Breckenridge Texan

At a special meeting last week, the Breckenridge City Commission held a public hearing on the 2023-24 tax rate; a similar public hearing for the 2023-24 City budget will be held at the commission’s regular meeting tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 5.

At workshops throughout the summer, the commissioners worked on the budget and decided to use a tax rate option for cities with a population of less than 30,000 residents. The option allows small cities to adopt tax rates that are more than the “Voter Approval Rate” but less than the “De Minimis Tax Rate.”

At their Aug. 1 meeting, the commissioners approved a property tax rate of $1.05471 per $100 valuation. That rate is lower than the De Minimis tax rate ($ 1.16224 per $100), and although it is higher than the Voter Approval Rate ($0.97818 per $100), it doesn’t exceed that amount by more than 8 percent, which is the calculation the City of Breckenridge is allowed to use without the need for voter approval because Breckenridge’s population is less than 30,000.

The proposed tax rate is also more than the “No New Revenue” tax rate ($ 0.91750 per $100 valuation), as well as last year’s tax rate ($1.02000 per $100 valuation).

There were no members of the public who wanted to speak at the Aug. 29 public hearing, and there were no other items on the agenda, so there was no action taken by the commissioners.

A public hearing on the City’s proposed 2023-24 budget will be held during the commission’s regular meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5. Click here to see the agenda for that meeting.

Cutline, top photo: The Breckenridge City Commission held a public hearing on the proposed tax rate on Aug. 29; no members of the community addressed the commission at the hearing. They will have a public hearing on the proposed budget at the Sept. 5 meeting. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)