TAYLOR TAXES
Council notes some will feel the pinch
Although Taylor is lowering its tax rate, rising property values could mean some residents will see up to an $80 increase in their bills to support a $177 million Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
The City Council passed the budget and tax rate on Wednesday, lowering the tax rate by a fraction of a penny from 59.1369 cents to 58.5 cents per $100 of assessed home value. Officials noted the average home price in Taylor rose 6.79%, so with the new rate and new valuations, the average Taylor homestead property owner will see an increase of about $80, according to the city.
Under state law, municipal budgets must be locked into place by Oct. 1.
In other news, the council gave final approval to some new developments including employment centers.
Relating to the budget and tax rate, Mayor Dwayne Ariola addressed concerns voiced by residents.
“We are lowering the tax rate. And depending on what your property value is, that determines whether your taxes go up or go down,” Ariola said. “Some people’s property values have gone down, therefore the algebraic equation of tax rates times property values equals whatever. But if your property values go up – we only went down a few pennies – then your property taxes may go up but it’s not across the board.”
According to officials, the tax rate will raise more total property taxes than last year by $5.6 million, which is a 37.1% increase. Of that amount, about half is coming from new property added to the tax roll this year and half includes increases from existing properties.
According to city figures, property taxes are only a portion of Taylor’s revenue. When combined with projected sales tax, development fees and other income streams, the city expects to have a total income of $89 million for fiscal year 2026.
The adopted budget shows city expenses of $177 million. The difference between the income and expenses is largely due to capitalimprovement projects that will be funded with bonds or revenues collected in prior years.
Lydia Collins, deputy chief financial officer, presented the budget and tax proposal to the council during the special-called meeting Sept. 10. There were no changes to the budget or tax rate since the Aug. 28 council meeting session.
The budget does not include a water or sewer rate increase for the fiscal year.
Collins said the city expects to collect enough revenue in FY26 for the general fund to have a 38% reserve balance. The general fund also covers some large onetime expenses, including $4 million for a new public works building, $850,000 for new Fire Department equipment and about $1.7 million for new police, public works and parks vehicles.
“In the past, in large order we’ve borrowed money for a lot of these larger expenditures, but we made the decision this year to take some of our cash for some of these larger capital expenditures instead of borrowing money and paying it out over 30 years,” said Councilman Kelly Cmerek. “This is what we felt like was best for the citizens.”
Breaking it down
The 2026 budget shows a net increase of 7.1% in revenue to the general fund, for a total of $36.3 million. The general fund pays for the maintenance and operations of the city, except for utilities, the airport and cemetery, which each have their own funds for income and expenses.
The Police Department frequently makes up a large portion of a small town’s budget. In Taylor, 30% of the general fund is allocated to public safety. City administration takes 24% of the budget, paying for debt takes 24%.
Streets and grounds maintenance gets 8% of the city budget. Parks and recreation receives 7%, as does economic development.
In her presentation, Collins said the city’s property-tax base value has increased from $17.2 billion to $57.1 billion.
However, $1.3 billion of the growth came from the ongoing Samsung Austin Semiconductor development. Samsung has incentive agreements with the city and 93.5% of the property taxes collected from Samsung are deposited into a tax increment reinvestment fund, not into the general fund.
To help lure development and fund improvements, a TIRF plows a portion of increased property taxes back into an investment zone to spur growth.
The agreement with Samsung lasts 30 years, with the city seeing small increases in the amount it can keep each decade.
“When those projects are completely finished then the full value comes on the Williamson County tax role,” Cmerek said. “So we know it’s coming, but if anybody has that question in the audience, that’s why we weren’t able to do a larger reduction because a majority of that big increase is from Samsung.”
Business impact
Officials said business properties can be especially hard hit by the combination of tax rates and valuation. A temporary cap limiting increases on appraised value of commercial properties to 20% is set to end after the 2026 tax year. In Taylor, 22 downtown businesses closed in 2024, with many pointing to increased rents as a primary reason.
Rick Von Pfeil, a member of the Downtown Property Owners Group, said all downtown properties saw substantial increases in their appraised value this year and are collectively protesting the appraisals.
For commercial properties, having the tax rate decrease in proportion to value increases is crucial to being able to find and keep tenants, business operators said.
The city receives information from the county appraiser early in the year that gives them the value of property on the tax rolls and the maximum amount the city is allowed to set its tax rate at without requiring voter approval.
The county also calculates a no-new-revenue rate so city planners can design their budgets to not increase taxes on existing properties over the previous year. Taylor budgeted for the highest tax rate allowed without requiring a potential rollback election.
According to the city website, the no-newrevenue rate of 51.238 cents per $100 value would have resulted in a city tax bill of $185 less than the 58.5 cents rate council approved.
“Although we are pleased that we’re able to lower the tax rate at this time, we do fully recognize that that is not lessening the tax burden on all of our citizens. We get that. We know that. We see it. We experience it,” Councilwoman Shelli Cobb said. “We are able to give a little relief to some, not to all. I just want to say that I do understand that this is the rate that we need right now, and I just wish we could do more.”
Final approval on developments The council through its consent agenda also gave final approval to several new developments with no further discussion. They include:
• Forterra Business Park, a 47-acre development generally located at 100 CR 403. The land was annexed into city limits and will be an employment center.
• A 3.2-acre site at 701 N.W. Carlos G. Parker Boulevard, which will have warehouses and retail as part of its approved employment center plan.
• Trinity Heights, a 2-acre infill neighborhood plan on Beech and Symes streets, which will add larger singlefamily housing near the golf course.
• A mixed-use zoning change for the former golf course clubhouse at 1102 Beech St. that allows the owner the option to develop the land for commercial or residential use.
GENERAL FUND
TAYLOR’S FISCAL YEAR 2026 GENERAL FUND AT A GLANCE:
• Public safety — 30%
• City administration — 24%
• Debt service — 24%
• Streets and grounds maintenance — 8%
• Parks and recreation — 7%
• Economic development — 7% Source: city of Taylor
