Crediting a greater need for capital improvements and public safety personnel, Missouri City City Council raised the 2017 property tax rate by $0.01542, or 2.83 percent from the previous year. The new rate is $0.5601 per $100 valuation, including a $0.42166 per $100 valuation maintenance and operations rate and a $0.13844 interest and sinking rate. The council approved the new rate Monday. Key points to understand about the tax rate include:

1. The new rate will generate nearly $32.7 million.

City Manager Anthony Snipes said in a Sept. 23 report that the new tax rate would generate an estimated $32.7 million in revenue. City staff said property owners with an estimated home value of $100,000 would see a $15.42 annual increase in city property taxes in FY 2016-17 over FY 2015-16. The 2016 property tax rate was $0.54468 per $100 valuation. The difference would be $7.71 more per year for a home valued at $50,000, and $38.55 more per year for a home valued at $250,000. “I think people pay more than this for Starbucks,” Mayor Allen Owen said. “When you really sit down and think about what we’re going to do with this … it’s important for us to go into all areas of the city and do something.”

2. Revenue generated will fund staff hires and capital projects.

The revenue generated by the new tax rate will support new staff hires, public works and capital projects, staff said. These include two new police officers, two new code enforcement officers and an additional health inspector for the city. Staff said the higher tax rate will help the city focus on $16.9 million of capital improvement projects including additional traffic signals, reconstruction of Waterfall and Ashmont drives, and $2.4 million of sidewalk work.

3. The council said it would fund residents’ priorities.

The rate was raised from the initially proposal 2017 property tax rate of $0.51464 per $100 valuation. Results from a community survey published in June indicated that of the 514 Missouri City households that responded, street maintenance and traffic congestion were major priorities for residents. “The increases are based on addressing some of those core areas,” Snipes said to the council. “A lot of what we’ve done is tied to your strategic goals. …” Quality of police services and emergency preparedness were also high on respondents’ list of priorities for city investment. The survey was conducted by the Kansas-based ETC Institute in the spring. “I heard some constituents that did not agree with the tax increase, and I heard citizens that did agree,” Council Member Chris Preston said. “But the one constant that I did take away was that people just want to see their tax dollars at work.”