Humble City Council members held the first hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2024-25 budget and tax rate during a Sept. 12 meeting. The proposal will increase the city's tax rate by just over 8% and narrowly miss a voter-approval tax rate election.
What you need to know
During budget workshops in early August, city officials discussed a number of infrastructure improvements that would be necessary in the next fiscal year. As a result of these improvements, council members agreed to utilize a special tax rate known as the de minimus rate.
According to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, the de minimus rate is a special tax rate that municipalities with a population of less than 30,000 can use to fund necessary infrastructure improvements. The rate will allow a city to collect an additional $500,000 in property tax revenue without requiring a election if it surpasses the voter-approval rate.
The breakdown
While the proposed tax rate is higher than the voter-approval tax rate, no election would be required since it does not exceed the de minimus rate of $0.2614 per $100 of valuation.
- Proposed tax rate: $0.2614 per $100 of valuation
- No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.2427 per $100 of valuation
- Voter-approval tax rate: $0.2526 per $100 of valuation
The final approval of the budget and tax rate will occur on Sept. 26.
What else?
Council members also voted Sept. 12 to approve a $280,000 carpet replacement at the Humble Civic Center.
"This is coming in just under the wire before the end of the fiscal year, and we'll get that done," Humble City Manager Jason Stuebe said during the meeting.
After executive session, the board approved a $780,000 purchase, which includes closing costs, of the commercial property located at 301 Dennis Ave., Humble.
