Latest news with #LubbockFireRescue
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
What's the 2026 City of Lubbock budget? Here's what to know as council talks are underway
Budget season is upon us, and just like local school districts and Lubbock County, the Lubbock City Council must decide what the city's 2026 budget will look like. Controlling the budget for several city departments and staff — including Lubbock Fire Rescue and police — the council and mayor must work out what objectives, initiatives, and projects will be funded next year and which will be axed. Others are reading: Fate of Lubbock, El Paso and San Angelo NPR, PBS stations remains unknown after federal cuts Check back daily to this story to see quick takeaways and talking points, and budget talks for the City of Lubbock start to heat up in Citizens Tower. Day 3: City of Lubbock Budget talks canceled After Tuesday's major setback from LCAD's calculations on the city's No‐New‐Revenue Tax Rate and the Voter Approval Tax Rate, Wednesday's meeting has been canceled. It is yet to be seen if day four of the city's budget session occurs or if the city council will pick up its budget talks on Aug. 12. Day 2: City budget torpeadoed by LCAD numbers, stalls talks on Wednesday On Tuesday, after hours of discussion about various enterprise funds in the city budget, City Manager Jarrett Atkinson announced a major setback in the budget talks, which caused the council to cancel Wednesday's meeting. Vital pieces of the budget come from the Lubbock Central Appraisal District — an independent tax entity set up by state law — which sends the city its preliminary and certified tax values. Atkinson also said LCAD sends the city its calculations that form the No‐New‐Revenue Tax Rate and the Voter Approval Tax Rate. However, when the city received the calculations worksheet from LCAD on Monday evening, Atkinson said city staff took issue with it. The issue is that the calculations are based on last year's levy, not the new year's levy, with Atkinson saying that maintenance and operations drop from $83 million to $81 million. "What it means, if this ends up being right, in essence, the first $2 million of new revenue is just getting you to zero so that is a fundamental change to where we were," Atkinson said. "The short version, if you adopt a no new revenue tax rate this year, you'll have $2 million less than you did the year before, you get the $1.5 million off the new (revenue), so you're $500,000 in the hole." For context, this means that the $1.5 million in new revenue from growth is not enough to offset the $2 million loss from the miscalculated base levy, meaning the city would $500,000 in the red. Putting all of the projected miscalculations from LCAD into terms for the city budget and context, here's what we get: The No-New-Revenue Tax Rate is the rate that would bring in the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year The calculated FY26 No-New-Revenue Tax Rate is 46.1938 cents — almost half a percent lower than the FY25 rate of 46.6749 cents. The Voter Approval Rate is the highest rate the city can set without requiring a public election The calculated FY26 Voter-Approval Tax Rate is 47.1053 cents — 9/100 of a penny higher than the FY25 rate of 47.012 cents. This disputed miscalculation comes at a time when the city is working against an action item scheduled on Aug. 12 — propose a maximum tax rate for FY 26. "This is, I don't know how to describe it," Atkinson said. "I've never seen anything like this. Your calculated numbers versus your worksheet numbers are usually within tenths of a percent on the total, and they are not." While there were murmurs from the city council that they were ready to debate and give guidance to the city manager on how to move forward with the budget on Wednesday, the council decided to cancel Wednesday's scheduled meeting to allow city staff to work on the issue. Thursday's meeting is still up in the air as city staff works with LCAD to verify its tax rate calculations, but is still scheduled to take place as of 5 p.m. Thursday. Day 1: Setting the stage for the rest of the week. Monday was all about presenting the staff-created budgets and the overall big picture budget. Here are the quick takeaways and a breakdown of each departmental budget. City Manager Jarrett Atkinson told the council that the significant economic drivers for FY26 will be the recent drop in sales tax revenue — which he hopes to see increase in the future — and value of new property. Proposed total revenue funding for FY26 is $953,898,000 — a 2.8% decrease from FY25. Proposed total expenses for FY26 are $943,277,000 — a 2.7% decrease from FY25. The budget factors in 3.75% more in total property taxes than last year's budget, equating to over $4.5 million in additional revenue to the FY26 budget. Of that over $4.5 million, nearly $2 million comes from tax revenue from new property. The proposed FY26 Property Tax Rate is $0.479365 — an increase from the FY25 Property Tax Rate of $0.470120. The city's Certified Net Taxable Value rose to $28.5 billion, a $695.6 million increase or a 2.5% increase over the prior year. Taking everything into account, Atkinson used the example of an average $222,300 single-family residential house that saw a 1% increase in taxable values and, impacted by the tax rate, would see a $31.45 increase next year. What are each of the City of Lubbock's departments' budgets for FY26? Here's what each city department is asking for and whether that is an increase or decrease from FY 2025's budget. City Attorney — $2.7 million (decrease). City Council — $601,937 (decrease). City Manager — $1.9 million (decrease). City Secretary — $1.9 million (decrease). Facilities — $5.1 million (decrease). Finance — $3.9 million (increase). Human Resources — $1.25 million (decrease). Internal Audit — $308,608 (increase). Non-Departmental — $4.3 million (increase). Communications & Public Engagement — $1 million (decrease). Building Safety — $3.1 million (increase). Code enforcement — $3 million (decrease). Environmental Health & Vector — $2.35 million (increase). Planning — $1.13 (decrease). Libraries — $4.2 (decrease). Museums — $1.4 (increase). Parks & Recreation — $15 (increase). Engineering — $1 million (increase). Solid waste — $26.6 million (decrease). Streets — $5.9 million (decrease). 2026 Street Maintenance Program — $14.5 million. Traffic — $4.65 million (flat). Animal Services — $3.9 million (increase). Emergency Management — $3.9 million (increase). Lubbock Fire Rescue $76.5 million (increase). Municipal Court — $1.97 million (decrease). Lubbock Police Department — $99 million (increase). Public Health — $1.98 million (increase). When will the Lubbock City Council meet to talk about the budget? The council is set to convene the following days at 2 p.m. in Citizens Tower — 1314 Ave. K: Monday, Aug. 4. Tuesday, Aug. 5. Wednesday, Aug. 6. Thursday, Aug. 7. For those who can not attend in person, the proceedings will be streamed at How can I watch, participate during Lubbock's budget workshops? The workshops are open to the public; however, public participation is not allowed at this time as this is an opportunity for the city council to hear from heads of departments on their budget requests. The finalized budget will be brought forward at a later date, with opportunities for public comment. Mateo Rosiles is the Government & Public Policy reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Got a news tip for him? Email him: mrosiles@ This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock city council, department staff talk taxes, craft 2026 budget Solve the daily Crossword
MTV Lebanon
13-03-2025
- General
- MTV Lebanon
Watch: Explosion at Texas Tech Substation, No Injuries Reported
Lubbock Fire Rescue says there are no injuries reported at this time in an explosion at a substation on Texas Tech's campus on Wednesday night. It says the area is still an active site, though. Texas Tech says students are welcome back inside residence halls. Everyone is asked to avoid the Engineering Key. Employees are asked to not return to campus to get their belongings at this moment. Texas Tech announced an immediate start to Spring Break, closing down for Thursday and Friday. Not all dorms are evacuated as of 10:30 p.m. Texas Tech police is asking students to wait until the morning to leave for Spring Break because of safety reasons travelling at night. Around 7 p.m., LFR received reports of a gas leak in the Engineering Key. When crews arrived, they found multiple manholes bellowing with smoke and fire. An investigation is ongoing.
Al Bawaba
13-03-2025
- Science
- Al Bawaba
Substation explosion in Texas university causes power outage
Published March 13th, 2025 - 05:51 GMT ALBAWABA - Emergency services in Texas opened a probe into an underground fire and explosion at a power substation which caused multiple power outages and evacuations on the Texas Tech University campus. Texas University officials reported multiple power outages at about 7 p.m. and called Lubbock Fire Rescue that responded to a reported gas leak at the 900 block of Boston Avenue. Caitlynn Jeffries, a public information officer, for the Texas Tech Police Department, confirmed that an explosion occurred in a manhole near the engineering key in the central part of campus near the 900 block of Boston Avenue. An explosion at a substation has sparked chaos at Texas Tech, causing fires, power outages, and evacuations across parts of the campus. Adding to the mystery, eerie green flames have been seen shooting from a manhole. Officials have confirmed they are responding to multiple… — Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) March 13, 2025 No injuries have been reported from the explosion, according to officials with Lubbock Fire Rescue. Students said they saw huge smoke and green flames from the site of the explosion. Lubbock Fire Rescue later confirmed that 'active fire and smoke' was seen issuing from multiple manholes on campus. The TTUHSC campus called on students and staff to leave the Lubbock campus at 8:35 p.m. On X, the university wrote: "TechAlert! Power remains out on campus. Barricades are being removed. Students are allowed in residence halls. Continue to avoid the Engineering Key. Employees should not return to campus to gather belongings until further notice." © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
