Financial Transparency

In December 2009, the Texas Comptroller established the “Leadership Circle” program to promote financial transparency in local government. Each year since 2010, the City of Sealy has attained that program’s highest rating (Gold level through 2013 and Platinum level through 2015) by providing online access to its information in an easily accessible, user-friendly format. This, in turn, has promoted greater accountability and provided citizens with information on how their tax dollars are allocated and spent.

This program was discontinued in 2016 with the inception of the Texas Comptroller's “Transparency Stars” program.

Since the inception of the Leadership Circle program, the public expectation for government transparency has changed dramatically. Taxpayers now demand more advanced features, such as downloadable datasets and new visual representations of information. In 2016, the Comptroller’s office adapted to these changing times by implementing its new “Transparency Stars” program, which recognizes local governments that go above and beyond previous standards for open government by:

 

• opening their books not only in their traditional finances, but also in the areas of contracts and procurement, economic development, public pensions, and debt obligations.
• providing clear and meaningful financial information not only by posting financial documents, but also through summaries, visualizations, downloadable data, and other relevant information.

On October 5, 2016, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that the City of Sealy was the latest local government entity to achieve specific transparency goals through the Comptroller’s Transparency Stars program. The City of Sealy received a star in the area of Traditional Finances, which recognizes entities for their outstanding efforts in making their spending and revenue information available.

Transparency Stars recognizes local government entities that provide easy online access to important financial data.

“By providing meaningful financial data in addition to visual tools and analysis of its revenues and expenditures, the City of Sealy has shown a true commitment to Texas taxpayers. This effort achieves the goals set by my office’s Transparency Stars program,” Hegar said. “I am pleased to award the City of Sealy a star for its accomplishments.”

The Comptroller’s office launched the Transparency Stars program in March 2016 to recognize cities, counties, and school districts making important strides to greater government transparency. Local government entities can apply for stars in the areas of:

• Traditional Finances,
• Contracts and Procurement,
• Economic Development,
• Public Pensions, and
• Debt Obligations.

After receiving an initial star for Traditional Finances, remaining stars may be awarded in any order. For more information on the program, including specific guidelines and information on how to apply, visit the Comptroller’s Transparency Stars website

Property, or "ad valorem," tax is a levy issued by a local government on real or personal property. The property is assessed to give it a value, and then that value is taxed. In Texas, the amount of tax owed is determined by multiplying the value of the property by the current tax rate and dividing by 100, as the rates are expressed per $100 of taxable property valuation.

In September of each year, the governing bodies of the local taxing units decide what services they will provide and how much money they will need. They adopt their respective unit budgets and set the property tax rates for the year that will provide the needed revenues to fund those services.

The City of Sealy contracts with the Austin County Appraiser District to function as the city's tax assessor-collector. By October 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable each year, the district prepares the property tax bills and mails them to all property owners listed on the tax roll or to their agents. The district also collects the taxes and then remits them to the city.

Tax Year 2021:
Maintenance & Operations (M&O)	$0.19651 per $100 valuation
Interest & Sinking (I&S), or Debt Service	$0.06924 per $100 valuation
Total Rate	$0.26575 per $100 valuation

The M&O component of the tax rate generates revenues in the coming year to fund the day-to-day operations of the city's general fund, whereas the I&S component provides sufficient funds for the city's debt payments in the coming year.

Texas imposes a state sales tax on all retail sales, leases, and rentals of most goods, as well as taxable services. Texas cities, counties, transit authorities, and special purpose districts have the option of imposing an additional local sales tax.Texas also imposes a use tax when purchasers buy taxable goods and services for use in Texas and the seller does not charge Texas sales tax or does not charge the correct amount of Texas sales tax. The use tax rates are the same as the state and local sales tax rates. Sales and use taxes are collected by the state and forwarded to the City of Sealy on a monthly basis.

What is the maximum sales tax rate that can be charged on a sale of taxable goods or services in Texas?

The sales tax rate charged by the state on the sale of each taxable item in the state is 6.25% of the sales price of the taxable item. (Tex. Tax Code Sec. 151.051) In addition to the state’s 6.25% sales tax rate, local taxing entities (cities, counties, transit authorities, and special purpose districts) can collectively claim an additional 2.00% tax rate, for a total maximum tax rate of 8.25% in any given location. (Tex. Tax Code Sec. 321.101(f)) Whether or not the sales tax rate is “maxed out” in a given city depends on what sales taxes have been adopted by the city, in addition to what sales taxes have been adopted by the other taxing entities that overlap with the city.

The breakdown of the sales tax rate within the city limits of Sealy is as follows:

What is the sales tax for general revenue?

The sales tax for general revenue is a tax that may be levied by a city on all taxable items sold in the city. The revenues from the tax may be spent on almost any lawful purpose of the city. Within the city limits of Sealy, the sales tax rate for general revenue is currently set at 1.00%.

What are sales taxes for dedicated purposes?

All city sales taxes, other than the sales tax for general revenue, are considered sales taxes for dedicated purposes. As the name implies, each of these taxes may only be spent on certain, or dedicated, items or projects. Cities may have a mix of different dedicated taxes, in addition to the general revenue sales tax, so long as the total tax rate in the city does not exceed 8.25%.

Examples of dedicated sales taxes include those for economic development, street maintenance, venue districts, crime control and prevention districts, and property tax relief.

Currently, the City of Sealy has a dedicated sales tax for economic development, and that tax rate is set at 0.50%.

Hotel occupancy tax is imposed on the rental of a room or space in a hotel costing $15 or more each day. The tax applies not only to hotels and motels, but also to bed and breakfasts, condominiums, apartments, and houses. Local hotel taxes apply to sleeping rooms costing $2 or more each day.

Persons leasing their houses, or rooms in their house, must collect the tax from their customers in the same way a hotel or motel collects the tax from its guests. Property management companies, online travel companies, and other third-party rental companies may also be responsible for collecting the tax.

The Texas Comptroller's office collects and administers the state hotel tax, while the City of Sealy is responsible for collecting its own local hotel tax. Local establishments remit the local taxes they collect to the city on a quarterly basis.

Tax Rates for City of Sealy only:
State of Texas	6.00%
City of Sealy	7.00%
Total Rate	13.00%