In a nutshell
At an Aug. 22 meeting, League City City Council voted to approve adding $730,000 in property tax revenue to the fiscal year 2023-24 budget, proposing a tax rate of $0.396783 per $100 valuation, which is the no-new-revenue rate.
Quote of note
“For over a decade, we have strove to go after that no-new-revenue rate,” Mayor Nick Long said. “We would essentially neutralize the appraisal increases for citizens. ... They will pay the same in dollars as they did last year.”
Taken from new construction, the revenue will be used to fund reinvestment projects for sidewalks, streets and facilities as well as library training and service organization for city staff.
“We’ve obviously had new properties that came onto the property roll this year,” Long said. “That’s where that $730,000 extra comes into [play].”
Those opposed
In a workshop held Aug. 1, officials considered increasing the homestead exemption for seniors, reducing property tax revenue by $480,000.
<
Council Member John Bowen voted no on the first reading of the budget because he said it still didn’t capture the lost revenue the city took as a tax credit for senior residents.
“It’s fiscally irresponsible to keep spending that amount of money when you’re purposefully not getting the amount of money to move the city forward,” Bowen said.
What’s next
The budget and tax rate are scheduled for final approval Sept. 12.
