Longview City Council voted Thursday to keep the city’s current property tax rate for the new fiscal year.
The unanimous vote, following state law, stated that while the tax rate will remain at 55.89 cents per $ 100 valuation, it will generate more revenue due to higher property values of a “2.23% increase in tax rate.” will. Property values are determined by valuation districts that are not part of the city administration.
“We have to clarify this very quickly so that everyone understands something,” said Mayor Andy Mack. “While it sounds like we just raised taxes, we didn’t raise taxes, which is the rate per $ 100 valuation.”
The vote would need to be worded as it would be under national law to reflect that the tax rate would add extra revenue due to increased property valuations, he said.
“For the past two decades, we’ve only increased our tax rate on voter-approved bond elections,” said Mack.
He also described conversations he had had with some people over the past week that showed some confusion between the city budget and the tax rate and the county budget and the tax rate.
The city budget for the coming year, which has already been approved, includes flat increases of 3% for all city employees as well as the typical incremental increases for police and fire brigade personnel.
That’s not related to a 3.5-cent tax rate hike Gregg County is considering. Most of that increase would be used to raise wages for the county’s law enforcement personnel.
“It’s not us,” said Mack.
The city council also approved the Longview Economic Development Corp. budget as presented by President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Mansfield. The budget of nearly 6.2 million said.
A separate $ 3.1 million investment project budget includes funding for LEDCO’s stake in a new traffic light on George Richey Road, LEDCO’s stake in a local trail project and a new LEDCO headquarters building is in the planning phase.
Almost all of LEDCO’s financing comes from a 1/4 cent sales tax, which is dedicated to economic development.