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Pampa staff warns voter-approval comparison could make proposed tax rate look like an increase
Summary
City staff member Theresa told commissioners the proposed voter-approval rate will be shown against the 'no new revenue' rate, which can make it appear taxes are rising even when the actual adopted rate falls; she provided figures on certified values, senior freezes and estimated collections.
Theresa, a city staff member, told the commission that comparing the proposed voter-approval rate to the statutory no-new-revenue rate will make the proposal look like a tax increase even if the city's actual tax rate falls.
She explained that the proposed voter-approval rate (the VAR with unused increment) is 0.703304 and that comparisons against the no-new-revenue baseline can create public confusion: "it's going to show that there was an an increase in tax rate even though our actual tax rate is going down," Theresa said, and offered to provide a numeric breakdown for commissioners to use in citizen questions.
Why this matters: the way proposed rates are displayed can shape public reaction and trigger petitions or elections. Theresa walked commissioners through how thresholds work: if the proposed rate is below the voter-approval/no-new-revenue rate no election is required; if it rises above the voter-approval rate but remains below the de minimis rate (0.745371), voters may petition for an election. She said the de minimis provision applies to cities of 30,000 or fewer in population and is intended to allow roughly an additional $500,000 in revenue.
Theresa presented certified taxable-value figures and line items: she identified a frozen senior-property valuation (reported in the presentation) and said the proposed VAR with unused increment would generate an estimated $5,775,000 in collections. She also noted a tax-increment financing (TIF) pull-out of $18,519 for the downtown TIF zone and an estimated net ad valorem distribution for general fund M&O, the library and debt service of $5,756,004.90. On the proposed rate components she listed the M&O portion at 0.467435, the library at $0.03, and interest/redemption (debt) at 0.205869.
A commissioner, Ron Bradley, corrected one slip in the slide text—where the presenter said the downtown increment 'decreased,' Bradley said she meant 'increased'—and emphasized that the increment is what flows to the TIF fund.
Theresa also summarized senior freeze impacts, saying taxes lost to the freeze were $322,503 and that frozen property faces an effective rate of 0.504 compared with the 0.703304 proposal; she noted the city is subsidizing frozen property by 0.03685. She cited changes in average home values and certified values—home valuations rose around 6.3% overall, producing a projected property tax revenue of about $3,825,009.20 vs. the current budget-year figure of about $3,890,000 (a projected 1.7% revenue decrease under the assumptions shown).
Next steps: Theresa said the proposed budget will be filed with Barbara on Wednesday, published in the newspaper on Saturday and posted on the city's website.
