Taxes
Ad Valorem Taxes
The City's current ad valorem tax rate is $0.539 per $100 of valuation of which $0.509118 is for Maintenance and Operations of the General Fund and $0.029882 is for bonded debt. For fiscal year 2020-2021 the City's total taxable assessed value was $1,243,810,215. The City grants a 20% homestead exemption and an additional $15,000 exemption for homeowners over 65 or disabled homeowners.
Sales Taxes
The City's total tax rate collection is 8.25% in Gregg County and 7.75% in Rusk County. The breakdown is as follows:
- State - 6.25%
- City - 1.0%
- Economic Development - 0.5%
- Gregg County - 0.5%
- Rusk County - 0%
City's Share
The City's 1% is credited to the General Fund and is not pledged to the payment of bonded debt. Collections and enforcements are effected through the offices of the Comptroller of Public Accounts, State of Texas, who remits the proceeds of the tax, after deducting a 2% service fee, to the City monthly.
Economic Development
In May 1990, the voters of the City approved the imposition of an additional sales and use tax of 0.5% for economic development. Collection for the additional tax went into effect October 1, 1990. The sales tax for economic development is collected solely for the benefit of Kilgore Economic Development Corporation, and may be pledged to secure payment of sales tax revenue bonds issued by the Corporation.