City of Grapeland Proposes Lower Tax Rate
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – It’s budget time once again for the city of Grapeland and after careful consideration to determine what will be needed to fund this year’s budget, Mayor Balis Dailey and the Grapeland City Council have proposed a tax rate which will please the majority of residents in the Queen City of the Sand Flats.
According to Mayor Dailey, “The city of Grapeland will propose a historic drop in the property tax rate for residents and businesses. Over the last three years, the tax rate has not increased and has even declined slightly, arriving now at the threshold of a major reduction for residential and business owners.”
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, the tax rate was $0.603191 per $100 of property valuation. In FY 2021, however, Dailey expressed because of the city’s progress, economic development and population growth, he and the council were proposing a tax rate of $0.462475 per $100 of property valuation.
The 2019 average taxable value of a residence homestead within the city limits of Grapeland was approximately $60,868 while the 2020 average taxable value is approximately $66,154.
For the last several years, the state has mandated property taxes should be kept artificially low. Beginning last year, however, the state gave marching orders to the various appraisal districts throughout Texas to increase the appraised value of property.
Based on the 2019 taxable value of $60,688, last year, Grapeland homeowners paid an average city tax of $367.15. Using the 2020 taxable value of $66,154 along with the proposed tax rate, the average homeowner will pay a city tax of $305.95.
“This proposed tax rate has a good feel, especially in your pocket book, and is wonderful for the well-deserving citizens of Grapeland. It is only appropriate to acknowledge this has become possible as a result of the many hours of hard work by numerous individuals in and outside of the Grapeland community,” Dailey commented.
The Grapeland City Council will hold a public hearing on the property tax rate on Sept. 8 at 6:30 pm.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
