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Council opens public hearing on proposed 3% property-tax increase, staff says average homeowner would pay about $0.15 monthly
Summary
South Austin officials opened a public hearing on a proposed increase to the city's property-tax rate that staff says will amount to about $0.15 more per month for the median home; the published "truth in taxation" notice shows a 3% figure tied to the county-rate comparison.
The South Austin City Council opened a public hearing on Aug. 6 to receive comment on a proposed small increase to the city's portion of property taxes as part of the FY2025 budget process. The mayor said the proposal follows the council's longstanding practice of smaller, incremental increases intended to keep up with inflation and service costs.
Staff explained why the official notice reports a 3% increase under Utah's truth-in-taxation calculation: the state-required comparison measures the city's proposed rate relative to the county's certified rate rather than directly comparing what a homeowner paid last year to what they would pay under the proposal. "The certified rate is 0.002500, and the city's proposed rate is 0.002507," a staff member said, adding that for a home assessed at the meeting's median price of $473,000 the change equates to about 15 cents more per month. Staff projected the rate change would generate roughly $188,000 in additional revenue if adopted.
Council members emphasized the equity trade-offs of any tax decision and asked staff to bring final financials before making a binding choice: staff said the budget will be revised as June financials are closed and the council expects to adopt a working budget in two weeks. The council left online comment open until 6:15 p.m. and deferred a final decision pending updated financial reports.
