The Orange City Council is now under a deadline to decide on a property tax rate for 2019. On September 18, the council voted 3-3 tie on an increased rate. The council needs to approve a tax rate at two meetings before it takes effect on October 1. Another special meeting has been called for Monday at 5 p.m. with the tax rate as the only business.
The council has a regular meeting set for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and the tax rate vote is on the agenda.
The tax rate is complicated this year because of houses and buildings losing value after Tropical Storm Harvey flooding.
The current tax rate is 71.7 cents per $100 valuation. The effective rate, which is the rate needed to raise the same amount in property tax revenues is 76.9 cents per $100 valuation.
The council agreed to advertise a rate of 83 cents per $100 valuation, the maximum allowed without a tax rollback election. However, the council had looked at a rate of 80.5 cents per $100 valuation.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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