McKinney officials say the property tax rate they’ll recommend in the upcoming city budget will be lower than the ceiling set by city council this week. But will it be low enough to keep local homeowners’ tax bills from going up again?
On Tuesday, McKinney City Council members approved a maximum property tax rate for next year that is higher than the no-new-revenue rate—the rate that collects the same overall revenue from properties taxed the previous year, keeping tax bills more or less stable.
The procedural vote set a tax rate ceiling for Fiscal Year 2020-21 of $0.5156 per $100 of taxable assessed value, the current tax rate.
The no-new-revenue tax rate for next year is $0.508645 per $100 valuation. Because property values have gone up, the no-new-revenue rate is lower than the current rate.
“The city manager’s recommended rate in the budget will be less than this tax rate ceiling,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Holloway told council members on Tuesday.
Yet unless the city chooses a rate at or below the no-new-revenue rate, average property tax bills will go up.
From 2010 to 2020, the average homeowner’s city property tax bill increased 48 percent. Council lowered tax rates, but not enough to offset rising property values.
Citizens will get their first look at the city’s tax and spending plans at the annual budget workshop next Friday, August 14, at 8:30 a.m. and can contact their McKinney City Council members with questions and concerns.
- August 14 – Budget Workshop
- September 1 – Public Hearing on Budget
- September 15 – Public Hearing on Budget and Tax Rate; Ratification of Tax Revenue Increase; Adoption of Final Budget and Tax Rate
