The Lakeway City Council held a public hearing Sept. 9 on the 2019-20 fiscal year tax rate, which currently is proposed at $0.1645 per $100 of valuation.

During the special meeting, Lakeway resident Tom Kilgore encouraged the council to raise the tax rate in order to take care of the city's growing needs and listed as an example Lakeway's police officer salaries.

"No one wants to do this, but whether you do it or not, I urge you to give this thoughtful consideration," Kilgore said.

Due to a roughly $314 million increase in Lakeway's net taxable property value, the tax rate, which is the same as the 2018-19 rate, would amount to an increase of about $38 in the average taxpayer's city portion of the bill, from $868 last year to $905 this year.

The average home value in Lakeway for 2019 is $550,296, according to city documents, up from $527,427 in 2018.

No action was taken during the public hearing, and the council is scheduled to adopt the tax rate at the end of September.