The Tomball City Council formally adopted its tax rate for the 2009-10 fiscal year at its Sept. 21 meeting.

The rate will remained unchanged from last year’s 25-cent total rate. The rate is a combination of an Interest and Sinking (I&S) levy, which goes to pay off the city’s outstanding bond payments, along with a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) rate, which funds the city’s General Fund.

The council approved a 13-cent rate for I&S and a 12-cent rate for M&O. Property tax makes up 9 percent of the city’s annual budget, according to documents provided by the City of Tomball.

By adopting the 25-cent rate, the City of Tomball keeps one of the Houston area’s lowest tax levies. In a 12-city comparison conducted by city staff, Tomball’s rate is the third lowest. Only Webster and Humble at 20 cents have lower rates.

By comparison, the City of Jersey Village has enacted a 74-cent rate, while Magnolia charges 49 cents per $100 of property valuation.

The council also adopted its monthly rates for water usage. According to city Finance Director Monika Kohlenberg, this year the state of Texas for the first time has adopted a tiered billing structure for residential customers similar to that in past years for commercial customers.

The system is based on water usage; the more water used by customers, the more they will be charged. However, Kohlenberg said that “70 percent of our customers fall in the first tier range” and will likely see no change in their water bill.

The city’s new rates call for “small residential” customers, or those who use less than 10,000 gallons per month, to be charged a base rate of $10.90 per 1,000 gallons used, as well as a $2.85 consumption charge.

“Medium residential” customers are defined as those who use 11,000 gallons or more, but less than 17,000 per month. They will be charged a rate of $12.54 per month, and a $3.56 consumption charge.

Those who will most likely see an increase in their water bills will be “large residential” customers, who use more than 17,000 gallons per month. Those customers will be charged a base rate of $14.42, along with a $4.45 consumption charge.

Kohlenberg also said commercial customers will not see a change in their water rates this year. Those rates will remain $18.45 for small commercial (5,000 gallons or less), $29.70 for medium commercial (5,000 gallons or more but less than 51,000 gallons), and $51.99 for large commercial (more than 51,000 gallons).

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