Commissioners To Hold Public Hearing On Proposed 2020 Tax Rate

Terra Rivers | Managing Editor

Tuesday, the Hays County Commissioners Court will hold a public hearing on the court’s proposed tax rate at 1 PM.

During the Commissioners’ last budget workshop, the court determined a need to add an additional $500,000 to the budget and proposed a tax rate of .4212, which is ¼ of a cent higher than the Judge’s Recommended Tax Rate of .4186.

The additional funding allowed commissioners to add the following items:

• Adding one new deputy constable & necessary equipment to Precincts #1, 4 and 5
• Adding two replacement requests for Constable Precinct #2
• Adding one motor unit for Constable Pct. #4
• Adding $838,904 for outsourcing contracts
• Regrades for new staff and position regrades for operations
• Adding a pretrial bond officer
• Adding one program director for the jail
• Added $15,600 for Cite & Divert Program
• Adding CECC Director for $100,000
• Adding lead administrator for the county courts at law

The county auditor and county clerk provided commissioners with an update on revenue increases, which had been identified through local agreements and budget savings; these increases include: 

• $250,000 pertaining to records fees 
• $35,000 from the Development Services Department; the department recommended restoring its budget to what it received in FY 2020. 
• $47,000 through the reduction of closures at the transfer station due to staffing issues

Judge Becerra released a video last Friday providing the county with a “State of the County 2020,” which included an update on COVID-19 efforts, the budget, the census, and elections.

*Note: in the video, Becerra states that the budget has been passed for the Fiscal Year 2021; this statement is incorrect.

After their final budget workshop, the court agreed upon a list of amendments to the Judge’s Recommended budget to include the items listed above and voted to set a public hearing date for a tax rate of .4212.

According to the agenda, commissioners are slated to pass the 2020 proposed tax rate and the FY 2021 budget following a public hearing on Sept. 22.

The public hearing on the budget will be at 1:00 PM on the 22^nd.

The Hays County No-New-Revenue Tax Rate (Effective Rate) is $.4043 per $100 of taxable value; the Voter Approval Rate (Rollback Rate) is $.4297 per $100 of taxable value.

The 1st-floor of the Hays County Courthouse is currently being used as a spillover area during commissioners’ court; speakers are able to follow the meeting while waiting for their turn to speak.  

For more information or a refresher on the highlights of the county department requests, see previous coverage below.  

• Hays County Commissioners Hold Final Budget Workshop, Set Tax Rate Public Hearing
• Hays County Budget Workshop Derailed Over April Ethics Questions Regarding COVID-19 Testing Kits
• Support For Local Law Enforcement Was “Out In Force” Against “Defunding” In Hays County Judge’s Budget
• Commissioners Receive Brief Budget Presentations From Constables, More