It was expected but the numbers from the 2018 certified taxable values, the first to reflect Luminant’s closing, are still pretty grim.
Led by a 90 percent collapse in industrial values, the totals released by Milam Appraisal District (AD) Chief Appraiser Dyann White showed an overall 11 percent drop for Milam County.
Rockdale Independent School District totals went down 35 percent.
Those are the two entities which contain Luminant’s Sandow 4 and 5 power units. The power plant closed in January.
Entities use certified values to plan the upcoming year’s tax rates.
Milam County Judge Dave Barkemeyer said he is proposing a 3-cent tax increase, from 70 to 73 percent. (See story above).
The Rockdale ISD is proposing to keep the same $1.36 rate. School districts aren’t like county governments. They also receive funding from the state and it is tied to the amount of local revenue they can generate.
Market value of Milam County industries went from $480,527,950 in 2017 to $46,428,010 this year, down $434,099,940.
That’s 90.34 percent.
Overall, Milam County values dropped from $1,453,073,928 to $1,296,636,408, a decrease of $156,437,520 or 10.77 percent.
The Rockdale ISD went from $$680,651,989 to $439,862,157, a drop of $240,789,832, or 35.38 percent.
CITY INCREASE—The City of Rockdale showed an increase. None of the Luminant properties are within the city limits.
Rockdale city went from $204,919,364 to $223,103,699 an increase of $18,184,335, or 8.87 percent.
The city is eyeing a budget which does not contain a tax rate hike, leaving the rate at 91.44 cents. (See story page 1A).
All of Milam County’s other taxing entities showed increases, ranging from 2.62 percent for the Buckholts ISD to 19.31 for the Gause ISD.
In addition to the entities listed in the box on page 1A, the AD also released values for the Donahoe and Elm Creek Watersheds and for the Holland, Lexington, Rogers and Rosebud-Lott ISDs, all of which have property inside Milam County.
OIL UP—It didn’t make up for the drastic loss in industrial values, but oil and gas values increased by 37 percent during the year, according to White.
Single-family dwellings increased by 14.62 percent going from $429,381,615 to $492,150,377.
White said there were approximately 1,550 protests filed during the summer tax protest season.
That compares to an average of about 1,200, she said.
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