Make it make cents

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After last week’s budget talks revealed that Carrollton may break its 12-year streak of lowering property taxes, Mayor Steve Babick proposed a $0.0005 decrease per $100 in valuation at the Aug. 18 city council meeting. This would technically allow the city to say that it lowered taxes but would not have a nominal impact on tax savings for residents.

The cuts would reduce the city budget by $118,555 which Babick said could be easily managed without much change.  This, he said, would allow Carrollton to maintain its narrative as a fiscally conservative city.

“I just wanted to put it out there,” the mayor said. “When I testify in Austin whether it's on that, our sales and use-tax approach and so forth, I testify on our conservative practices. Part of that is our consistency of not focusing on the politically correct reduction of tax rates and saving it for a more meaningful tax rate. We have done it every single year irrelevant of how big or small the tax savings was.”

The proposed tax rate would be the lowest decrease made by the council in at least the past 12 years, and possibly the city’s history.

Council will consider its options at the Sept. 1 budget public hearing.

Councilmember Christopher Axberg said he agreed with the idea. Even if residents don’t see a notable savings, he said they may appreciate the city’s continued commitment to fiduciary responsibility, in concept.

Others on the council felt the proposal was insulting and potentially deceptive.

“Honestly, I feel like it's a slap in the face,” Mayor Pro Tem Daisy Palomo said. “It's just a play on words. You're reducing it, but what savings is this for each resident? Less than a dollar.”

If council goes forward with the proposed decrease, this year’s property tax rate will be $0.53700 per $100 of assessed value instead of last year’s $0.53750. The previous tax rate decrease was also fairly unimpactful at about one-eighth of a cent. Babick noted his most recent proposal was about half that.

The council blames the state legislature and Governor Abbott for recent policy changes that hurt their bottom-line. They fear more may be on the way in the upcoming legislative session.

The city has begun to propose decreases in this year’s budget as a result. The proposed funding recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year’s Community Service Committee was $63,300, down from $67,000 last year. This was also the first time the city saw its total assessed valuation drop in almost two decades.

With the Denton Central Appraisal District reporting decreased property values for the fiscal year, many in the northern half of Carrollton may see property tax decreases, while residents living south of Trinity Mills will not. Any small savings will be more than canceled out by the city’s new Stormwater Maintenance Fee, which Babick said will likely be between $48 and $84 annually for residents. Those living in Denton County will likely see their fees closer to the higher end, at about $7 per month. These fees will pay for capital improvements to the city’s drainage systems.

Texas' Truth in Taxation laws require Carrollton to report their proposed rate as an increase because it exceeds the no-new-revenue rate. Even though the rate remains the same, or lower under Babick's proposal, rising property values, or other factors, are ultimately expected to generate more total tax revenues for the city this fiscal year under the proposed rate.

_{Local News Matters.}