Frisco councilman tells council members he will propose tax decrease

Frisco City Councilman Scott Johnson at a Sept. 3 meeting told his fellow council members he will propose a tax decrease at the Sept. 17 council meeting—the night the budget is set for adoption.

Johnson also proposed a tax decrease last year, although the council voted to keep the tax rate flat at $0.461910 as city staff is proposing to do again this year.

"I think in the good years, when revenue has increased, and sales tax revenues were far above what we had predicted and things that continue to look up, this sends a positive message to our citizens," Johnson said.

He said in a year where the council is looking to add about 49 full-time equivalent position and give raises, "there is some room to do something, if nothing more than just to send a message to our citizens that we are trying, that we are looking out."

Johnson said if there is not a way to cut the budget enough to get back to the effective rate (the calculated tax rate that would generate the same revenue as last year, or $0.438362 per $100 valuation), then he would like to at least try to cut $425,000 to get to the rollback rate of $0.459049, which is in between the effective rate and the proposed tax rate.

The tax rate has remained at $0.461910 for the past two years.