Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX (Aug. 28, 2019) – The Hays County Commissioners Court will hold public hearings on the proposed County budget and the proposed tax rate in September. The hearings will also be livestreamed and archived at https://hayscountytx.com. The proposed budget and tax rate are presented by the Commissioners Court following discussion of the County Judge’s recommended budget.
Public hearings on the proposed tax rate will be held on September 3 and 10, and a public hearing on the proposed County budget will be held on September 17. All meetings will be at 10 a.m. during regular Commissioner Court meetings on the third floor of the County Courthouse on the Square, 111 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos.
The Commissioners Court has proposed a tax rate* of $.4237 per $100 of valuation, down from $.4337 set for 2019, and proposed a County budget of $274.7 million.
The proposed budget includes a five-percent raise for elected officials (excluding the County Judge and Commissioners) as well as a one-percent merit raise and a two-percent cost-of-living raise for employees, with the exception of law enforcement officers whose salaries will increase an average of 2.25% per the voter-approved Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Funding of $1.8 million was included for personnel and operational expenses for the 2016 voter-approved County Jail expansion and new Public Safety Building that is scheduled to open in 2020. The court also set aside $718,000 to expand the county flood warning system and $750,000 for future flood mitigation projects.
All budget-related documents are available under the Auditor’s Reports/FY 2020 Budget Planning accessible from the Financial Transparency icon at https://hayscountytx.com. Detailed information about the complexities of tax rate calculations required by law, choose the Truth in Taxation link under the Residents dropdown.
Residents are also welcome to contact Jenifer O’Kane, Hays County Tax Assessor-Collector, by email at Jenifer.okane@co.hays.tx.us, by phone from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 512-393-5545, or in person at 712 S. Stagecoach Trail, San Marcos, TX 78666, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.
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*Your specific taxes owed under the above rate can be calculated using this formula:
Property tax amount = (rate) x (taxable value of your property) divided by 100.
The effective tax rate is the tax rate that would generate the same amount of revenue in the current tax year as was generated by a taxing unit’s adopted tax rate in the preceding tax year from property that is taxable in both the current tax year and the preceding tax year. The tax rate applies only to Hays County government; other taxing entities within the county such as cities, school districts, and special districts set their own tax rates.