LAKE TRAVIS VIEW

Lakeway OKs budget, tax rate

Hope Unger
Special to Lake Travis View
The Lakeway City Council voted unanimously to approve a tax rate of $0.1290. Officials said it was the lowest tax rate in the city's history.

The Lakeway City Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve a $17.7 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year and the lowest tax rate in the city's history.

The approved tax rate of $0.1290 is 17% lower than last year’s tax rate of $0.1545. City spokesman Jarrod Wise said this change will result in an average $40 reduction for the average homeowner’s annual tax bill. The no new revenue tax rate, which is the rate that will raise the same amount of property tax revenue as last year, is also $0.1290.

City officials said the owner of an average home worth a taxable value of $692,587 this year will pay an estimated $894 with a homestead exemption under the proposed tax rate. The owner of an average home valued at $604,530 last year paid about $934 with a homestead exemption.

According to the city, the fiscal year 2023 budget projects revenue at $17,659,712 and expenditures at $17,824,660.

Officials said the approved budget includes a cost-of-living adjustment for all city positions, three replacement pickups and new positions including an assistant parks director, a multimedia specialist and crew leader at the Lakeway Activity Center.

The council also reviewed the fiscal year 2022 financial report as of Aug. 31 and found the city went over the previous year’s budgets by $1,830,054.Due to “salary savings,” the expenditures budget had a lower positive variance than the revenue budget. The city is still looking for a finance director and emergency management coordinator.

Other items approvedby the council included a special use permit for a short-term rental at 154 World of Tennis Square and sharing the cost of a traffic light with The Hills.

Another approved amendment was for land-use restrictions, streets and shared-use paths for the Tuscan Village planned unit development. Debate arose over making all housing units available with no age restrictions, undoing a tenant requirement of being over the age of 55.

The amendment also requested to increase the unbuilt remainder of Lohmans Spur from two lanes to four, as well as building a 10-foot concrete shared use path.

According to the staff report, the Zoning and Planning Committee recommended approval to the City Council by a vote of 4-2 on Sept. 7.

During a public hearing during the council meeting, resident Nina Davis said she hoped the council doesn’t remove the age restriction and that families will generate more traffic.

“If you drop the age 55, it’s gonna be a lot more dense, a lot more traffic,” Davis said. “It's also a perfect place for senior living and I would hate for our senior community to be denied that.”

The council voted 4-2 for the amendment, with the stipulation that the cottages will have no age restriction but half of the apartments will be limited to those ages 55 and older.

Near the end of the meeting, the council continuedits discussion on the city’s no-thru trucks ordinance and postponed voting on an amendment relating to the operation of golf carts until the meeting in October.