Commissioners Address Confusion On Proposed Tax Rate Notice

The Hays County Commissioners held a public hearing on the proposed 2020 Tax Rate Tuesday and cleared up some confusion for residents.

Commissioners are proposing a tax rate of $.4212 per every $100 of taxable property for 2020 after a lengthy discussion during their final budget workshop.

The proposed rate will generate approximately $3.5 million in revenue and allows the commissioners to add several positions for offices including the county clerk and the county courts-at-law.

For more information on the full list of items added, check out coverage of the final budget workshop here.  

Commissioner Lon Shell noted Senate Bill 2, tax reform legislation which was passed in 2019, lowered the state’s “cap” or ceiling for which taxing entities could raise taxes without having to hold an election from 8% to 3.5%.

As part of the reform, the state adjusted how school districts were funded in an attempt to help reduce the tax burden on homeowners caused by property taxes.

Commissioners clarified that the tax rate was being lowered from the tax rate approved last year for 2019 of $.4237 per $100 of taxable value; it simply wasn’t as low as the one initially proposed with the Hays County Judge’s Recommended budget.

The clarification addressed confusion expressed by two of the residents scheduled to speak during the public hearing.

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said the average homeowner would see an increase in taxes of approximately $40 for the county itself.

Speakers noted their confusion came from the public notice published in the paper; the notice is written according to State Statute.

John Love said he signed up to speak to commissioners because he couldn’t understand the notice’s wording on how the tax rate was going down, but there was going to be a tax increase. 

The Hays County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the Fiscal Year 2021 budget on September 22 at 1 PM before approving the document and ratifying the 2020 Tax Rate.