move forward. Under city charter rules, the budget automatically took effect once that deadline expired. But Keller made sure to distance himself from the Council’s math, stating, “The budget will become law, though I remain concerned about the Council’s decision to build it around an overly-optimistic forecast that could put core services at risk.”
Officially published by the City Clerk’s office June 8, the approved fiscal year 2027 budget will take effect July 1. After identifying what it called an $11.8 million discrepancy in the administration’s recurring revenue assumptions, the City Council revised the budget using alternative calculations to restore positions the mayor originally proposed cutting, avoid proposed fee increases and bring the city’s lowest-paid workers closer to market pay. While Keller said the council’s amendments “helped with raises for employees and investments in public safety,” he declined to sign the final bill, warning that the revenue model would require his administration to “closely monitor revenues and work to ensure the City’s long-term financial stability.”…