By Jason Clay Jansky

Karnes City residents on average will not see an increase in their taxes this year after city officials passed a budget that lowered the tax rate September 18.

Residents paid 81.97 cents per $100 property valuation in city property taxes last year, and this year they’ll be paying less — 79.31 cents per $100 valuation.

Though this year’s tax rate is lower, the number was calculated to net the city roughly the same amount of money it earned last year due to rising property values.

Residents whose property values stayed the same will be paying fewer taxes, while those whose properties increased or decreased dramatically in value will be paying more tax or less tax, respectively.

On average, a family with $50,000 in property will owe $396 in property tax to the city this year — a decrease of $13 in what the same amount of property would have paid in tax last year.

The rate is adjusted to make sure a family with $50,000 in property will not end up paying more in taxes this year when their property values increase.

(On the whole, property values inside the Karnes City limits were appraised higher than they were the previous year.)

This year’s budget will total $2,921,986.

Karnes City Administrator Larry Pippen said that the fact that the city does not have to raise taxes on its citizens was a major financial achievement given the city’s upcoming multimillion-dollar sewer and water infrastructure upgrades.

When the upgrades are complete, Karnes City will become more attractive and accommodating to possible economic development in the area and city leaders will be meeting soon to discuss how to plan the town’s future over the next several years, Pippen said.