MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Waco faces budget challenges as growth slows, with city debt reaching $1.6 million for 2025 and officials implementing cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of 72 positions.
- House Bill 9 will raise the exemption for business personal property from $2,500 to $125,000.
- Waco eliminates 72 positions to save $5 million and manage $1.6 million in debt, with possible reductions to library hours and community services.
- Officials say the debt stems from key infrastructure upgrades for the city’s growth, including improvements to water, sewer treatment, and roads.
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“A lot of rapid growth in this area, fast development, a lot of infrastructure, a lot of new businesses opening, a lot of people moving to Waco,” said Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Blu Kostelich.
That’s been the reality for Waco the past 10 years, but at a recent city council meeting, our city leaders say that momentum is slowing down. So the city is taking a look at the budget
“I feel great about where we’re at, we continue to grow in both sales and property tax, other city’s in the state are not holding that growth but we have to be smart about continued growth and continued budget expansion in the headwinds of inflation and increased costs,” said City of Waco Mayor Jim Holmes.
According to the chart below, for 2025, the City of Waco is just over 1.6 million in debt, nearly half a million increase from 2024. Kostelich said Waco’s debt looks high right now because of improvements made to water, sewer treatment, and roads--infrastructure investments necessary for a growing community.
“We did ramp up the debt over the last few years, but again where we are today. We’re trying to level that out and we’re trying to balance our future needs and what our critical infrastructure needs are today,” said Kostelich.
As city leaders look for ways to cut the budget, 72 city positions have been eliminated, and 6 have been frozen, saving the city at least 5 million. But they could soon see a hit from bills passed from the 89th state legislative session. House Bill 9 will raise the exemption for business personal property from $2,500 to $125,000. In return, leaving the city, missing out on 1.7 million.
“Good for our businesses out there that helps a lot of small businesses, but what that does is shift some of that burden onto the property tax payers on the residential side,” said Kostelich.
Other ways city representatives say they can save some money would be shortening library hours and adding a $20 charge to reserve community rooms. Another suggestion was to change the community center hours from closing at 9 to closing at 8. These are not set in stone, just suggestions.
