Taxpayers in Orange will be looking at a property tax increase after going three years without one. The City Council Tuesday tentatively approved a tax rate of 71 cents and 774-one thousandth of a cent per $100 valuation.
The proposed rate would have the owner of a $100,000 house with a homestead exemption paying about $6.68 a year more.
City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre said the city expects a 28 percent increase in the costs for employee health insurance as a reason for the need for a tax increase.
He told the council members they will be able to adopt a lower tax rate if they decide after budget workshops. However, the council would not be able to set a tax rate more than the rate announced Tuesday.
“You will get calls from people who are irate,” he told council members.
However, Oubre had told the members last year to expect a raise in the tax rate for the 2017-18 budget year because the rate had been kept down for the three previous years.
Oubre’s proposed budget includes keeping water and sewer rates the same for the third straight year, even though the Consumer Price Index is 3.6 percent higher.
City Finance Director Cheryl Zeto told the council Waste Management, which contracts to pickup garbage in the city, will raise rates 45 cents per month for residential service with one cart. The price will be $21.45 a month, up from $21. She said the increase is 2.3 percent and falls within the Consumer Price Index.
The current tax rate is 70 cents and 940 one-thousandth of a cent per $100 valuation. The proposed rate is less than a cent more, or 834 one-thousandth of a penny.
The effective tax rate, which would be the rate required to get the same amount of tax income based on new property appraisals, is 66 cents and 937 one-thousandth of a cent per $100 valution.
The council will have two public workshops on the proposed budget. Council members will be given the chance to change or add to the budget before it becomes official. One will be at 9 a.m. August 14 and the other at 9 a.m. on August 20.
The council will hold public hearings on the tax rate and budget at 5:30 p.m. August 22 and 9 a.m. on September 12, both regularly scheduled council meetings.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
Pictured: Mayor Jimmy Sims
Social Media