Hearing examines city tax rate
At the Bandera City Council’s regular meeting on September 20, a public hearing was held to discuss the 20222023 tax rate, during which City Administrator William Cox presented his findings, and the council chose a new rate that will be proposed at a future meeting.
Regarding the tax impact to citizen business owners and property owners, Cox stated, “There are four benchmarks that we have on tax rates. If we’re going to have this uncomfortable conversation, we’re gonna look at no-new-revenue rate, the 2021 adopted rate, the voter approval rate and the de minimis rate.
Using all the benchmarks, Cox expressed what each average family is going to pay, what each business will pay and what the difference is. “
So, these are typical benchmarks, and we can set the tax rates anywhere in between.
There’s an incremental amount, but I think they hit pretty consistent all the way across,” said Cox.
Cox said the city should be looking very closely at the voter approval rate.
“It’s triggering the elections and it’s just a little bit higher than our current tax rate. The voter approval rate is .48093 and our current adopted rate is .45363, so a difference of .0615. That would generate a total of $73,496 to the city,” said Cox.
This breaks down to $203 for each commercial property and $79 to each average household.
Councilwoman Toni Kunz asked if this additional revenue would be kept separate to pay towards city projects and city loans.
“We have to do the city wastewater. We are not compliant with that. Is there anyone on the council who does not support this?” asked Kunz.
Russe responded, “I support the .0615 increase. $79 I don’t take lightly, but we’ll be a lot better off if we do it now.”
Mayor Suzanne Schauman, added, “I have already set up the CIT account for these funds to be transferred whenever council is ready to do that.”
There were no public comments at the hearing, triggering a council consensus regarding the matter. The proposed tax rate for 2022-2023 will be presented to the council for discussion and action at an upcoming agenda.