By George Slaughter
The Katy City Council Wednesday afternoon held a public hearing to enable public comment on its proposed property tax rate.
The proposed rate of $0.447168 per $100 valuation is a decrease from last year’s $0.48 per $100.
The city expects more property tax revenue, despite the lower rate, because the appraised value within the city increased by $306 million. This increase in appraised value comes because companies such as Amazon, Costco, and Southern Glazier have set up shop locally, along with new residential development.
The city expects approximately $13.1 million in property tax revenues, a 23.6% increase from $10.6 million last year. The city receives approximately 41% of its revenues through property taxes. Other revenue sources include sales taxes (37%), and franchise taxes (5%). Other sources include services (8%), fines, forfeitures, and fees (6%), interest in other sources (2%), and grants (1%).
The proposed budget reflects a drop in sales tax revenue. Sales taxes are down nationally due to both the coronavirus pandemic and online retail, both of which go against in-store retail. Katy officials said they will update the figures as events warrant.
The tax rate is in support of a proposed $32 million city budget, a slight decrease from last year’s budget of $32.2 million.
The proposed budget calls for expenses to cover public safety (58%), general government operations (24%), streets (8%), debt service (6%), and other services (4%).
Wednesday’s meeting, like other council gatherings since the outbreak of the pandemic, was held online. Only one citizen, Justin Graham of Katy, spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting. He praised the council and administration for lowering the tax rate despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. No speakers spoke during the hearing portion of the meeting.
The council will hold a public hearing on the budget, and is expected to adopt both the tax rate and budget, at its next meeting. That meeting is set for 4 p.m. Monday and accessible online.
Those wishing to attend the meeting via zoom can do so by visiting www.zoom.com, clicking “join a meeting,” and then entering the meeting identification number, 863-7266-8524, when prompted.
Those wishing to attend the meeting via telephone can do so by calling 1-877-391-0239 and entering the meeting identification number, 864-7266-8524, when prompted.