The details
The proposed tax rate of $0.6030 is what city staff used to prepare the FY 2023-24 budget and is slated to generate $49.8 million in revenue.
There is also a “no new revenue” tax rate of $0.5305 per $100 valuation, which would generate the same amount of tax revenue as last year’s rate. If the council had gone with the no new revenue rate, there would be no need for public hearings.
Additionally, the voter-approved tax rate, which is the highest it can be before being sent to the ballot in an election, is $0.6887 per $100 valuation, which would generate just over $7 million more than the proposed rate.
Each cent of the tax rate is equal to almost $800,000 in revenue, according to agenda documents.
Ultimately, the council landed on the same tax rate as last year’s at $0.6030 per $100 valuation.
Diving in deeper
The overall tax rate is broken down into two parts: maintenance and operations; and interest and sinking fund.
The M&O portion is $0.4447 and goes toward core services, strategic goals, special programs and staff. The I&S portion is $0.1583 and goes toward capital projects.
The council has kept the tax rate the same for the past two years but has seen an increase in property tax revenue of almost 75% from 2017-2022.Despite the tax rate remaining the same, increasing property taxes means more revenue for the city. The overall market value within Hays County increased by 24% from 2022 to 2023, an ongoing trend in the Central Texas region, according to data from the Hays County Appraisal District.
Data presented at the meeting showed that there has been a 50% increase in the appraised value for single-family homes in Hays County.What’s next?
The council will have two public hearings Sept. 5 and 19; the council will adopt the tax rate at the Sept. 19 meeting.
