The Brownsville City Commission adopted a $153.4 million Fiscal Year 2020 budget and levied a .700613 cent ad valorem tax rate during a special meeting Tuesday.
As previously reported by The Rider, the tax rate is the same as the one that has been in place since Fiscal Year 2012. The $153.4 million budget includes $109.1 million for the General Fund.
The city will generate revenue for its budget from property taxes, sales taxes, fees, services and licenses, Brownsville Public Utilities Board cash and utilities, fines, contributions and interest, and transfers from the Bridge Fund and the Landfill Fund.
District 4 Commissioner Ben Neece asked Assistant Finance Director Jorge Santillan how adopting an effective tax rate of .661374 cents would affect the budget and if there would be any shortfalls.
“If we adopt the effective rate, I think it was a $2 million shortfall, so that’s why we’re proposing the current rate that balances the budget,” Santillan replied.
Mayor Trey Mendez said that even though the tax rate is not changing, because as property appraisals increase, so does revenue.
“Yeah, the tax rate is not changing,” Mendez said. “It’s just because the property is appraised higher, we’re bringing in a little more money.”
Before levying ad valorem tax rates for FY 2020, the commission ratified the FY 2020 budget that will raise more property tax revenue than last year’s budget. The item was placed on the agenda because, according to Local Government Code Section 102.007 subsection c, “adoption of a budget that will require raising more revenue from property taxes than in the previous year requires a separate vote of the governing body to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget.”
The average taxable value of a residence homestead in Brownsville is $97,463. With a tax rate of .700613 cents per $100 valuation, the owner would pay a property tax of $682.84.
Mendez told The Rider the decision was expected.
“We are keeping the same tax rate as last year, which means that if your property value didn’t go up, you’re going to [pay] the same amount as you did last year,” he said. “The property values, overall, did go up, which means we’re raising more money than we did last year, but like I said, it doesn’t impact the citizens whose property values didn’t go up.”
The mayor also said he is looking forward to setting a solid foundation for the city to grow.
“The long-term planning hasn’t really been there for a long time and the management, the administration, the commission is really working hard to make sure that we set the foundation so we can actually start growing the way we’ve always wanted to grow,” Mendez said. “I think that we’re making really smart and efficient decisions and it’s starting to really look fruitful.”
