Budget of $ 1.2 billion for fiscal year 2021-2022 approved

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo and city council have approved a $ 1.2 billion operating and capital budget for fiscal 2022, which begins October 1.

The Balanced Budget is designed to meet top community priorities, including streets, public safety, parks, and neighborhood improvements. With this budget, we can invest significant dollars in high priority areas without increasing the city’s property tax rate in the fiscal year 2022 budget. The city’s financial reserves also remain strong, and the three agencies of ratings reaffirmed Corpus Christi’s credit rating in July as being in the high quality category.

The budget includes:

  • $ 122.3 million for street maintenance and reconstruction, or more than $ 328 million in three years
  • $ 2 million for a third in-house street repair paving team made up of 12 workstations and new equipment
  • $ 750,000 for the Safe Route to School program to rehabilitate city-wide sidewalk infrastructure near education centers
  • $ 880,000 for Vision Zero upgrades and indoor illuminated LED street name signs
  • Funding of 10 new police positions; five more than planned and adds 30 instead of 25 new police officer positions as part of the Council’s five-year plan
  • New fully budgeted police academy set to start construction in 2022
  • Major equipment upgrades like on-board mobile data computers, Computer Assisted Dispatch and Records Management System (RMS), additional police marked vehicles, crime scene mapping drone
  • Funding of eight new fire stations to create an additional medical unit at Station 17 (Yorktown) bringing the total to 13 to 12
  • Equipment upgrades to include three medical ambulance units, a fire pump truck, a drinking water tanker and a hazardous materials response unit
  • New Fire Station # 3 located at Morgan Avenue fully funded for construction on budget
  • $ 2.9 million budgeted for many one-time capital improvements at ten area parks, including two new dog parks and a new play area at Cole Park
  • Addition of eight swim instructors to expand the summer swim instructional program
  • Funding for 230 additional shade trees in city parks
  • Funding for the rebuilding of People’s Boardwalk
  • Funding for dredging as part of the jetty replacement project
  • Seawall and Watchtower Lighting Upgrades
  • Event programming on the dike
  • Improvements to the art center and art museum facilities and full operational funding of the history and science center
  • Two additional live release coordinators and an additional veterinarian position
  • Four full-time Animal Care Kennel Technicians
  • Five additional code enforcement officers bringing the total to 28 out of 23
  • Assessment and first exterior improvements of the La Retama Library
  • Addition of two posts for Litter Crew to clean the main trade corridors
  • Remove storm water from the water tariff and create an equitable tariff structure.
  • No increase in the property tax rate
  • No increase in solid waste rate
  • No increase in gas tariff
  • Small wastewater increase of $ 1.97 per month for an average residential customer with an average of 5,000 gallons for the winter quarter
  • Water prices drop for most residential customers with neutral compensation for new stand-alone stormwater charges

Community engagement is important, and as part of the FY2022 budget process, council members and city staff held community meetings in all five city council districts for the third year in a row. The contribution of residents was instrumental in finalizing the budget. An overwhelming demand was for more street funding. As a result, $ 812,219 was added for the reconstruction of residential streets.

For about three decades, the city and previous city councils have tried unsuccessfully to implement a stand-alone stormwater charge for Corpus Christi. This mayor and city council finally did something to fix the problem by approving a stand-alone storm water service and a new stand-alone tariff structure. In doing so, we solve another legacy issue for our community and continue to make Corpus Christi a premier city.

“The City’s $ 1.2 billion budget is a smart budget that has benefited from an unprecedented public contribution,” said Mayor Paulette M. Guajardo. “It’s a balanced budget that does not increase property taxes, but reduces waste and prioritizes our spending to fix our streets, hire more police officers, firefighters and improve our quality of life.”
For more information and to view the approved budget, visit

https://www.cctexas.com/departments/budget-strategic-management

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