Travis County Commissioners Court
September 14, 2004
Item 7
Number 7 is to approve proposed change to county tax rate for fy '05 budget
and set date and time for public hearing on proposed tax rate.
>> you should have before you a proposed advertisement that
was developed by Commissioner Sonleitner's office in conjunction with planning
and budget office and the tax assessor collector, which describes the proposed
tax rate and the impound fund, both homesteads and commercial properties.
The proposed tax rate is 4872. That is a result of taking the proposed tax
rate of 5016, subtracting from it 1.44 cents for the hospital district, and
the result is a tax rate of 48.72. And you also need to vote on a proposed
public hearing that is currently scheduled for -- tentatively scheduled for
Wednesday, September 22nd. That public hearing is not statutorily required
because you are well below the hearing rate, but you've indicated a desire
to have public input and also combine that with a public hearing on the hospital
district tax rate.
>> I guess my question is on the -- are those little black
triangles or the little cones, are they -- I see on the bottom they're all
pointed down, so that means less, right? At the top it looks like three are
pointed up, and the third is pointed down. Arrows would be a lot better, are
there arrows available?
>> actually, arrows do not work as well, judge, because they
can be mistaken for one's. They are not -- we tried a lot of different graphics,
and this was the one that actually was bolder and. And we looked at arrows
and they were very confusing.
>> what about plus and minus? Is this good with everybody?
>> as long as it's visible.
>> this was the most visual way of saying it was going up
or going down. We tried a number of different ways. We tried originally how
christian and leroy had it. That was extraordinarily confusing. What do the
parenthesis mean, more or less?
>> what about pluses and minuses?
>> really for the average person, they would more likely
understand pluses or minuses, and either one is fine with me.
>> we wish to allow the graphic designers freedom to use
cones or pluses and minuses.
>> they have to be bold so we can see it when it's printed.
>> did you have a plus-minus example?
>> there's a very thin line that was not showing up well.
We have to remember that this is going to be an advertising in the paper,
and you just really have to go with something that is going to be a visual
impact.
>> this is currently planned as a large ad in the chronicle
that would arrive in the newsstands on Thursday. You do have a choice, of
course, to also put it in the american-statesman. It is much more expensive,
but given the nature of this add ad, you may wish to also have it in the american-statesman
or you may wish to pass. It is currently not at all planned for the statesman.
>> what are the deadlines for it?
>> there are no statutory deadlines. The deadlines are yours.
>> to be in on Thursday, we have to do it by Wednesday.
>> for the chronicle. But in terms of having this ad, this
is a totally optional ad. There are no statutory requirements. But you can
put it in the statesman any time you wanted to if you so chose.
>> I think it needs to go in the chronicle and we need to
have a copy of it in our offices if somebody calls. It reads beautifully.
It's understandable. I mean, I think it's really a good piece.
>> it kind of lays the picture out better than other things
we've used. I'll refer to our working group on it. If this is best, so be
it. I would think that we at least look at the pluses or minuses. After that
I知 done. I approve of this ad.
>> second.
>> discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> it was tentatively proposed for next Wednesday, the 22nd
at six p.m., But your vote on that and the tax rate would be deeply appropriate.
>> motion to approve the public hearing next weekend. And
that would be th 22nd -- next Wednesday. And that would be the 22nd of September
at six p.m. Right here in the Commissioners court meeting room in the ned
granger administration building. Second.
>> any discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous
vote. That will be a public hearing, by wait, on the tax rate. And normally
when we take a public hearing, it's like the county budget. Two readings.
>> the viewing is scheduled on the tax rate, which I guess
supports the budget.
>> yes.
>> and y'all just for ease of comfort once we get past this
public hearing, we will replicate this ad without the public hearing notice
on it so you will have something available to you to print out as you see
fit on your computers for anybody that chooses to have this information or
to e-mail it to anybody. We can do a clean version of this so that you will
have the use of this particular set of information.
>> yeah.
>> I know the effective tax rate and proposed tax rate is
50.16. This was actually the tax rate that we actually brought to preliminary
budget to us. I知 going to put that somewhere so I can remind myself. We're
not going to do what that zero, that 144 was deducted from to come to the
48.72, what was sub tracked from that 50.16 amount that was in the proposed
effective tax rate, the proposed tax rate. I知 going to put that up there
because I知 going to forget that. I know I am.
>> that's good. And we also have it as a written text within
the letter that says that an independent accounting firm has verified the
deduction of 1.44 cents.
>> right. As far as having the number there somewhere, I知
going to -- this is going to slip my mind sure enough. But real good job.
>> thank you.
>> we did vote on that, didn't we? That's all we need on
seven?
>> no. You haven't approved the proposed change to the tax
rate. You've approved the ad, you've approved the public hearing, but you
haven't dealt with the tax rate.
>> so approve the .4872 is what you're saying?
>> second.
>> so move.
>> discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
This will be advertised for the public hearing.
>> thank you, christian.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 27, 2005 10:29 AM