Tuesday, November 26, 2024 at 3:52 AM
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Residents silent on city taxes at hearing

Boerne officials held the first public hearings on a proposed property-tax rate and budget, but received no comment on the decreased rate that would bump the average tax bill about $100.

Boerne officials held the first public hearings on a proposed property-tax rate and budget, but received no comment on the decreased rate that would bump the average tax bill about $100.

After months of planning and meetings, city staff landed on a roughly $97 million budget as well as the lowered tax levy.

“ You know this is an interesting time in our annual process,” City Manager Ben Thatcher said of the process earlier. “ This is where the nitty gritty comes down to all our months of strategic planning, understanding citizen input, understanding master- plan needs, what do we need to effect and implement.”

He added, “We have strong conversations with our staff about what is it we need to do timewise, and how do we allocate the resources that we have? So, this is why I get so excited because we’re doing the work of the city as a collaborative team with the city staff, with City Council, based on the input from our community.”

While the tax rate being proposed by municipal staff – 45 cents per $100 of taxable value – would be a decrease from the current 47 cents per $100, the rise is tied to the skyrocketing property values across the state and places the city just eight-one-hundredths of a cent below the voter- approval rate.

Essentially, had council members sought a tax rate less than a tenth-of-a-cent higher, a rollback election would be triggered to pass the rate, something officials want to avoid.

In the past, Finance Director Sarah Buckelew has noted while there was a 38 percent increase in appraised values across the city, Boerne only saw an 18 percent uptick in taxable value as there was also a 68 percent rise in property tax exemptions.

According to her, if the tax rate remained the same, the average home – valued at $340,000 in 2022 and increased to $380,000 in 2023 – would see about a $190 increase in its annual bill.

With many properties around Boerne – residential and commercial alike – seeing significant property- value jumps from the Kendall Appraisal District this year, the number of protests to lower appraisal values has significantly increased.

The rise in appraisal challenges has slowed down the certified tax roll process, leaving city staff with the certified estimates to determine tax-rate parameters, officials said.

Buckelew has said while these are estimates, they are certified and allowed to be used for tax-rate planning if the certified rolls are not available by late July.

The certified tax rolls will not have an impact on the rate the council considers, but it might lead to some budget adjustments to accommodate any gains or losses in the property-tax revenue, officials added.


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