What happened
After three days of budget workshops, commissioners finally came to the conclusion the no-new-revenue rate would not be feasible to fund the needs of county departments and law enforcement. County officials also set aside the capital improvement project list for a potential infrastructure bond or debt issuance.
The breakdown
The final version of the proposed budget will go to a mandatory public hearing before being ratified by the court. The final numbers approved are:
- Fiscal year 2023-24 budget: $328.94 million
- Proposed tax rate: $0.3696 per $100 valuation
- Total budget increase: $7.9 million
- No-new-revenue rate: $0.3479 per $100 valuation
While the tax rate is slightly lower than the FY 2022-23 tax rate of $0.3742, it is still above the no-new-revenue rate, which means residents who experienced higher tax appraisals this year will see higher property tax bills.
In their words
“I know to continue to try and get to a particular rate we set out our whole program here at moving forward on what are the needs and priorities of the people and giving each of the departments what they need," Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said.
What’s next
A public hearing on the tax rate and budget will be held Aug. 30 at 9:30 a.m. and followed by official approval from the court.
