City Council set the city's proposed fiscal year 2015-16 property tax rate and established a public hearing schedule for the tax rate and FY 2015-16 budget during its regular meeting July 28. Council members voted to keep the proposed rate at $0.434 cents per $100 property valuation for the 2015-16 fiscal year—the same rate that was set for FY 2014-15. “This budget was developed in the context that we have a lot of work in progress over the next few years,” City Manager David Morgan said. “We also recognized that we have significant impacts that have to be considered as a part of this budget [including] managing the growth impacts we are experiencing in Georgetown and plan to experience over the next several years.” The rate is higher than the effective rate of $0.41715 per $100 property valuation, which means the city must host two public hearings on the tax rate, Georgetown Chief Financial Officer Micki Rundell said. The effective rate it is the rate that would generate the same amount of money as the previous year. The proposed $284.7 million FY 2015-16 budget is 23.2 percent higher than the FY 2014-15 budget and includes the city’s $52.8 million general fund budget, Morgan said. The general fund, which serves as the city’s operating budget, increased 2.7 percent in the proposed budget. The increases to the budget include the issuance of $11.7 million in voter-approved bonds for the first phase of the road bond approved by voters in May and the first phase of San Gabriel Park improvements. The average home value increased 9.9 percent in Georgetown to $234,785 in 2015. In 2014 the average home value was $213,554. The average tax bill is expected to increase by $92.15, Morgan said. Morgan had presented a tax rate of $0.44195, which would have increased the average tax bill by $110.81, he said. Council Member Tommy Gonzalez made a motion to use nearly $300,000 from the City Council’s special reserve fund to keep the tax rate at its current level. The reserve fund is about $815,000 of projected excess funds from the FY 2014-15 budget, Morgan said. “We have spent quite a bit of time, and I really appreciate the council’s work and feedback in terms of giving us direction,” Morgan said. “Our hope is that we put together a proposed budget that really meets the expectations and directions that you’ve set and is a good, careful consideration for a plan for next year in the municipal budget.” The council discussed the budget during two workshops July 16 and 17. Council will hold two public meetings on the property tax rate and the proposed budget—Aug. 11 at 4 p.m. and Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.—in the council chambers at 101 E. Seventh St. The council is expected to have the first reading of the budget Aug. 25 and the second reading Sept. 8 to approve the budget. To download a copy of the proposed budget, click here.