Hutto City Council is considering a new, proposed maximum property tax rate ahead of adopting its 2019-20 fiscal year budget.

The lower proposed maximum rate follows citizen concerns expressed before and during an August 1 City Council meeting.

Hutto City Council set the maximum property tax rate proposal at $0.631 per $100 of taxable value August 1 with a 5-2 vote. Council members Tanner Rose and Mike Snyder voted against the amended tax rate proposal, saying the reconfigured maximum rate was approved without sufficient council discussion.

The proposal is more than four cents lower than the rollback rate of $.0676 per $100 of taxable value, initially calculated into the proposed FY 2019-20 budget released by City Manager Odis Jones July 26.

“The council is focused on providing value in city services---mainly public safety, streets and drainage and parks,” Hutto Mayor Doug Gaul said in an August 1 news release. “The city manager and his staff presented council with three tax rate options that would provide those services, and we’ve opted for the second option which we feel will best meet the needs of the city in a cost-effective and responsible way.”

The $0.631 per $100 taxable value option, if approved, will be used to help fund debt from November 2018 bond projects, as well as go toward hiring additional staff associated with the bond projects.

Following the decision made by City Council, Hutto City Manager Odis Jones and Chief Financial Officer Michel Sorrell will reconfigure and present an updated budget proposal at an August 15 City Council meeting, which will also include the first of two public hearings regarding the city budget.