The Orange City Council Tuesday voted on a higher tax rate of about 11 cents per $100 valuation, though council members said they plan to continue to cut expenses to get a lower rate.
The proposed rate is 83 cents per $100 valuation, a fraction of a cent less than the amount that could allow citizens to call for a tax rollback election. The council will hold public hearings and two votes before the proposed rate becomes official. City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre stressed to the council the proposed rate is not final.
“We’re working hard to get below that,” said District 2 Councilor Brad Childs.
“We’re not going anywhere near that (rate),” Mayor Larry Spears Jr. said.
The council was already looking at an increase in the tax rate because so many properties were damaged by Tropical Storm Harvey and lost appraised value.
The current tax rate is 71.77 cents per $100 valuation. The effective tax rate, which is the rate the council would need to get the same amount of property tax income, would be 76.93 cents per $100 valuation. The increased amount in the effective rate is to offset the loss of property values.
Oubre told the council members they could go less than the announced proposed rate but not more than the proposed rate. The council will vote on the tax rate at meetings on August 28 and September 11.
In other business during the Tuesday reading, the council voted to give a maximum $192,000 economic development grant to Performance ATV Powersports. The council and the city’s Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors approved the grant in June.
City EDC Director Jay Trahan told the council the 90 day waiting period has passed. The council will have two votes on the grant before it becomes official.
The company will build a $1.3 million building off Interstate 10 west of FM 1442. The grant is to cover infrastructure like the foundation and plumbing.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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