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Finance director briefs council on Truth in Taxation rates and budget next steps
Summary
Finance Director Kirsten Werrimar presented Truth in Taxation calculations: current rate 0.205326, no‑new‑revenue ~0.200022, voter‑approval 0.227427 and de minimis 0.217681; staff outlined the city’s revenue picture and scheduled joint city–county and budget‑workshop meetings.
Kirsten Werrimar, the city’s finance director, presented the proposed tax‑rate calculations and a primer on Truth in Taxation during the Aug. 5 council meeting. Werrimar said figures were drawn from the Texas Comptroller’s guidance and the appraisal district’s certified values and walked the council through how the no‑new‑revenue and voter‑approval rates are computed.
Werrimar listed the current fiscal‑year tax rate at 0.205326, a no‑new‑revenue rate near 0.200022, a voter‑approval cap at 0.227427 and the de minimis rate at 0.217681. She used a $400,000 taxable‑value homeowner as an example and calculated an approximate city tax bill of $821 at the current rate. The presentation also broke down how city tax receipts support departments (police ~44%, fire/EMS ~16%, streets ~13%, parks ~12%) and noted debt service is accounted for in the rates.
Werrimar told council staff will hold a joint city–county meeting to discuss shared expenses (chiefly health department, fire/EMS and animal shelter) and that additional budget workshops are scheduled, including an Aug. 19 budget workshop and a September workshop to review forecasts. She said staff is preparing several forecast scenarios (six different forecasts) to determine a recommended tax rate for the coming fiscal year.
Council members asked clarifying questions about de minimis and year‑to‑year comparisons; Werrimar said she will post the detailed tax worksheets and that Scott Fair (appraisals contact) had provided supporting calculations.
