It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or: It’s budget planning and tax season, y’all!

Curmudgeon often hears that “Copperas Cove has the highest property tax rates of anywhere!”

And so, I took it upon myself to look back historically at what Copperas Cove property owners have paid, annually, from 2003 to 2017, in city property taxes. Because, that is what Curmudgeon does. I wondered, how do the city’s property tax numbers stack up over the years? 

On the city’s website, you will find budgets annually from 2003 through the present. Let’s see what Curmudgeon finds:

The tax rates over the years are as follows, with the below amounts in number of cents per $100 of property valuation.

2003  - 77.5 cents

2004 - 77.5 cents

2005 - 77.5 cents

2006 – 74 cents

2007 – 74 cents

2008 – 74 cents

2009 – 76 cents (Oops, the tax rate popped up after going down for two years, but still not as high as in 2003.)

2010 76 cents

2011 76.39 (bumped up a little bit)

2012 76.39 (stayed the same).

2013 77.74 (up again, a little more than a penny).

2014 79.79 (where we have been for four years running).

2015 79.79

2016 79.79

2017 79.79

So, dear readers, what happened that caused the property tax rate to bump up in 2009?

Dear readers, something significant happened on November 4, 2008.

Copperas Cove voters went to the polls, where they were given four propositions to approve or disapprove.

What were they?  Here we go:

Bond Proposition No. 1 – $3,700,000 for a new police headquarters facility. (opened in spring 2010)

Voters were 4307 for, 3668 against.

Bond Proposition No. 2 – $8,650,000 for a new multipurpose recreational center.

Voters were 3936 for, 4031 against.

(Interestingly, this was the only measure of the four that did not pass. It would have constructed “a multi-purpose recreation center that will provide a natatorium, indoor pool, children’s activity center, gymnasium and administrative offices.”)

Bond Proposition No. 3 – $8,025,000 for several projects to include the city’s share for the Southeast bypass, the construction of Highway 9, and work on Summers Road.

4944 for, 3009 against.

Bond Proposition No. 4 – $5,125,000 for extending and improving the City’s waterworks and sewer system.

Voters were 4882 for, 3101 against.

You can see more here, dear readers, about those results and the infamous recall election of 2008 that was held at the same time: http://www.copperascovetx.gov/files/agenda_archive/2008/11-14-08%20minutes.pdf.  

I do not want to “tell” you something without having paperwork to back it up.

Now, more from the city’s annual budget presentation for the 2008-2009 budget year:

“In November 2008, two months into the budget year, four members of the City Council were recalled from their council seats by the citizens.

From a financial standpoint, this action created the need for court action and an off season election in February 2009. The court action and additional election created an increase in election and legal expenses that were not included in the original FY 2009 Adopted Budget.

Furthermore, the voters approved a bond proposition authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for the construction of the police facility. Consequently, the project began in January 2009 and required the debt issuance prior to 2009 fiscal year end to ensure the project completion. The additional debt issuance was projected and disclosed to the voters to require a tax rate increase.

In March 2009, the newly seated City Council reversed the bulk trash collection fee for three cubic yards or less, which created lost revenue for the Solid Waste Fund. (Curmudgeon here: why did I bold this? It shows how a move to "save people money" can hurt people in the long run.) The City’s first ever Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) was introduced to the City Council in June 2009 and was adopted by the governing body in October 2009. The economy and troop movement also impacted the 2009 fiscal year revenues in multiple areas.”

Let’s crunch the tax numbers for just a sec.

In 2006, a homeowner paid 74 cents per $100 for a $150,000 home = $1,110 to the City of Copperas Cove. (150,000 divided by 100 = 1,500 x 0.74 = $1,110) Stay with me, y’all! I know, it’s math…

Let’s bump up the tax rate to 76 cents, thanks, for the new police station and the other projects:

76 cents per $100 for a $150,000 home = $1,140 to the City of Copperas Cove.

Okie dokie, let’s go to where we are right now, with the 2017 tax rate:

79.79 cents per $100 for a $150,000 home = $1,196.85 to the City of Copperas Cove.

Let’s do a quick subtraction problem. Stay with me, dear reader. I know you can.

$1,196.85 (2017 tax rate) - $1,110  (2006 tax rate) = $86.85 difference.

At the lowest rate in the past 15 years, a homeowner with a $150,000 appraised home paid $86.85 less than they did for their 2017 property tax bill to the City of Copperas Cove.

Back in 2003, with the tax rate of 75.75 cents per $100, that city tax bill was $1,136.25. So, back in 2003, if you owned a $150,000 home, you were paying $60.06 less annually than you did in 2017.

(Here's some of the rub: the city doesn't set the appraisal values. The county appraisal district does that for ALL entities that tax - city, county, school district, etc. So when our properties are valued more, our tax payments go up too. How much does one's property value increase year to year? It depends.) 

Let's say your property is now appraised $200,000, when it only appraised $150,000 in 2006:

2017 - $1,595.80

2006 - $1,140.00

Difference = $455.80

Mind you, it's an annual bill/payment. $37.98 more per month between then, and now.

Something to think about when someone says we “pay more in property taxes than anywhere else.”

Yet, dear readers, we who own property know that our tax bills are not made up of Copperas Cove city taxes alone. More about that, another time.

Tonight, we get to hear from the interim city manager about the budget for next year!

Wonder where he’ll make up the shortfall if the council does not approve the Business 190 median design on those certificates of obligation bonds (loans) for 2018??? Even if we’ve paid but a portion of the cost of the median design so far, that money has to come from somewhere, if not the bonds!!

As the council resolved last August, that the city would reimburse itself for the money it has already shelled out. 

Curmudgeon is all ears!

Peace, love and bunnies, y'all!