Vernon adopts new, lower tax rate

A special meeting of the Vernon City Commission was held Tuesday, Sept. 6. Mayor Gosline called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with all city Commissioners present.
After the invocation and pledges of allegiance, the Commissioners went right into their agenda.
The commissioners approved a property tax rate of $0.52990 per $100 evaluation. This rate is down from last year’s rate of $0.53618 per $100. The rate into $0.40263 for maintenance and operations and $0.12727 for interest and sinking (debt service).
Next the Commissioners approved a city budget for the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. They approved a total of $27,482,969 in expenditures. This was up from last year’s budget of $25,894,610.City Manager Marty Mangum said this increase is largely due to Government funds the City has accrued but not spent before the start of the Fiscal year which reflect in the new budget.
Commissioners then voted to terminate the city’s contract with Nortex Regional Planning Commission as Nortex is no longer going to be able to provide services for application and administration of the Texas Community Block Grant Program from the Texas Department of Agriculture. The Commissioners also voted to seek another similar company to be contracted to take Nortex’s place.