By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
The first draft of the City of Bowie 2021-22 municipal budget was presented to the city council Monday night, with plans to dive into the figures at the July 19 budget workshop.
City Manager Bert Cunningham briefly reviewed the basic assumptions used in developing the budget and touched on some of the capital purchases being considered.
The proposal includes a three percent salary increase, where Cunningham said he will allow the department heads discretion where the raise is used.

Finance Director Carrie Moore said she used a 10 percent health insurance increase, but she anticipates it will be more. The budget was calculated using the present tax rate of .5447 cents per $100 in property value. Cunningham said based on the increase in property values the city may see an additional $140,000 in taxes.
This budget also includes the first payments on the $9.7 million loan for sewer line replacements from the Texas Water Development Board. Recently approved sewer rate schedules include increases to help fund the loan across the next five years.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.