Despite a passionate plea from Councilman Chris Hanie to consider the plight of local taxpayers, the Odessa City Council voted Tuesday to raise water, sewer, and property taxes for most Odessans, by a vote of six to one.

City Manager John Beckmeyer had previously promised that the City’s use of a new zero-based budget would save money, yet the budget passed Tuesday night featured a 9.4% overall increase of nearly $12 million, bringing the total budget to $305,193,877.

A notable change in the budget was the addition of nearly $1 million to staff the City Manager’s office with seven public relations and communications personnel. This came alongside an almost doubling of the City Secretary’s budget and a 76% increase in the Planning and Development department’s budget. On the other hand, the budget also sharply reduced the number of police officers.

While the City Council emphasized a small two-cent reduction in the property tax rate, the data presented showed that most taxpayers will actually pay more in city taxes due to rising property values.

In addition to higher property taxes, the city also increased water and sewer rates by 3% and trash rates by 3.5%. These hikes were approved despite ongoing service failures, which have left residents without water for days and with overflowing dumpsters.

Despite the nearly 10% increase in the budget, Councilperson Denise Swanner praised city staff for their hard work and lauded the value of the new zero-based budgeting process. However, there were several budgetary issues pointed out by citizens at the meeting. For example, the water and sewer fund’s revenues were budgeted to decrease by 1.7%, even though the council voted to raise water and sewer rates by 3%. Questions were raised about how revenues could decrease while rates were increasing.

Councilman Chris Hanie had a different perspective. He urged his fellow council members to drop the property tax rate to the “no new revenue” rate or lower, and to maintain current water, sewer, and trash rates. Hanie pointed out that the city will still be sitting on a surplus of over $272 million, equivalent to almost a full year of expenses. In a comment to Odessa Headlines, Councilman Hanie said, “I was really disappointed that Mayor Joven and the rest of the council showed so little concern for the difficulties our taxpayers are facing. With inflation, everyone is struggling to make ends meet, and we could have easily found some savings in our budget or used some of the $123 million general fund balance the city currently holds. I really wanted to hold the line and help our taxpayers, but I couldn’t get any support from City Manager Beckmeyer, Mayor Joven, or the other council members.”