Lubbock County Commissioner’s Court to Hold Two Public Hearing Concerning Proposed Tax Increase
The Lubbock County Commissioner's Court wants to raise the property tax rate for the county. In fact, they want an increase at a level that it will be high enough to trigger an election amongst Lubbock County citizens, according to state law.
Lubbock County citizens will have two opportunities to make their opinions known during public hearings at the Lubbock County Courthouse. The first public hearing will be Monday, August 23 at 11am, and the second will be Monday, August 30 at 6pm.
All four Lubbock County Commissioners (Comm. Terence Kovar, Comm. Jason Corley, Comm. Gilbert Flores and Comm. Chad Seay) and Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish have gone on the record for supporting a property tax rate of $.359990 per $100 valuation.
According to information that must be released publicly by Lubbock County, a property tax rate of $.312437 per $100 valuation is considered the No-New-Revenue Tax Rate. Under state law, the Lubbock County Commissioners could set a property tax rate as high as $.324942 per $100 valuation, for the 2021 tax year, without triggering an election. That rate is referred to a the Voter-Approval Tax Rate. The proposed property tax rate of $.359990 per $100 valuation is 10% above the Voter-Approval Tax Rate.
Following the two public hearings, if the Lubbock County Commissioner's Court approve the proposed property tax rate of $.359990 per $100 valuation, then an election would be held to uphold the rate. The election would be held on November 2, in conjunction with the Texas Constitutional Amendments election.
Judge Parrish and Commissioner Seay have both gone on the record saying the increased tax money would be used to fund salary increases for Lubbock County Sheriff's deputies and support staff.