County commissioners today will get their first detailed look at the budget picture for next fiscal year. It will include plenty of worrisome figures, including a tax base that has shrunk by about $2 billion and $9.6 million in less revenue.
Still, County Judge Jim Yarbrough said county taxpayers can expect a tax rate cut. While a modest rate cut, Yarbrough said the lower tax bills from the county are likely after county department heads eliminated jobs and tightened their budget belts.
From the start of the internal budget process, Yarbrough said county department heads and elected officials were aware they likely would need to trim about 10 percent from their various budgets. He said the plan that will be presented to commissioners this morning cuts about $10 million in county spending. That includes the elimination of about 30 county jobs that, for the most part, had been vacant since Hurricane Ike wrecked the county in September.
Yarbrough said while there will be a reduction in county job positions, no actual employees will be laid off if the proposed budget is approved by commissioners. Those county employees won’t receive any raises though, ending five years of providing at least cost-of-living raises for employees, Yarbrough said.
The county also is limiting its capital spending, which would be money to buy big ticket items such as patrol cars for the sheriff’s office or nonbond-funded construction projects. For example, the sheriff’s office will get about a dozen new patrol cars instead of a planned 22, Yarbrough said.
Hurricane Ike funding also helped the county cut its spending, the county judge said.
Capital projects such as roof repairs for county buildings that had been planned before the storm now will be paid for by federal recovery funds, because of storm damage to those buildings.
A combination of the hurricane and the slowing housing market reduced property values in Galveston County by more than $2.8 billion after the central appraisal district certified property values last week. That decrease is $2.5 billion more than the appraisal district estimated when it released appraisal figures in April before property owners had the opportunity to protest their property values.
In April, it was believed the county’s tax base lost about 1 percent of its value. The new figures show the drop was a more dramatic 13.6 percent.
Still, Yarbrough said he is confident the budget will result in a 1/8 cent reduction in the tax rate. For someone with a taxable value on a house of $150,000, the tax rate cut would reduce the tax bill by $27. Not much, Yarbrough admits, but when combined with lower property values in most of the county should translate to a lower tax bill than last year.
The new tax rate does not include the debt taxpayers will incur for the road and building bonds approved by voters in November. That 4-cent hike won’t be added to the tax rate until next year, Yarbrough said.
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At A Glance
WHAT: Galveston County budget workshop
WHEN: 8:30 a.m. today
WHERE: County Courthouse, 722 Moody in Galveston
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County Assessed Taxable Property Value
2008-09 2009-10 % Change
$20.998 billion $18.137 billion — 13.6%
Source: Galveston Central Appraisal District
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County tax rate history*
2009-10: 56.875 cents +
2008-09: 57 cents
2007-08: 58 cents
2006-07: 59.88 cents
2005-06: 62.88 cents
2004-05: 63.88 cents
* = Per $100 in taxable property value
+ = proposed rate
Note: All rates are combined county tax rates including general operating taxes, debt service and road and flood tax rates.
