By Libby Cluett | lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com
PALO PINTO – Palo Pinto County Commissioners on Monday proposed a tax rate increase and budget for the 2013 fiscal year.
County Auditor Sharon Allen said the proposed property tax rate of 33.20 cents per $100 property value is 7.9 percent above the effective tax rate and 8.4 percent above the current property tax rate. The county’s next fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Fryer said last year’s fires cost the county a sizable portion of taxable property.
“The county lost about $21 million in taxable revenue because of the fires last year,” he said, adding that the county gave property owners who lost structures in the 2011 fires a property-value adjustment. After that, Fryer said there were still no structures, “so we can’t tax them on that.”
Allen said the effective tax rate of 30.76 cents was greater than last year’s tax rate, which she said doesn’t happen very often.
With the proposed 33.20-cent rate and current property values, the county expects to generate $400,800 in additional property tax revenue. The proposed 2013 budget is expected to bring in $12.84 million in revenue with $13.63 million in expenses.
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