TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — Travis County residents will soon see higher property tax bills after county commissioners approved a tax rate increase of just over 9%.

The new rate will be slightly under 38 cents per $100 of property valuation.

County officials said the increase is necessary, in part, to cover the cost of recovery efforts from the July floods. Under normal circumstances, any tax hike above 3.5% would require voter approval. However, because of a disaster declaration tied to the flooding, the county is exempt from that requirement.

So far, Travis County has spent $21 million on flood recovery.

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