A mayor-led effort to reduce Austinites' property tax bills failed during final budget deliberations Sept. 8 and 9.
The approved $3.5 billion fiscal year 2014–15 city budget includes a lower property tax rate but increases the overall cost to the average Austin taxpayer because of significant increases to property values throughout the city.
The property tax rate on Sept. 9 was reduced to 48.09 cents per $100 of valuation. That means the median Austin residential tax bill—for a home costing $202,254—will increase $3.49 per month in the 2014–15 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell sought to reduce the tax rate further, proposing a tax rate of 47.73 cents per $100 of valuation. That would have saved taxpayers approximately $4.5 million, according to the mayor's estimates, money that was instead used mostly for one-time expenditures sought by other council members who rejected the mayor's proposal.
At the beginning of the meeting Sept. 8, Leffingwell warned council of his intentions to object to any additional budget items.
"I'm going to vote against a lot of items today. I really like the idea of funding those items, but it's just the fact that this is going to result in a tax increase," Leffingwell said. "Already we have a tax increase, and this will add to that."
The property tax rate fluctuated greatly in the past five years. From FY 2006–09, the rate decreased from 44.30 cents to 40.12 cents. The rate then swung upward in FY 2010 to 42.09 cents and has been climbing ever since, including a 50.29 cent tax rate in FY 2013–14, according to city budget data.
Monthly bill increases
Despite the mayor's effort to bring the tax rate down further, this upcoming fiscal year's budget represents the first year-over-year property tax rate decrease since FY 2009. Monthly electricity and water bills will also increase as a result of the approved budget. Austin Energy bills will increase approximately $2.72 per month for the typical customer.
Austin Water Utility bills will increase by $2.62 per month for the typical customer because of a systemwide rate increase. The publicly owned water utility previously considered a typical customer someone who uses 8,000 gallons of water a month or less. In the 2014–15 fiscal year, however, Austin Water Utility will set a new threshold for typical consumer usage at 7,000 gallons of water a month. For users who require more than 7,000 gallons of water, their monthly bill may increase by $9.79, according to the city.
Budget bulked before passage
Council members spent their two-day budget deliberations adding money to different initiatives, resulting in a combined $97.6 million not originally included in the 2014–15 fiscal year's budget.
Many of the proposed budget increases opposed by Leffingwell gained council approval because they were requested by city departments and Austin residents, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole said.
For instance, when Leffingwell objected to Councilwoman Kathie Tovo's proposal to shift money to help fund Austin ISD's Family Resource Centers, Cole defended the idea.
"I would say that we also heard from the district about the needs of this item, and it coincides with [another item that was already approved]," Cole said.
The same pattern occurred when Leffingwell objected to Cole-proposed funding for AISD's Parent Support Specialist program.
"Council has had a long history of supporting the school district, and they brought to us specific proposals that we believe we can actually do," Cole said. "So the money would go directly into the community."
