Taxes, zoning, and solid waste
Tax rates, zoning changes, and an increase in the cost of garbage services were just a few of the issues on a lengthy Dayton City Council agenda this past Monday night. Council met for its regularly scheduled August meeting, and Marty Coursey, Interim Finance Director, with the City of Dayton, provided the City Council with information about their options for setting the City of Dayton property tax rate. Under the new Texas Truth in Taxation regulations, the City of Dayton considered three potential tax rates. The No New Revenue Tax Rate (0.6452558) which is the rate that would generate the same amount of revenue as last year for the City based on the current property valuations. The Voter-Approved Rate (0.666963403) is limited to a 3.5% increase in revenue annually per the new state law that went into effect January 1. If the tax rate is below the voter-approved rate, no election is required. Since Dayton is below 30,000 in population, they also considered the De Minimis Rate (0.7065905), but this rate would be subject to voter petition for an election. If the City of Dayton were to exceed the De Minimis Rate, an election for the tax rate would be required.
After much discussion and consideration, the City Council set the proposed tax rate at 0.666963403, which is the Voter-Approved Rate, and set September 20 as the date for the hearing to adopt the tax rate. Between now and the hearing, the Council can modify that tax rate, so it is lower than the proposed rate of 0.666963403. The proposed tax rate is below the current City of Dayton tax rate, which is 0.706000.
In other business Council voted to switch the designation on two pieces of property on the zoning map; the first piece of property is located off FM 1409 at Lovers Lane and was changed from a Semi-Urban Residential designation to an Established Neighborhood. The second property is located at the corner of S. Colbert St and E. Houston St, to rezone from General Commercial to an Established Neighborhood. Both properties are expected to have some new home developments in the future, with duplexes mentioned as possibilities for both properties.
Finally, Council approved an amendment to the solid waste collection fees that will see an increase of 4.3%, raising the current rate to the City from $20 per residential customer monthly to $20.86 per customer. The rate increase is based on the Consumer Price Index, and the ability to raise the rate is in the contract with Frontier to make adjustments based on increases they incur. There was also an increase per extra can from $5.95 to $6.21 each month. There were also increases at the same rate for commercial customer services as well.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Dayton City Council is set for Monday, September 20 at 6 pm.