The city of Kerrville hosted a public city council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at City Hall, 7001 Main St. At the meeting, the council discussed final approval of the budget for fiscal year 2027.
The budget included the adjusted property tax rate, which was calculated at the higher disaster tax rate.
The council also approved two zoning projects and accepted minor changes to the city’s animal code regarding feral cats and other animals.
The main concerns from citizens during the council meeting were the proposed property tax increase and the city’s budget for 2027.
2027 Budget
During the public hearing on the budget, former council member George Baroody expressed concerns about the way funds were being managed.
“The city has publicly disclosed that two of its basic recurring municipal obligations, its existing street network in its current condition and asset replacement, require substantially more funding than the budget provides,” he said.
Baroody suggested that substantial cuts in services or personnel needed to be made.
“Does a city the size of Kerrville really need three city managers at an annual expense, including salary and benefits, of three quarters of a million dollars?” he said. “How are you justifying one dollar of government expansion when you already underfunded your budget?”
Council member Place 3 Kent McKinney said of Baroody’s comments, “I think he’s dead on.”
However, McKinney also said that problems emerge when the state required tax rate has remained steady despite inflation.
“The state keeps us at 3.5%,” McKinney said. “And the cost of replacing and repairing is much more than that … now, as for where we do get the money, that’ll take some voter participation to do that.”
City Manager Dalton Rice also addressed Baroody’s comments.
“What we’re doing differently in this budget and the last one is we’re being proactive instead of reactive,” Rice said. “We’re saying, ‘hey, we need to fund these projects, and it needs to be intentional.’ And I think what I would like to do is put some workshop stuff together to help communicate what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis.”
While no date was set for the budget workshop, council members agreed that it would be a good idea.
Madison Perez, who raised concerns about license plate readers in the citizens forum, also raised budget sustainability concerns.
The public meeting on the budget was closed at 7:02 p.m., and the first reading of the 2027 budget was approved unanimously by a roll call vote.
Property Tax Rate
The vote on the increased disaster tax rate was then brought to the floor for discussion.
Director of Finance Julie Behrens noted that “the tax threshold will remain the same. This rate was calculated without the previous disaster tax rate.”
She stated that Kerr County residents will see slightly elevated property taxes for two reasons.
The business personal property tax was raised to $125,000. That impacted about $57 million in revenue. And then the exemptions, frozen tax rate, and other exempt properties went up. It was about $141,000,000 in taxable value that was removed.
Behrens stated that a higher tax rate was needed to make up the difference and assist with flooding damage and repairs.
Calculated at the new tax rate, the city would receive $490,000 more than it received in 2026.
Russel Mobley, a Kerrville resident, stated that, although his taxes had been frozen due to age, he was concerned about his neighbors.
“When they tell me they have to spend over a month of their fixed income paying for property taxes, that’s an impact on them,” Mobley said.
Jeff Burn of Valley Drive in Kerrville also noted his disapproval of the proposed property tax increase.
“Why do we need it just to match what we had before? You want to make money on my equipment? That’s extortion,” he said.
Baroody again spoke, this time pointing out that the additional income received from increased taxes would fall far short of solving the budget issues.
“We need 3 million more to cover what we have now,” Baroody said. “This 8% of 3.5% increase isn’t going to cover that. So, if it’s not going to solve the problem, why not give everyone a break?”
After the public hearing, the council had a discussion about the need for the tax increase.
“I was against this last time,” Council member Place 2 Jeff Harris said. “But if you drive around Kerrville now, we’re not where we were last time. Our city is devastated, and that $490,000 won’t solve everything, but it’ll help.”
Council member Place 4 Crystal Smith also noted that she would vote to approve the tax increase.
“With the damage that’s been done, $490,000 is nothing to sneeze at,” she said.
McKinney asked City Attorney William Tatsch if it would be possible to set aside those funds only for flood repair and rebuilding.
Tatsch answered that, while they could not bar the funds from being used in any way the council directed, the council could direct that the funds be used only for July 16 flood damage.
“If we can earmark it that way,” McKinney said. “That’s what I want done.”
With the agreement that the additional funds would be earmarked for flood damage caused by the July 16 flood, the council voted unanimously to approve the higher tax rate.
Building zone permits and code changes
Two building permits were requested and approved. One for an Ace Repairs office near the current H-E-B on Junction Highway, the other for a portion of the property at 2001 Sidney Baker St., which sits in front of several condominiums.
The condominium owners had no objection to the new building, nor were objections raised to the Ace office building.
Changes to chapter 18 regarding the city’s animal code, especially regarding feral cat colonies, were read in and unanimously approved. This means the total number of feral cats allowed to live in colonies with a caretaker is now 12, where it was 15 previously.
Community Announcements and Declarations
Several community announcements were made at the beginning of the council meeting.
Greg Richards, chief strategy officer of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, kicked off the meeting to announce that a home repair and rebuild assistance program will launch on Monday, Sept. 21.
This program will provide repair teams to homes that either need to be rebuilt or repaired due to damage from the July 16 flooding.
“Families who have completed the eligibility process (completed the needs assessment form at https://kerrtogether.com) can be assigned to a repair agency as soon as that date (Sept. 21),” Richards said.
Richards provided a QR code at the meeting for families that have not yet completed the survey.
Jan and Mike Pieraccini announced that, on Friday, Sept. 11, the annual field of honor will be open to the public. At this annual event, 500 American flags will be placed in perfect rows in a field beside the Hill Country Youth Event Center.
A ceremony, which will include Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring Jr., will take place Sept. 12, where speakers will talk about their personal heroes.
The city also announced that the Parks and Recreation Department would partner with Kerrville Pets Alive! to host the first Bark in the Park event at Sample Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.
The city also announced that businesses can now purchase booth space at the city’s annual Fright Fest, set for Oct. 31.
Herring announced the week of Sept. 7 would be considered Constitution Week to acknowledge the 239th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America. Representatives from Daughters of the American Revolution accepted the declaration.
Herring also declared September to be Recovery Month in recognition of organizations and individuals recovering from substance abuse. Members of the Kerrville recovery community accepted the declaration.
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