(a) 
A penalty of 15% of the tax, penalty and interest shall be added to all taxes remaining delinquent after July 1 of each year hereafter beginning July 1, 1987, to help defray the costs of collection in lieu of attorney’s fees.
(b) 
A tax lien shall attach to the property on which the tax is imposed to secure the payment of the penalty.
(c) 
Notices of the delinquency and the penalty shall be given to the property owner at least 30 and not more than 60 days before July 1 of each year.
(d) 
This collection penalty shall be imposed on delinquent 1986 taxes and years thereafter.
(1972 Code, sec. 23-1/4-2; Ordinance 354 adopted 10/21/1986; 1995 Code, sec. 35.02)
(a) 
The tax collector of this jurisdiction is hereby directed to cause to be mailed, as expeditiously as possible, notices to all delinquent taxpayers, where addresses are available, of the additional penalty to be imposed, as hereinafter set forth, on all taxes delinquent as of this date.
(b) 
The tax collector is directed to annually mail notices during the month of May to all current-year delinquent taxpayers, advising them of the additional penalty, as hereinafter set forth, to be imposed as of July 1 on all unpaid current-year delinquent taxes.
(c) 
Effective 31 days after the tax collector has mailed the hereinabove referenced notices, with respect to taxes delinquent for 1986 and prior years, an additional penalty of 15% of the taxes, penalty and interest shall be incurred; furthermore, taxes becoming delinquent during 1988 and thereafter shall not incur this additional penalty until July 1 of the year in which they become delinquent.
(d) 
All 1998 taxes and taxes for all subsequent years which become delinquent on or after June 1 of the year in which they become delinquent shall, in order to defray costs of collection, incur an additional penalty of 15% of the tax, penalty and interest.
(1972 Code, sec. 23-1/4-3; Resolution 2632 adopted 9/15/87; 1995 Code, sec. 35.03; Resolution 3424 adopted 10/19/1999)
(a) 
Exemption.
(1) 
"Disabled" for purposes of this exemption means either that, because of physical or mental disability, a person is unable to engage in any substantial gainful work, or that a person is fifty-five (55) or older and blind and by reason of the blindness is unable to engage in previous line of work.
(2) 
Pursuant to the State Constitution article VIII, section 1-b, and in addition to the general homestead exemption, twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) of the appraised value of resident homesteads of persons sixty-five (65) or older and of disabled persons shall be exempt from city ad valorem taxes beginning with the 2023 tax rolls, upon the owner's compliance with the following requirements:
(A) 
The head of the household of the resident homestead shall be sixty-five (65) years of age or older as of January 1st of each tax year.
(B) 
The head of the household of the resident homestead exemption shall submit to the chief appraiser of the county appraisal district an affidavit that he or she is sixty-five (65) years of age or older or disabled. The initial exemption claim shall be accompanied by adequate proof of age, but subsequent renewal of the exemption may be made by affidavit only.
(C) 
No part of the property receiving exemption may be used for commercial purposes, and no more than twenty (20) acres of rural land will be deemed eligible for exemption.
(3) 
Any person who makes a false affidavit in claiming their homestead exemption shall be subject to all penalties which exist for lack of payment of taxes, and all other appropriate criminal penalties.
(4) 
Property purchased after January 1st in any given year will not qualify in whole or in part for exemption for that year.
(b) 
Limitation.
(1) 
Effective with tax year 2023, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed by the city on the residence homestead of a person who is disabled or is sixty-five (65) years of age or older shall not be increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person or that person's spouse who is disabled or sixty-five (65) years of age or older and receives a residence homestead exemption on the homestead.
(2) 
If the person who is disabled or is sixty-five (65) years of age or older dies in a year in which the person received a residence homestead exemption, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homestead shall not be increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person's surviving spouse if the spouse is fifty-five (55) years of age or older at the time of the person's death.
(3) 
The tax limitation approved by this section is transferable as permitted by the Texas Tax Code § 11.261 as the same may be amended from time-to-time.
(4) 
Notwithstanding subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2), taxes on the residence homestead may be increased to the extent the value of the homestead is increased by improvements other than repairs and other improvements made to comply with governmental requirements.
(1972 Code, sec. 2-2; Ordinance 1566 adopted 2/6/1973; 1995 Code, sec. 35.04; Ordinance 3667 adopted 12/2/2003; Ordinance 3672-A adopted 12/2/2003; Ordinance 5009 adopted 6/20/2023)
The city exempts from taxation a travel trailer that was registered in the state on January 1 of the year and is not held or used for the production of income if the trailer is:
(1) 
Less than 400 square feet in area; and
(2) 
Designed primarily for use as temporary living quarters and not as a permanent dwelling.
(1995 Code, sec. 35.05; Resolution 3567 adopted 4/16/2002)
(a) 
The city shall provide an annual residential homestead exemption of ten percent (10%) of a residence homestead's value, with a minimum exemption of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), to all qualified homeowners subject to the city's property tax pursuant to the laws of the state regulating the assessing of ad valorem taxes.
(b) 
This section shall apply to the 2023 tax roll and all subsequent rolls unless repealed by ordinance.
(Ordinance 5009 adopted 6/20/2023)