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.

The proposed tax rate of $0.498 is a "not to exceed" tax rate as proposed by the City Manager.  The actual tax rate voted on by City Council will not exceed the rate as proposed by the City Manager.

The proposed tax rate for the City's General Fund and Debt Service Fund for the fiscal year 2020 budget is $0.498 per $100 of appraised value, which is no change from the current tax rate of $0.498.

Staff recommends the City Council set Tuesday, August 13, 2019, at 7:00 PM as the first Public Hearing date on the tax rate and August 27, 2019, at 7:00 PM as the second Public Hearing date. The Public Hearings will be held in the Council Chambers at Allen City Hall, 305 Century Parkway, Allen, Texas. The final record vote on the tax rate will be on September 10, 2019.

I make a motion to set Tuesday, August 13, 2019, at 7:00 P.M., and Tuesday August 27, 2019, at 7:00 P.M. at Allen City Hall, 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 49.8 cents per $100 of appraised value for the Fiscal Year 2019-2020.