From
Diana G. Ortiz, Chief Financial Officer
Title
Place a proposal on the September 16, 2014 agenda to adopt a 2014 proposed tax rate of $0.669998/$100 valuation, and call two public hearings on a tax rate that exceeds the effective tax rate for August 19, 2014 and September 2, 2014
Presenter
Diana G. Ortiz, Chief Financial Officer
Recommended Action
Approve
Analysis
The Truth in Taxation laws requires the city to make proposed tax rate information available to citizens and that they have the opportunity to comment. One step in this process is for the city to discuss the proposed tax rate and schedule two public hearings. The public hearings are recommended to be held on August 19 and September 2, 2014 which are regular, scheduled council meeting dates.
Municipalities are required to publish their rollback tax rates in the newspaper, along with the effective tax rate and other required schedules. The rollback tax rate divides the overall property taxes into two categories - maintenance and operations (M&O) taxes and debt service taxes (I&S). By state law, the rollback rate for taxing units is set at an 8% increase in M&O. This rate excludes taxes on properties no longer in the taxing unit and also excludes the current taxable value of new properties (growth).
The Texas Property Tax Code mandates specific publications to be provided by the City. The code specifies that "When a proposed rate exceeds the lower of the rollback rate or the effective rate, the taxing unit's governing body must vote to place a proposal to adopt the rate on the agenda of a future meeting as an action item. This vote must be recorded. The proposal must specify the desired rate."