City Council members voted to approve general and utility fund budgets totaling $11,862,936 just before adjourning Tuesday night.

They approved a property tax rate of $0.57431 per $100 of assessed valuation to help raise the money needed to meet the budget.

The tax rate is the effective rate and is slightly lower than last year’s rate.

It is the amount figured by Bee County Tax Assessor-Collector Linda Bridge that would bring in the same amount of revenue that the city collected last year.

The rate was lower because assessed property values had risen in the last year.

Interim City Manager Joe B. Montez explained that next year’s budget would be a “bare-bones” spending plan that would provide enough money to take care of basic needs while providing some new police cars and a few other city vehicles.

Also, instead of getting a salary increase, the council voted to give each city employee a one-time $200 bonus to help meet rising costs of living.