City proposes 2023 tax rate

The Dripping Springs City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed ad valorem tax rate for the 2022–2023 fiscal year to set the rate at $0.19 per $100 valuation.

The vote to move the proposed rate forward was passed at the city council meeting on July 19. The proposed rate, if approved, would keep the same rate as the past year but would generate more tax revenue. The proposed tax rate would raise total property taxes by $59,096.38, a 2.9% increase, according to the city.

The increase in revenue is largely due to increased property values, property construction and annexations.

In 2021, the median home price in Dripping Springs was $760,000, according to data from the Texas Realtors Association and the Texas A&M University Texas Real Estate Research Center. In May of 2022, according to the same data, the median home price sat at $950,000.

For a $950,000 home, Dripping Springs property owners can expect to pay $1,805 in property taxes to the city — if the proposed rate is adopted.

“The city has not yet received its 2022 Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet from the Hays County Tax Assessor-Collector, but it is expected that our voter-approved tax rate will be below our proposed $0.19,” city staff stated in a report. “If the voter-approved rate is lower than $0.19, [city] council can still adopt a lower rate.”

A tax rate public hearing is scheduled for August 16. The city council is set to consider adoption and ratification of the tax rate at the September 6 regular meeting.