Title
Consider adopting Ordinance No. 3304 to levy and adopt the tax rate for Fiscal Year 2014-15 and take appropriate action.
Body
BACKGROUND:
On July 30, 2014, City Administration submitted the 2014-15 proposed budget to City Council. This budget included a planned property tax rate increase of $0.051 (per $100 valuation) for debt service associated with a joint public safety dispatch, communications and training facility and voter authorized bonds for street improvements. Additionally, in response to strong citizen and City Council support for neighborhood revitalization, City Administration included in the proposed budget consideration of an additional $0.0200 property tax increase to provide dedicated ongoing funding for neighborhood revitalization projects.
The proposed and advertised 2014 tax rate is $0.6241 per $100 valuation and includes both the planned property tax rate increase and the increase related to neighborhood revitalization. These rates were based on certified values received from the Dallas Central Appraisal District on July 23, 2014.
The Texas Constitution and Property Tax Code embody the concept of truth-in-taxation to require taxing units to comply with certain steps in adopting their tax rates. The truth-in-taxation laws have two purposes:
1. To make taxpayers aware of tax rate proposals; and,
2. To allow taxpayers, in certain cases, to roll back or limit a tax increase.
When a proposed tax rate exceeds the rollback rate or the effective rate, whichever is lower, State law requires that the City Council must vote to place a proposal to adopt the rate on the agenda of a future meeting as an action item and schedule two public hearings to hear citizen comments on the proposed rate. On August 5, 2014, the City Council voted to place a proposal to adopt a tax rate on the agenda of September 16, 2014 and scheduled two public hearings on the proposed rate for August 19, 2014 and September 2, 2014. Both public hearings ...
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