The Providence Village Town Council adopted a lower tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year, holding to the no-new-revenue rate.
The newly adopted rate is $0.474743, with $0.277602 going to the maintenance and operation budget of the town and $0.197141 for the town's debt service fund.
'For a median valued homestead in the town of Providence Village, valued at $338,819, last year's property tax bill was $1,620.92,' Town Manager Brian Roberson read from the agenda. 'This year's proposed budget would impose a tax bill of $1,605.50, which is a decrease of $15.72. Under the no-newrevenue tax rate, the tax bill would be $1,605.50, which is a decrease of $15.72, compared to last year.'
Council member Dustin Clay again complimented Roberson and the town staff on keeping the budget low enough to adopt the nonew- revenue rate.
'Just good job, guys,' he said. 'I told you this last time. My goodness. Took a lot of work, so I appreciate staff.'
Mayor Linda Inman echoed that.
'I'm always appreciative when we can come at or below the no-new-revenue rate like we have for the last 10 years and lower the taxes of the residents here, so greatly appreciated,' she said.
The use of bonds and the implementation of a town homestead exemption of $10,000 has helped stabilize the tax rate, Roberson said.
'Next year, we'll begin to see the effects of the over 65 tax freeze, which will hopefully continue to stabilize the rate,' he added.
The council and mayor also voted to approve the budget as presented, which included a 5% raise for qualifying employees and market-research-based adjustments to some of the roles as well as three new salaries along with Ford Rangers for the new employees' use.
'We’ve added three new hourly roles,' Roberson said. 'One's code compliance and two are maintenance to keep up with the growth and facilities that we're maintaining in the community.'
Another increased expense is for new features for the website.
'That also comes with an ADA-compliance component that is going to be mandatory,' Roberson said. 'It's an unfunded mandate. I think it's actually from the federal government this time, but regardless, nobody sends us money, at least from the people that make the rules.'
Some of the other expenses include employee training and a bigger fee for library usage because of the increase in population within the town.
'Special events gets a bump, basically just to keep up with the increased participation and growth that we're seeing in the community, and costs are continuing to go up,' Roberson said.
A previous expense has come off the books this year—Trailer Hall.
'As you may have noticed on your way here today, Trailer Hall is no longer,' Roberson said. 'It's 11 years that it was over there. … Those officers are now going to office at the Frontier Parkway fire station.'
The town has applied for a grant through the Texas Department of Transportation in the hopes of being able to build a path extension near the city's current commercial spaces near U.S. 380, including the soon-to-open Sprouts.
'That number will hopefully change if we get the TxDOT grant; it will go lower,' Roberson said.
There will also be about a 5% utility rate increase, which Roberson said will be reflected in an updated fee schedule in the future.
'That's just to keep up with the cost of treating water and sewer,' he said.
The budget also includes the construction of the ground storage tank, funded through the bond proceeds.
Council member Wes Dautrich also submitted his resignation, citing health concerns, on Monday, which was too close to the meeting to be placed on the Tuesday agenda.
