Georgetown Property Tax Revenues Growing at 8.52% Annually

The City Manager and City Council like to focus on the property tax rate remaining constant over the last several years. This is a diversionary tactic as the appraised property values are increasing dramatically.

The number that is important to property tax payers is of course their annual tax bill. The equivalent to an individuals tax bill is the property tax revenue that the city receives.

It is most enlightening to look at the trend of tax revenue received by the city - say over the last 5 years.

Click to enlarge  - All the numbers are from City documents

This graph shows that the property tax revenue received by the city has grown at a 8.52% rate compounded annually over the last 5 years.

Notice that the population has only grown at a 4.27% annual rate, which is 1/2 the property tax revenue growth rate over the same period.

So don't believe city officials when they cry and moan that they are not receiving increased revenue and they are such good stewards of taxpayer money that they are holding the tax rate constant. They should be reducing the tax rate so that tax revenue is more in line with population growth.