A majority of College Station city council members approved a five percent homestead tax exemption for owner occupied homes at Thursday’s meeting.
The motion, which was made by John Nichols and seconded by James Benham, was also supported by Jerome Rektorik, Barry Moore, and mayor Karl Mooney.
Linda Harvell and Bob Brick abstained from that vote.
There were two failed attempts to raise the exemption percentage.
Rektorik’s motion for a 7.5 percent exemption died for the lack of a second.
Mooney’s motion for a 10 percent exemption, which was seconded by Brick, received no additional yes votes.
The five percent decrease in valuation for the owner of a $285,000 dollar home, which is the average price in College Station, will save the homeowner about $71 dollars.
The exemption would result in the loss of $644,000 in annual city revenue. The council could decide later this summer to offset that loss with a .759-cent property tax rate increase.