Hays County 2015 Fiscal Budget Watch…..Over
Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX – Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX – The Hays County Commissioners Court Tuesday held a public hearing on the proposed County budget and followed it by approving the FY 2015 County budget and tax rate. The County’s 2015 fiscal year begins October 1, 2014.
The Court approved the proposed tax rate of $.4690 per $100 valuation for FY 2015, which is the same as in FY2013 and FY2014. The effective tax rate – the rate at which the same amount of tax revenue would be collected if applied to the same property taxed in both FY2014 and FY2015 – is $.4528, due primarily to additional valuation on the county tax rolls. Within the tax rate, $.3006 is set for General Maintenance & Operating Expenses, $.1246 for General Debt and $.0438 for the Road & Bridge Maintenance & Operating Fund. The FY 2015 budget was set at approximately $157 million.
During discussions Tuesday, the Court approved recommendations by a Salary Grievance Committee to raise the salaries of the County Tax Assessor-Collector to $83,549 and the Precinct 4 Constable to $63,500. The Court indicated that it would seek to evaluate elected official and employee salaries during the next fiscal year. For FY2015, other County elected officials will receive a four percent cost-of-living raise (with the exception of those that are set by the state), employees will share a four percent merit pool, and Law Enforcement that are included in a Collective Bargaining Agreement will be placed in the new market ranges as outlined in the agreement. The Court said it would also continue to work towards standardizing its fleet operations for additional savings.
The Hays County Auditor’s Office is finalizing the budget documents and expects them to be online by 5 p.m. Friday, September 19. Budget and tax rate details are available by choosing the Financial Transparency icon on the County’s website at www.co.hays.tx.us. Questions about the budget or tax rate should be directed to any member of the Hays County Commissioners Court or the County Auditor’s Office at 512.393.2283.Submitted by hays County.
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