Hearings Set for County Budget

Last Thursday, Comal County Judge Sherman Krause presented his $93 million 2018 budget to Commissioners Court.

The proposal envisions a combined tax rate of 35.7921 cents per $100 assessed property valuation, an effective tax rate of 3.6413 cents, and a rollback tax rate of 37.7067 cents.

The budget reflects a $9 million increase over the $84,020, 502 budget proposed for fiscal year 2017. Extra revenue will be used for debt service and the county’s contingency fund.

Also included in the 2018 budget are a two-percent cost-of-living increase for county employees and two-percent salary adjustments aimed at keeping county salaries competitive.

Infrastructure needs also factored in due  to construction of a new county jail and a sheriff’s office expansion.

The county’s tax rate in each of the past four years has been 34.2921 cents per $100 of property value, or about $685 per year on a $200,000 home.

The Commissioners Court sets this tax rate each year based on what is needed to fund the approved budget.

To review the budget, click here.

Here’s the schedule for approving the 2018 budget and tax rate:

Thursday, Aug. 3: County judge presents proposed budget to Commissioners Court and files with county clerk; Commissioners Court discusses tax rate and officially schedules public hearings.

Thursday, Aug. 17, 8:30 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.: Commissioners Court holds public hearings on the budget and tax rate and adopts 2018 budget.

Thursday, Aug. 22, 8:30 a.m.: Second public hearing on tax rate.

Thursday, Sept. 7: Commissioners Court sets tax rate to fund 2018 budget.

New budget and tax rate go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

Here are some of the terms discussed during these hearings:

Effective tax rate – The rate that would provide the same amount of revenue as the current year’s budget. With property values in Comal County on the rise, this rate typically decreases from year to year, but it is not necessarily the rate adopted by the county.

Rollback tax rate – State law requires that if counties plan on raising revenue over the current year’s budget by a certain percentage, then residents must be able to vote in a rollback election. The rate that would trigger a rollback election is the rollback tax rate.

Approved tax rate – The county’s tax rate in each of the past four years has been 34.2921 cents per $100 of property value, or about $685 per year on a $200,000 home. The Commissioners Court sets this tax rate each year based on what is needed to fund the approved budget