County OKs tax rate for '08 budget
By SHARON KERR Staff Writer

Jasper County Commissioners Court took a record of vote and unanimously approved the effective tax rate as the proposed rate for budget purposes in special session Friday, Aug. 17.

They also approved the proposed budget, which will now be posted for public view at libraries in Kirbyville and Buna, the county clerk and county judge's office, and at each commissioner's office.

The final public hearing and vote on the budget and the property tax rate is set for Sept. 10.

"After several days of laboring over the budget and trying to come up with a balance between operational needs and cost requirements, the commissioners' court came to a general consensus that we could accomplish this task while cutting back the cost to the individual taxpayers as much as possible," said County Judge Mark Allen.

Allen said, "A budget utilizing this year's effective tax rate, drops close about three and a half cents from the 70-cent tax rate of last year."

Choosing the lower effective tax rate rather than the rollback rate eliminates several public hearings that would otherwise be required.

According to Chief Appraiser David Luther, the effective rate is .1316/$100 for the road and bridge special fund and .5337/$100 for the general fund, a total of .6653/$100. The rollback rate could have been .7164/$100.

"This year's effective tax rate would impose the same total taxes as last year if you compare properties taxed in both years." By law, the complete statement was published as an ad on page 8 of the Aug. 15 issue of The Jasper Newsboy, www.jaspernewsboy.com.

County Auditor Dru Miller expressed concern that the property roll was "almost" certified and could affect expected revenue by a significant amount.

Luther reported that the appraisers office is working its way through more than 600 calls from owners who questioned the reappraisals they received in the mail in June (15,000 went out).

Luther told The Jasper Newsboy then that appraisals were "higher to make up the difference that says we have been too low for the past couple of years... There is not much we can do about the residence we have been appraising at 65 percent of its value."

Luther told the court that, as they work their way through the formal complaints and phone calls, they are finding they can resolve 75 percent by explaining to owners that even though the appraisals went up, taxes will increase by no more than 10 percent of the value each year.

As a rough example, a house whose value went from $60,000 to $100,000 will be taxed at $66,000 the first year, which equals less than a $40 increase at the effective tax rate.

Nevertheless, Miller said the total amount of property in question equals nearly $80 million. Last year's uncertified property value was $25 million.

Luther's calculations include 75 percent, $60 million, added to the certified value, and at the effective tax rate that is $387,000 tax revenue that Miller says is questionable.

"This year's big question is are we going to get taxes on those property values," Miller said.

Miller said she would recommend that the court budget conservatively and consider that amount as a contingency fund.