Following the death of Magnolia City Administrator Paul Mendes on Aug. 22, Magnolia City Council members will hold a special city council meeting Aug. 27 to consider appointing an interim city administrator. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Magnolia City Hall, 18111 Buddy Riley Blvd., Magnolia. According to the meeting agenda, other items include a closed session regarding ongoing litigation on the city's institutional water user category, as well as consideration to adopt the city's fiscal year 2019-20 budget or vote to postpone the budget adoption until a Sept. 10 city council meeting. A second public hearing on the city's tax rate for FY 2019-20 will take place prior to the special meeting. The proposed tax rate totals $0.4645 per $100 valuation, a decrease from the FY 2018-19 tax rate of $0.4675 per $100 valuation, according to the agenda. City Council members could also choose to adopt the effective tax rate—the tax rate required to bring in the same amount of revenue as last year—of $0.4378 per $100 valuation. According to the agenda, the average taxable value of a residence in the city decreased from $180,526 in FY 2018-19 to $170,201 in FY 2019-20. Council members may adopt the tax rate at the Aug. 27 meeting or postpone the tax rate adoption until the Sept. 10 council meeting. See the agenda below.