By a 4-1 vote, Nederland City Council increased its property tax rate from 45.5 cents per $100 valuation to 46.6 cents per $100 valuation, a $22 increase per year on a property valued at $200,000.
“The cost of doing business continues to rise faster than the official inflation rate,” Mayor Jeff Darby told The Examiner. “Construction materials are about 40% higher than they were five years ago. The city must replace a fire engine from 2001 at a cost of $1.3 million. The backlog for a new fire engine is some three years, so we need to order it now.
“"The citizens want things fixed. We listened.”
Nederland’s new property tax rate is still 15 to 20 cents lower than property tax rates in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Groves, and Port Neches, according to Darby. Darby and Councilmen Jeff Ortiz, Britton Jones, and Randy Sonnier voted in favor of the increase. Councilman Curtis Stratton was only vote against the increase.
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