Katy homeowners could see a $6.70 drop on their median property tax bill if the City Council adopts a proposed $0.420 rate at its Monday, Sept. 28 meeting.

The rate would fall from $0.425 per $100 of assessed valuation, a 1.18% decrease. Under the city's Taxpayer Impact Statement, the estimated annual bill on a median-valued homestead would drop from $1,559.34 to $1,552.64. That figure is based on a median homestead taxable value of $369,676 across Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties.

All five council members voted to advance the $0.420 rate at the Aug. 24 meeting: Mayor Pro Tem Gina Hicks, Councilmember Johnston Dietz, Councilmember Paul Follis, Councilmember Michael Meihls and Councilmember Paula Taylor.

Mayor Dusty Thiele was present but did not vote. No member voted against.

Why the notice says 'tax increase'

State law requires the city to flag when a proposed rate exceeds the no-new-revenue rate, which for Katy is $0.407051 per $100. Because the $0.420 rate is above that threshold, the official notice labels it a tax increase even though the rate itself is going down.

The label confused residents. Councilmember Dietz said at the Sept. 14 council meeting that he received about 20 phone calls about the notice.

"The City of Katy is discussing lowering the property tax rate. We're not talking about raising the property tax rate," Dietz said at that meeting, as Covering Katy reported.

The proposed budget will raise $1,508,112 more in total property taxes than the current year's budget, a 5.8% increase, according to the city's budget hearing notice. Of that, $241,066 comes from new property added to the tax roll.

What's in the budget

At an Aug. 26 budget workshop, Assistant City Administrator Joey Killion said the city's general fund revenue is $57.7 million, Community Impact reported. Employee costs make up 67% of the general fund, or $33.3 million. Of that, 69% goes to public safety: $16.4 million for the police department and $11.7 million for the fire department.

The budget includes a 1.5% increase to all salary grades for eligible full-time employees.

Other agenda items

Beyond the budget, the Sept. 28 agenda includes authorization for Katy West Municipal Utility District to issue up to $16,675,000 in unlimited tax bonds. The council will also hold a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Katy Court Planned Development District to add roughly 3.43 acres.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at Katy City Hall, 901 Avenue C. Residents who want to speak may attend in person; public comment is limited to three minutes per speaker for the first 30 minutes, then one minute each after that.