KERRVILLE, Texas – Higher property tax rates could be implemented in Kerrville to pay for damage caused by the Hill Country floods, Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring said at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“If the evidence suggests that is the most prudent course for our community, I’ll be paying more in taxes next year,” Herring said. “We all will.”
The Kerrville City Council unanimously approved Kerr County Tax Assessor-Collector Bob Reeves to calculate the next year’s property tax rate limit using a higher, special formula.
It comes as the city manager’s office reported an estimated $3 million to $11 million in damages to municipal property in its workshop, held prior to the council meeting.
The voter-approval tax rate is the maximum a single governing body can raise taxes without receiving voter approval under state law. It is not the actual tax rate charged to residents.
City leaders emphasized that although the rate could be raised, Tuesday’s action does not require them to raise property taxes to the level of the voter-approval rate calculated by Reeves.
Herring promised to be responsible as the city moves through the budget process and encouraged residents to “keep an eye” on them.
“We will be very transparent about all those discussions,” Herring said.
City leaders are scheduled to hold a budget workshop at 3 p.m. next Tuesday, July 29.
Why are leaders talking about changing the tax rate now?
Every year, the county must approve a new budget before the end of September to last from Oct. 1 until Sept. 30 of the following year.
Section 26.042 of the Texas Property Tax Code allows local governments to use a special formula to calculate the voter-approval tax rate if any part of the taxing district is in a disaster area declared by the president or governor.
For example, the voter-approval tax rate for 2024 in Kerrville was 56.46 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Leaders chose to adopt a lower property tax rate of 55.95 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Kerrville Finance Director Julie Behrens said during the workshop that although there is an opportunity to receive some reimbursement, it will not cover all the costs associated with the recovery process.
While the city can be reimbursed for emergency response costs, as long as they are approved by the Texas Department of Emergency Management, reimbursement for the recovery efforts is a more convoluted process and only subject to a partial reimbursement.
The finance department is keeping a separate count, logging staff hours, equipment used and hours of use, as well as supplies and materials used related to the floods.
Behrens said the city has already incurred $620,000 in payroll expenses alone related to the flood and put 8,000 hours of use on equipment.
Receiving reimbursement for these and other expenditures is a lengthy process, Behrens said.
Workshop highlights debris removal procedures
Leaders asked residents to separate debris into six categories; electronics, large appliances, hazardous waste, vegetative debris, construction debris and household garbage.
Assistant City Manager Michael Hornes said that this is because each category of debris will be transported to separate locations.
Construction debris will be transported to the landfill, before being transferred to San Antonio, Hornes said.
Vegetative debris will be going to the soccer fields across from the Kerrville landfill, as well as land owned by Center Point Independent School District. It will sit there for 60 days before being burned in an air curtain incinerator.
Large appliances, or “white goods,” will be taken to one of two recycling plants, Scrap Solutions and Kerrville Recycling.
Kerrville Recycling has also agreed to house cars that were destroyed in the floods.
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