SAN BENITO — Residents are encouraged to speak up about the tax rate.
But some may think there’s little reason to do so.
City commissioners are proposing to keep the rate the same.
Tomorrow, residents will have their chance to speak on the proposed tax rate, if they choose.
By law, the city is required to have two public hearings when proposing a new or unchanged tax rate, which currently sits at $0.728 per $100 of assessed value.
The proposed tax rate exceeds the effective rate of about $0.721, which would be the rate needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year.
In 2014, the average value of a home was $60,837. With the same tax rate of $0.728125, the amount of taxes imposed on those homes would have been $442.97.
This year, the average value of a home has gone up to $66,454. Now that the city is considering the same tax rate, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $483.78.
Just recently, the school district voted to keep the same tax rate it’s had since 2011.
The school board, without hesitation, decided to keep the same rate of $1.30 per $100 of valuation.
Of that, $1.17 will be levied for the local maintenance and operation fund and $0.13 for the bonded debt fund.
There will be about a $37 increase in taxes.
According to a legal notice published by the district, the average value of a property last year was $61,485. Based on last year’s tax rate of $1.30, the amount of taxes imposed last year on the average home was $490.77.
This year, the average value of a home has gone up to $66,454. Now that the district has adopted the same tax rate, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $528.60.
Along with keeping the same tax rate, the school board agreed to implement several discounts residents can receive upon payment of taxes before January.
Residents will receive a 3 percent discount when taxes are paid in October, a 2 percent discount when paid in November and a 1 percent discount when paid in December.
