The proposed budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $3.25 million or 6.1% ($2,442,988 for the general fund maintenance and operations, $452,046 for the lateral road and bridge Fund, and $360,258 for debt service). Of that amount, about $2.37million or 73% is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year. The tax rate used in this proposed budget is the same as the no-new-revenue rate.
“I don’t want word getting out that we voted on a tax rate that’s going to provide more revenue for the county to spend,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Larry Walden said. “What we’re doing now is setting the cap.”
The proposed total tax rate is $0.329 per $100 valuation, compared to the current rate ot $0.358. A full breakdown of the proposals can be found on the county website at parkercountytx.gov under the “Transparency” tab.
Walden was initially hesitant on his vote, pointing out that no meetings or discussions had been had by commissioners.
“There’s something backwards about this,” he said. “Our job is to look at requests and then vote on the actual tax rate.”
The deadline to approve the tax rate is Sept. 30, which is a small window, Precinct 4 Commissioner Steve Dugan said.
