Clarification: This article has been updated with more information on Bellaire's upcoming tax rate public hearing.
In a 5-1 record vote Aug. 5, the Bellaire City Council voted to call a public hearing on the proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2025. If adopted Aug. 19, the city will hold an election Nov. 5 that will allow voters to accept or reject the city's property tax rate that is proposed above the voter-approval rate.
The full story
City officials were presented with several tax rate possibilities July 15 that included sticking with the voter-approval rate or raising it by different increments.
- The voter-approval rate—projected at the time of the July 15 meeting as $0.4355 per $100 of valuation—has since been revised to $0.4333 per $100 valuation.
- The highest proposed rate was $0.4766 per $100 valuation.
- Other rate options presented included $0.4474 per $100 valuation and $0.4591 per $100 valuation.
At the Aug. 5 meeting, the Council voted to pursue a tax rate of up to $0.4766, Chief Financial Officer Terrence Beaman said, adding the council can ultimately decide to approve a lower rate.
“We are proposing this rate, but by the time we take action to physically adopt the rate, we have the option to adopt a rate lower than that,” Beaman said. “I think that’s important to communicate because there has been years where we propose the tax rate, but adopt a lower one."
Beaman said the rate will allow the city to fund all supplemental items in the budget and add a projected $1 million to its reserve.
The proposed tax rate is $0.0396, or 9.06%, higher than the current tax rate and $0.0537, or 12.7%, higher than the voter-approval rate.
Those in favor
Mayor Gus Pappas and council members Winfred Frazier, Ross Gordon, Brian Witt and Jackie Georgiou all voted in favor of the proposed rate.
“It’s very difficult to operate inside the 3.5% revenue cap in the environment we are in currently,” Witt said. “In the current climate ... we have to make a lot of tough trade offs. If we can’t get what we need inside the voter-approval rate then we need to prioritize things and make sure we are making budgetary decisions.”
Those opposed
Council member Catherine Lewis voted against the proposal, and council member Cindy Taylor was absent from the meeting.
“I believe ... proposing the higher rate, that it is a plan to fail,” Lewis said. “I believe that the money is there below the voter-approval rate, and I don’t want my name on it. I can’t live with that, so I have to say ‘no.’”
Former mayor Cindy Siegel also spoke during the public hearing portion on the budget against raising the tax rate.
“We live in a very affluent town, so I think it’s very easy to think that everyone can afford the taxes and fees associated with the big houses,” she said. “But we still have seniors who are on a fixed income or young families that want to live in Bellaire because of our quality of life. ... They maybe can’t afford those extra fees, those extra taxes. I think we need to be cognizant of that when looking at the budget.”
Next steps
Another budget workshop may take place Aug. 12.
A public hearing on the tax rate will be held Aug. 19 along with approval of the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget and tax rate.
Pappas said he hopes to see many Bellaire residents attend the tax rate public hearing.
“We have to notify everybody of what we voted on considering,” he said. “Personally, I think it’s a wake up call for everybody to come look at this and ... it would draw a tremendous amount of interest because that will be very helpful to us in terms of deliberating. I would like to draw as much input as possible.”
Voters will be able to accept or reject the final proposed tax rate during the November election. If the proposed tax rate is rejected, the city will adopt the voter-approval rate of $0.4333 per $100 of valuation.
