A property tax rate of $0.4139 per $100 valuation was passed—a decrease of about 6.1 cents off the total tax bill, mostly from the maintenance and operations portion of the tax rate—according to city documents. The FY 2021-22 tax rate is $0.4754. Assistant City Manager Jared Werner said the decrease in the tax rate is the largest since 1996.
Due to increases in property values, however, the lower rate effectively raises tax dollars collected by about 5.9%, according to the city.
The tax rate puts New Braunfels below the average for other “benchmark” cities, which is a rate of $0.4780.
“This rate is higher than the no-new revenue rate; it is going to generate a higher levy, total property taxes from last year to this year,” Werner said.
The no new revenue rate would have clocked in about two cents lower than the adopted rate, at $0.3909 per $100 valuation.
The fiscal year 2022-23 budget clocked in at $312.10 million in expenditures, or a 14.5% increase over the FY 2021-22 budget. The city expects to pay for that through a combination of revenues estimated at $175.62 million, beginning capital reserves of $108.48 million and beginning fund reserves of $84.57 million. That would leave the city with a fund balance of $56.58 million in reserves.
The total New Braunfels city budget for fiscal year 2022-23 is $368.67 million.
Copies of the proposed city budget can be found at the New Braunfels Public Library, 700 E. Common St., and on the city’s website.
