Members of the Bowie City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Aug. 26 to consider the first reading of the 2019-20 budget proposal and conduct the first of two public hearings on the proposed tax rate.
A draft of the proposed budget was approved at the workshop on Aug. 19. Per the proposed ordinance there is $8,251,643 appropriated in the general fund and $9,471,000 in the utility fund. The ordinance will require two readings with approval.
The proposed tax rate is .5445 cents per $100 in property value. This is .0195 cents higher than last year’s rate of .5250 cents. That rate is expected to generate an additional $130,620 in ad valorem tax revenue.
This tax rate increase is being offset in the budget by a reduction in the small business commercial electric rate. For the customer with an average 2,000 kilowatt hours the reduction will be about $14.40 a month and impact 656 meters across the city.
The second public hearing on the tax rate will be on Sept. 9 at a regular council meeting before it goes to the council for adoption.

Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.