(Seguin) – Guadalupe County is proposing what it says is a slight increase in its tax rate for the coming fiscal year. The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court approved the proposed rate increase during Tuesday’s meeting.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher says although it is proposed as an increase, the amount is not significant.
“I’m pulling up the notice of public hearing on the tax rate increase and I know that is the title of the form even though we are proposing a tax rate that is about half a cent less than what our current tax rate is. So right now, our tax rate is .3854 (per $100 valuation). What the proposed tax rate comes in is .3799. The no new revenue rate which was the old effective rate is at .3731 and the voter approval rate is at .4128,” said Kutscher.
After hosting extensive budget workshops, Kutscher says he remains confident that the tax rate will not only continue the county’s current operation but will also help fund future projects.
“Again, we talked a little bit about the tax rate being able to come down and still generate sufficient revenue to handle all of our operations, our positions, equipment, construction projects, capital outlay, building repair, cost of living allocations and longevity for current county employees. We saw a tremendous amount of new property come in. Everybody saw their appraisals go up because of the real estate market as well as a tremendous amount of activity on the sales tax side. Because of all of those things, we do have a sufficient revenue to fund everything that is in the proposed budget and still give a little bit of a benefit to the taxpayers going from .3854 tax rate to a .3799 tax rate,” said Kutscher.
Applauding Kutscher and the court’s efforts was Commissioner Judy Cope.
“I would like to thank you very much for coming up with this tax rate and I think the court has been very responsible, this court and past courts in trying to continue to keep – you can’t always promise to lower the taxes but we have kept a pretty low consistent tax and by not taking more than what we need, I think we have set a precedent through the years and the taxpayers being able to keep that money in their pocket where it should be so I applaud you for this and I thank the court for working so hard and keeping the rate down and hopefully, we can do this for many years to come,’ said Cope.
While he appreciates the accolades and the praise, Kutscher says proposing the tax rate was the result of a team effort that involved department heads and many others countywide.
“I think we do a very good job at trying to be proactive and being prepared for the growth that we are going to see while also being conservative, understanding that there has to be a balance in our approach. I think this is a fair tax rate again that represents our responsibility to the public and the taxpayer,” said Kutscher.
Before taking action on the tax rate, the court must first hold a public hearing. That public hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7 in the Guadalupe County Courthouse.