ABILENE, TX – Abilene City Council members are recommending no change to the city’s tax rate this fiscal year.
What typically takes a lengthy amount of time for the Abilene City Council to decide on only took a couple of hours Tuesday.
Abilene City Council discussed the new tax rate for the Key City and they came up with a solution.
City Manager Robert Hanna says the city will be able to cover their needs but won’t have much room for flexibility, and if another shutdown occurs, they may have to take a more severe approach.
With that given information, Hanna explained that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the budget for next year wouldn’t have room for change.
“We are static this year. We are recommending that we do not increase or decrease the tax rate,” Hanna said.
This tax rate comes from the taxes paid by property owners, and that tax money helps fund Key City operations.
Even if the tax rate remains the same, if the value of a property goes up, then the owner might have to pay more in taxes.
This recommendation from Hanna is something that the council agreed on and will be voted on at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Aug. 13.
The City of Abilene’s proposed budget for FY 2020-2021 is $107 million.
