Pecos City Council adopts proposed de minimis property tax rate

The Pecos City Council voted to propose a de minimis property tax rate of 0.46715 after a staff presentation on updated valuations and revenue projections. Councilman Graham moved the motion and Councilman Arana seconded; the presiding officer said the motion carried on an "Aye" voice vote.

Heather Ramirez, who presented the city's updated property-tax calculation worksheet, read the three final rates: "The no new revenue tax rate did not change. The no new revenue tax rate is 0.48318. The voter approval tax rate is 0.43441, and the de minimis rate is 0.46715." Ramirez said the worksheet had been reviewed by an attorney and a reviewer and that staff would file the calculation worksheet the next day. She noted the worksheet uses a 98% collection assumption while actual historical collections had been about 92%.

Ramirez gave a homeowner example and revenue comparisons: under the current rate of 0.44259 a $150,000 home would pay $663.88 in the city's portion of property tax; "If council adopts the new proposed rate of 0.46715 ... you'll end up paying $700.72, which is a $36.85 increase on the city's portion of your property tax," she said. Ramirez also explained that adopting the rate as proposed preserves taxpayers' right to petition for an election and that staff must publish the proposed rate by the statutory deadline.

The council did not receive any public comments before the vote. Ramirez said the deadline to complete required steps for publishing a proposed rate is October 24 and that the council's first tax-rate hearing would follow the required notice schedule.