CITY COUNCIL MOVES FORWARD WITH TAX RATE INCREASE

  

The Brenham City Council moved forward with increasing the property tax rate by one cent.  The current city tax rate is $0.507 and the increase would raise it to $0.517.  Property appraisals within the city went up also this year by an average of 6 percent.  With the increase in the rate, the average homeowner in the city will pay 7 percent more in property taxes this year.  Council member Danny Goss objected to the rate increase saying that it represented a burden for the elderly on fixed incomes and young families.

City Finance Director Carolyn Miller and Mayor Milton Tate reminded Goss that the rate increase was not objected to during the recent budget workshops:

Goss was the only dissenting vote from the council during the record vote.  Council will now hold two public hearings on the rate increase, on August 17th and September 7th.  The motion will be placed on the agendas for the September 18th and September 21st city council meetings.