In a special City Council meeting Aug. 25, council members unanimously approved two amendments from the previous budget workshop meetings that now culminate in a $172.6 million budget for the city of Kyle as well as a decreased property tax rate from the previous budget. The property tax in Kyle will go down approximately 2% in the new fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

According to the new budget, the city will be making approximately $13 million from property taxes alone, almost $2 million more than last year’s budget.

“You will state to me that you’ve lowered my taxes because you’ve decreased the amount, but the value of my home and our land has gone up quite a bit,” said Kay Rush, a Kyle resident of 15 years. “I want to know where you think I’m going to get this money. It seems that every entity wants to be in my pocket, and they want more.”

Despite the drop in property taxes, the rate at which Kyle is growing leaves current homeowners vulnerable to surging property values that may end up costing them more than they can afford.

“Appraisals throughout the city have increased, and that is a county entity that establishes those assessed evaluations through the city. [The] amount paid in taxes does increase based on those appreciated values. That is an issue; that is not a city issue. The City Council is lowering its tax rate; the amount paid ... is paid based on the assessed evaluation of the property,” City Manager Scott Sellars said.

Another issue pertaining to the property tax Rush mentioned was the homestead exemption that is still not enough to cover her rising tax bill. One must qualify for a homestead exemption, and it can reduce the overall amount of taxes a citizen pays, generally for a senior citizen or a disabled individual. The greater the exemption, the less paid in taxes.

Council Member Robert Rizzo mentioned that, while there is not much to be done about this year’s budget, the council can look at potentially adding to the homestead exemption the next fiscal year.

“It’s something that we should investigate. We’ve got a lot of citizens that’ve been here a long time; we hate to push people out,” he said.