Alongside this budget, the City Council must approve a tax rate for residents. The first meeting and public hearing for the tax rate was held Aug. 15.
During the meeting, City Council came to an agreement to approve a tax rate of $0.517499. This tax rate is a decrease from the 2022-23 rate of $0.54.
Meeting highlights
Council Member Phil Vaughan made the first motion of the meeting, requesting that the tax rate be set to $0.49.
Vaughan said that while this rate would lead to a shortage from tax revenue, the proposed budget included around $382,000 in surplus funds that were unallocated.
“Even if we were short on that tax rate, then we would have that $382,000 to draw on if we wanted to,” he said.
While City Council did not approve the motion for a $0.49 rate due to concerns with not having enough surplus and leaving future councils with unpredictable problems, a new motion was mode for the de minimis rate of $0.517499.
With Council Members Vaughan, Ashton Bulman and Steven Buck voting against the new motion, Mayor John Williams broke the tie with the approval of the proposed rate.
According to the Texas comptroller, the de minimis rate is when the rate is equal to the sum of:
- The no-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate.
- The rate that, when applied to a taxing unit’s current total value, will impose an amount of taxes equal to $500,000.
- The current debt rate.
What’s next?
The Aug. 15 meeting was the first reading and public hearing for the tax rate and budget.
During the Sept. 5 meeting, City Council will hold another public hearing and reading of the proposed tax rate. Meetings are held at City Hall, 2150 Universal City Blvd., Universal City, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Following approval, the tax rate and budget will go into effect in October.
