Atascosa County eyes big property tax hike

A combination of rising values and a sharply higher tax rate could add up to a steep tax increase for Atascosa County property owners.
The County Commission unanimously advanced a plan to hike the rate 16.4 percent – from $0.497794 to $0.579454 per $100 of value.
Compounding that increase with a 3.37 percent average rise in taxable values, the average county tax bill would climb from $591.34 last year to $711.55 in 2020.
Including new property, the county stands to collect $2,112,932 more property tax revenue, an 8.21 percent increase over 2019.
The proposed rate is a bare $0.000001 under the $0.579455 threshold that could trigger a tax election of the voters.
To maintain current revenue levels, Atascosa would have to drop its rate to $0.552995.
Commissioners will conduct three public hearings on the proposal Sept. 14, 17 and 21. The commission will vote after the third public hearing. All meetings will be at 9 a.m. at the County Courthouse, Suite 206, 1 Courthouse Circle Drive in Jourdanton.
Meetings are also live-streamed on Facebook.
“We are only required to have one public hearing but we wanted to give additional opportunities for the public to attend,” County Auditor Tracy Barrera told the News in an email.
By Kenric Ward
Reporter

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