Copperas Cove city council begins discussion on possible property tax rate election
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
During its Thursday, Aug. 1 special meeting, the Copperas Cove city council discussed possible proposed tax rates for the upcoming year.
The council heard a presentation by the city’s budget director, Ariana Beckman, in which she shared the certified property values as released by the county tax assessor-collector’s office, along with the calculated options for the 2025 tax rate.
One rate presented is the “no-new-revenue” tax rate and the other is the “voter approval” rate.
No-New-Revenue rate
The no-new-revenue rate is the rate that will generate the same amount of property tax revenue that it has for the current year.
According to the calculations as done per state law, the rate is $0.661043 per $100 valuation.
Voter Approval Rate
The voter approval rate is the highest tax rate, as calculated by state law, that the city council can approve without triggering a special election. This calculated rate is $0.608079 per $100 valuation.
If the council proposes and adopts the no-new-revenue rate, which is higher than the voter approval rate, the council must also call for an election to get voter approval for this rate, because it is higher than the voter approval rate. For that matter, any proposed rate higher than $0.608079 must be approved by Copperas Cove voters.
Both the no-new-revenue and voter approval rates are lower than the current year’s tax rate, which is $0.672652.
The lowest rate, the voter approval rate, if adopted by the council, would put the city’s General Fund budget short by $385,079, added to the already-known operating deficit of $135,584, which is for capital expenditures.
The city’s proposed solution for that shortfall of $385,079 would be to put off any public safety employee market rate adjustments and COLAs for city employees until January 2025. Usually, those adjustments would start with the beginning of the city’s fiscal year, on Oct. 1. Those adjustments and the COLA have already been worked into the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.
The city council did not take any action on proposing a tax rate on Thursday, but took time to start discussions on the options offered.
“This would be a great time for council to have dialogue. Council will be asked on August 6 to take a record vote to propose a tax rate, so we can start a discussion then as well. But this is one of the reasons why we have this special workshop so we can get into the details and answer any of council’s questions and for you all to talk amongst each other about options,” said City Manager Ryan Haverlah.
The council will take a record vote to propose a tax rate at its Tuesday, Aug. 6 meeting.
Tuesday's meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the council chambers, located at 508 S. 2nd St. A citizens forum is held at the beginning of the meeting for citizens to address the council.
The council has until Aug. 26 to call a special election for Copperas Cove voters to approve a higher tax rate than the voter approval rate.
In its presentation, the city recommends town halls and voter education prior to any special election.
Two councilmembers voiced their thoughts on the options offered on Thursday.
“My biggest concern is we need to make sure we take care of the Fire Department, the Police Department, and the rest of the City employees, because if they're taken care of, we have the employees and we can keep them. This way we are taking care of the city and citizens,” said Place 5 councilmember, Dale Treadway.
Place 1 councilmember Joann Courtland concurred.
“I agree with that sentiment. Waiting three months for their COLA adjustments is just kicking the can down the road. And it's not fair to our employees. It's not fair to our staff who worked so hard throughout the entire year. We need to make sure they are taken care of so that they can keep taking care of the city.”
Mayor Dan Yancey also pointed to the market adjustments that the council concurred to include in this next year’s city budget.
“Remember, these are market adjustments to make our employees competitive with other cities around us. That's one of the things that we've tried to protect against, because it's very expensive to train somebody and then they turn around and leave for better pay somewhere else. In my mind, it’s an investment in our collective city future.”
The council will vote to adopt a tax rate on Aug. 20 and has until Aug. 26 to call for a special election.
Also on Thursday, the council held a public hearing on the City of Copperas Cove’s proposed fiscal year 2024-2025 budget.
The entire proposed budget, 427 pages, can be viewed online at https://destinyhosted.com/coppedocs/2024/CCW/20240618_2101/12304%5FFY%5F2024%2D25%5FProposed%5FBudget.pdf.
Also on Thursday, the city council held a public hearing on the Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.
The EDC’s annual revenue comes from sales tax as approved by Copperas Cove voters, and receives 1/8-cent of the city’s sales tax dollars.
For 2024-2025, the EDC projects to receive $1,133,000 between Oct. 1, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2025. The rest of its revenue comes from interest on its account.
The EDC is beginning the fiscal year with a projected fund balance of $7,988,000.
It expects to spend $1,033,392 for its operations, which includes $676,888 in administrative expenses.
The EDC’s proposed budget can be seen at: https://destinyhosted.com/coppedocs/2024/CCSPC/20240801_2137/12398%5Fproposed%5Fbudget%5F24%2D25.pdf.