Mission to lower property tax rate

MISSION — Property taxpayers here will save about 2 cents for every $100 in property value next year.

The Mission City Council unanimously voted Monday night to support lowering the city’s property tax rate from 55.66 cents per $100 in property value to 53.88 cents per $100. Residents with properties worth $100,000 will pay $538.80 next year versus $556.60 this year.

The rates will go into effect at the beginning of the 2011-12 fiscal year on Oct. 1.

Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas said he has been working to lower property tax rates since he took office in 1998. At that time, rates were about 62 cents per $100, Salinas said.

“We try to do it every year if possible,” Salinas said of lower tax rates. “We’ve been able to do for the last 10 years.”

The city did have to raise property taxes one year, he said.

Property values and sales tax revenues increased enough to make the tax cuts possible, he said.

The city also plans to give all employees a 3 percent raise next year, City Manager Julio Cerda said.

Residents of Mission, the county’s third-largest city, pay more than McAllen residents for property taxes, but less than residents of Edinburg, the second-largest city, and residents of Pharr, the fourth-largest.

McAllen’s tax rate is 42.13 cents per $100 in property value this year, while Edinburg’s is 63.5 cents per $100, and Pharr’s is 68 cents per $100. Hidalgo County’s property tax rate is 59 cents per $100 this year.

Mission cannot compete with McAllen’s rates because McAllen is larger than Mission, Salinas said. He added that Mission’s rate — which is low compared to similarly sized cities — has helped the city grow.

“When people start buying a house, they’ll start checking out your taxes,” he said.

Mission residents also pay property taxes to their school districts. Those who live in the Sharyland Independent School District pay $1.20 for every $100 and residents in the Mission Consolidated Independent School District pay $1.30 for every $100. Neither district plans to raise taxes next year.

In the next two to three years, Salinas hopes to lower the tax rate to 49 cents per $100.

“Two cents will give something back to our taxpayer,” Salinas said. “It’s not very much but it’s something.”