CITY COUNCIL
City manager unveils proposed FY 2026 budget
HUTTO – A presentation by City Manager James Earp this past week kicked off a City Council review of the budget for fiscal year 2026 based on a no-newrevenue tax rate.
“I designed the budget using no-new-revenue and that is the rate I am proposing,” Earp told council members Thursday. “The average homeowner in Hutto is going to pay a little bit more than Round Rock, Taylor and Georgetown and a little bit less than Pflugerville, Cedar Park, Liberty Hill and Leander.”
That comparison is adjusted for city taxes, emergency services and special districts based on last year’s rates, officials said.
Under state law, the municipal budget must be locked in by Oct. 1.
The no-new-revenue tax rate, or NNR, is calculated to impose the same amount of taxes as last year when comparing the same properties taxed in both years.
This year’s no-newrevenue tax rate in Hutto is a little over 38 cents per $100 of taxable home value, a drop from last year’s rate of almost 40 cents.
For the proposed budget, Earp eliminated some items suggested during a July workshop including weather stations, a dump truck and a mini excavator. The city will also reduce the number of computers being replaced and some citysponsored special events.
“We were operating under an estimated NNR and after the assessor provided us the certified rate it was off by about a penny, which meant I had to cut about $500,000-plus dollars out of my proposed budget,” Earp said.
While the NNR rate is intended to keep the amount paid by homeowners the same as the previous year, it is not exact, officials said.
The average Hutto homeowner with a homestead exemption paid $1,301.86 in taxes last year, and the new rate would be an increase of $29.55, or 2.27%.
On a $345,951 home, the city property tax is $111.26 per month, of which $72.84 goes towards municipal services.
The city will raise $1.5 million more in revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget, a 7.7% increase. The majority of that comes from new development.
Property taxes account for 41.7% of the fiscal year 2026 revenue, with $8.3 million in sales taxes making up 32.3 percent. The remainder of the city’s income is from permits and licenses, franchise fees, fines and other types of fees or charges.
Budget expenditures total $399.4 million with over half of that being capital improvement and utility funding. Total general fund expenditures increased from $32.8 million to $34.74 million.
While Earp cut some items from the budget proposal, it still left room for many issues community members support. These include:
• Fully funded road maintenance.
• Money for new pickleball courts, a disc golf course and additional athletic field.
• Three new positions added in the Police Department and two more in engineering. Three other positions are being eliminated, so the total city staff increases by two full-time employees.
Earp’s budget met with initial approval from the council, though it may go through some changes as the members discuss the proposal line-by-line at a special meeting 6 p.m. Aug. 14 in council chambers, 500 W. Live Oak St.
“Proper planning, modest growth AND fiscal responsibility WILL allow NNR budgets. We don’t need more taxpayer $$. What we need is people willing to work each year to complete a budget where we are able to do more, with less,” Mayor Mike Snyder posted on social media.
The budget can be viewed at https://cityhutto- tx-budget-book. cleargov.com/20634.
