WACO, Texas (KXXV) — The McLennan County Commissioners Court proposed to lower the tax rate to .319805, lowering the rate by 1%.
- The court has lowered the tax rate for nine years in a row
- Since 2016, the court has reduced the tax rate by 39%
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"The last nine years have seen some of the most unprecedented economic growth in the state of Texas," Commissioner Jones said.
Will Jones, commissioner for McLennan county precinct 3, says as home values have gone up, the county has lowered the property tax rate incrementally over the last nine years.
"I think Waco and McLennan county really benefited from all the businesses coming in and things like that," he said.
McLennan County Commissioners Court discussed the upcoming year's tax rate a public hearing Tuesday evening, but Commissioner Jones tells me they hardly receive any public feedback at meetings for budget related items.
The court is proposing a 1% drop in the tax rate to 32 cents per $100 in home value. That's a 1% cut, but a smaller reduction than in some previous years.
"This year we didn't quite have the revenue growth and appraisal growth that we've had in the past, just different factors," Comissioner Jones said.
The court says there have been economic challenges such as rising inflation and increasing interest rates.
"It's really on us as the governing body, as those appraisals go up, to bring that rate down, so that the taxpayers bill is the same or maybe even a little less," Commissioner Jones said.
The court also discussed the budget for the upcoming year.
Key factors commissioners say influencing the budget are new technology, law enforcement needs, personnel costs and economic development.
The budget is expected to be adopted next Tuesday and go into effect on October 1st.
