Bellaire’s City Council unanimously approved an increase in the property tax rate for tax year 2019 at their meeting on Oct. 7. The rate, set now set at $0.4473 per $100 valuation, will portion $0.2905 to the city’s general fund and $0.1568 to the city’s debt service fund. The 2018 tax rate was $0.4313 per $100 of valuation. The total tax rate is a 1.64% increase from the previous year’s tax rate and will raise taxes for the average home valued at $936,582 by about $150 per year. Over the course of several budget workshops, the adopted tax rate became significantly lower than the 8% property tax increase originally proposed by staff in July. According to the Certified Appraisal Roll from the Harris County Appraisal District, the total taxable value on properties in Bellaire for 2019 is $4.82 billion, with the new tax rate to generate an estimated $21.55 million in tax revenue.