For the seventh year in a row, Flowery Branch property owners have been spared the burden of higher property tax rates.The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that keeps the millage rate the same, despite an $8.2 million loss in property values in the South Hall city.Property taxes fund about 22.6 percent of the $2.7 million general fund. Each property owner’s contribution to that fund will be to pay $2.837 for each $1,000 in assessed property value.The money goes toward public safety, road improvements and other costs of running government, like personnel. While property owners’ millage rates will stay the same, the government’s spending will increase by 5.5 percent over last year.Much of the increase is due to city officials’ projections that revenues from sales taxes charged for special projects and for general government use will improve in the coming months.Overall, the city plans to spend some $5.4 million in the fiscal year that begins in July in a budget that includes a new fund for planning future projects and beefs up the city’s reserves.