According to the Texas Truth-in-Taxation Statute, the City Council is required to set and conduct two public hearings if the City's proposed tax rate exceeds the lower of the rollback rate or the effective tax rate. The City always conducts public hearings on the tax rate, even in years that the Truth-in-Taxation limits are not exceeded.

If public hearings are required as described above, the law requires that the second hearing cannot be held earlier than the third day after the date of the first hearing. In addition, the meeting to vote on the tax rate may not be earlier than the 3rd day or later than the 14th day after the date of the second public hearing.

Finally, notice of both public hearings must be posted on the City's website from the date the notice is first published until the second public hearing is concluded.

It is also important to note that setting the public hearing dates for the tax rate and the fiscal year budget need to be done as separate items with the City Council taking action on each of the items separately.

I make a motion to set Tuesday, August 8, 2017, at 7:00 P.M., and Tuesday August 22, 2017, at 7:00 P.M. at Allen City Hall, One Allen Civic Plaza, 305 Century Parkway, Allen, Texas as the dates, time, and place for the first and second Public Hearings on the proposed City Tax Rate of 51.5 cents per $100 of appraised value for the Fiscal Year 2017-2018.