The Travis County Commissioners Court has approved a 9.12% property tax rate increase.
All four county commissioners and Travis County Judge Andy Brown supported the increase, which they say is necessary after the county zeroed out its savings account responding to catastrophic flooding this summer. So far, the county has spent just over $21 million cleaning up flood debris and setting up emergency services, according to Travis County spokesperson Hector Nieto.
The tax increase is expected to generate $42 million in additional revenue. It will cost the average homeowner — someone with a home valued around $515,000 — an additional $200 a year.
Commissioners held a mandatory public hearing on the tax increase Tuesday. Only one community member, Robert Ruggiero, signed up to speak.
“I am a retired veteran on social security,” he said. “The increased tax rate would increase my county tax by an additional $200. Although that may seem a trivial sum to you … it is not so for me. I am deeply concerned about being taxed out of my home.”
Ruggiero said he wished the public could vote on the tax increase. Under normal circumstances, a tax rate hike this large would require voter approval, but because of state and federal emergency declarations called after the July 5 flood, the county is allowed to raise taxes beyond the 3.5% cap without voter approval.
The $42 million in new tax dollars will be used to refill the county’s savings account and prepare for future natural disasters, including flooding or wildfires. But county officials haven’t released a breakdown of how the funds will be spent.
Commissioner Margaret Gomez said some funding should be prioritized for the neighborhoods around Onion Creek, which have flooded consistently over the past century. The most recent major flood happened on Halloween in 2013, when heavy storms pushed the creek up to 41 feet and damaged hundreds of homes in the Dove Springs neighborhood.
Several flood mitigation studies have been conducted for Onion Creek, but recommendations haven’t been implemented, Gomez said.
“The only reason we haven’t implemented [the study] was because we didn’t have the money. And I believe this [$42] million will go toward resolving that issue once and for all,” Gomez said. “And that way people can rest easy that they aren’t being flooded in the middle of the night.”
Commissioner Ann Howard said some funds could go toward fixing the roughly 100 miles of county roads that don’t meet current safety standards and could affected by flash flooding.
“That is another place that we need to examine,” Howard said. “Which of those roads are in low water crossings, and what else can we do to shore up the safety of our residents?”
