City of Longview lowers proposed tax increase to fund employee raises

Published 11:50 pm Thursday, July 24, 2025

The city of Longview is reducing a proposed tax rate increase to fund employee raises after final Gregg County property values came in higher than estimated.

City Manager Rolin McPhee previously proposed a 2.3-cent tax rate increase to fund raises.. Pending final budget approval, employees would receive a 6% plus $1,000 raise.

On Thursday, though, he told the Longview City Council that officials had received final certified property appraisals that were 2.5% higher than anticipated. That means the city can raise the tax rate by 1 cent and still fund the employee raises as proposed.

“That’s the best news I think I could bring to this council in a difficult position this year due to financial situations,” he said.

Harrison County, which represents a much smaller part of the city’s property values, has not yet provided final values.

At the originally proposed rate of 58.49 cents per $100 valuation, homeowners with the average home value of $223,000 would have paid $51.36 more per year.

At the new proposed rate of $57.19 per $100 valuation, the average homeowner would see taxes increase $22.33 a year, or $1.86 a month, McPhee said.

“That’s a substantial decrease,” he said.

Also on Thursday, the council declared July 10, 2025, as 1919 Longview Remembrance Day. Clent Holmes and others joined Mayor Kristen Ishihara at the front of the council chambers during Thursday night’s meeting, with Holmes explaining the group had come together more than five years ago to “bring the truth to light” concerning what happened in Longview on July 10, 1919.

A “dark part” of the city’s history took place that day, with the 1919 race riot occurring just hundreds of feet from what is today’s City Hall, Holmes said.

The group has been working to secure a state historical marker to remember the event. It will be placed near the courthouse later this year, Holmes said. A documentary on the race riot is also in post production.

“Our goal is to remember and remember these events properly,” Holmes said.

Ishihara read the proclamation aloud, which said this part of Longview’s history has been “too long in the shadows.”

“During the period known as the Red Summer, racial violence erupted in Longview, Texas, resulting in the destruction of Black homes and businesses, the loss of precious life and widespread terror and trauma across the black community,” the proclamation says.

The 1919 Longview Remembrance Day, “seeks to recover and uplift this history, honor those harmed and foster reconciliation through truth telling, education and community remembrance; whereas healing begins with honesty, and remembrance is both an act of justice and a step toward building a more compassionate, united and equitable Longview.”