VON ORMY, Texas (AP) - An oil and gas boom combined with a surge in truck stop business and the use of online shopping have helped motivate the mayor of a San Antonio suburb to abolish the city property tax.
The San Antonio Express-News (https://bit.ly/1lgB7OB ) reports Von Ormy mayor Art Martinez de Vara will ask the council next month to eliminate the levy in 2015. He said the city of 1,100 can instead rely on soaring sales tax revenues, which have jumped 400 percent since the city was founded.
The city’s main sources of sales tax revenue are three truck stops, several restaurants and online shopping.
“In a rural community, a lot of people now just order over the Internet,” Martinez de Vara said.
Von Ormy also gathers fees from utilities for their use of city rights-of-way, and it assesses traffic fines.
The city was incorporated in 2008. Its property tax has been lowered gradually because of rising sales tax revenues boosted by nearby Eagle Ford Shale. City offices are in a mobile home and council meetings are held in a church, which also houses the Municipal Court.
The average home value in Von Ormy is about $60,000. The property tax rate is 25.5 cents per $100 valuation, meaning residents could see an average tax decrease of about $150 per year if the plan moves forward.
Residents would still be required to pay property taxes to the county as well as school, college and hospital districts.
Martinez de Vara said officials could reinstate the property tax if other revenues decrease.
“If we ever have to go back to property tax, the advantage that we’re going to have is we’d start at zero,” he said.
A public hearing on the mayor’s proposal is set for Sept. 4.
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Information from: San Antonio Express-News, https://www.mysanantonio.com
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