Commissioners propose property tax rate decrease

Gonzales County commissioners on Monday, Aug. 8, proposed a 2022 tax rate of $0.3071 per $100 valuation — a decrease of 13.2 cents from last year’s adopted tax rate of $0.4391.

That rate is equal to what is called the “no-new-revenue rate,” which essentially a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in the current and prior fiscal year, without taking any new improvements into consideration.

The marked decrease in the tax rate is due to appraisals in Gonzales County increasing by nearly a third overall. If adopted, the new tax rate would generate a total of $13,544,875 in tax revenue for the budget.

Commissioners had the ability to adopt up to a voter-approval tax rate of $36.90 per $100 valuation without needing taxpayers’ affirmation. That rate would have generated an additional $2,730,146 in tax collection. However, commissioners opted to go with the lower rate after discussing using funds received under the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) to pay for some necessary expenses.

The adjusted taxable value for Gonzales County was nearly $3.32 billion in 2021, but skyrocketed to more than $4.41 billion in 2022. The county saw more than $32 million in new improvements to taxable property.

Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 6, on the budget for fiscal year 2022-23. County Judge Pat Davis is expected to file the proposed county budget on Monday, Aug. 15, in accordance with Section 111.006 of the Texas Local Government Code.

The county will publish notice of the budget hearing in the Aug. 18 edition of the Gonzales Inquirer.