With Rockdale city residents now facing a new tax from another entity—see story this page—the Rockdale City Council plans to virtually eliminate a proposed 3.81-cent tax rate increase.
City council members, meeting for the second of two public hearings on the 2019-20 budget and tax rate Monday at City Hall, discussed possible spending cuts which could result in a new tax rate virtually identical to the current 91.18 cents.
The council has proposed raising the tax rate from 91.18 to 94.99 cents.
City Manager Chris Whittaker told The Reporter the budget paring sprang partially from the recent imposition of a new 6.5-cent property tax by the Rockdale Hospital District to provide a revenue stream for the new St. Joseph’s/HealthPoint clinic now nearing completion. See story on this page.
“That and the increase in water rates were factors in reducing the proposed tax rate,” he said.
Water rates have increased substantially as the city undertakes a massive project to replace Rockdale’s water system.
CUTS—Budget cuts of about $70,000 have been discussed including the care of parks and cemetery maintenance.
Mayor John King said a final $14,000 payment on a new backhoe could be paid for out of reserves, eliminating the need to place that payment in this year’s budget.
The council is expected to vote on the tax rate in its Sept. 9 meeting.
Whittaker said the cuts made so far would reduce the tax rate very close to the current 91.18 cents.
TAX RATE—On Aug. 8 the city published its required annual notification of calculation of the 2019 effective tax rate and rollback rate.
The effective tax rate is the rate which would bring in the same amount of revenue as the previous year was put at 90.54 cents.
That’s because taxable values inside the city limits increased from $222,665,640 to $226,913, 285, according to the Milam Appraisal District.
The rollback rate—the tax rate which would trigger an automatic rollback election was calculated at 95.08.
That same week the city published a notice proposing to increase the rate to 94.99 cents, just under the rollback rate.
Since 2007, city taxpayers have only paid ad valorem (property) taxes to the city, Milam County and Rockdale ISD. They will now again be paying a tax to the Rockdale Hospital District.
The tax rate is only part of the eventual tax burden. The other factor is the property evaluation, which comes from the Milam Appraisal District. Many Rockdale residents and businesses saw substantial increases in values in 2019.
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