The City of El Campo City Council accepted the 2025 certified property tax roll and set a ceiling for the 2026 tax rate at the no-new-revenue figure of 0.49144 during a regular meeting where staff presented updated budget adjustments.

City staff told the council the certified roll — provided by the Wharton County chief appraiser — is required by law and that staff is “confident that these numbers are numbers that we can use towards our budget,” and noted some values remain marked as under review. The council voted to accept the roll and later took a separate record vote to set the tax-rate ceiling at the no-new-revenue rate rather than adopt a higher rate that would trigger additional public hearings.

The actions matter because the no-new-revenue rate determines whether the city must hold a public hearing before adopting a fiscal-year tax rate. Finance staff said they adjusted revenue and transfers — including modest updates to sales-tax projections, increases to water and sewer fees, and changes to interfund transfers and permitting revenue — to balance the proposed budget at the no-new-revenue ceiling. Staff described the no-new-revenue rate as roughly 3 cents higher than the current rate; council recorded the ceiling as 0.49144.

During discussion, Councilmember Hancock asked what would happen if the appraisal district produced values the council did not accept; staff responded the council could reject the roll and send it back to the appraisal district with requested corrections but said that, in practice, staff and the finance director work with the appraisal district before roll presentation. Staff also noted roughly $66,000,000 of value was listed as under review and that those amounts could change depending on review outcomes. Staff estimated assessed values had increased “less than 5%” over the prior year.

Councilmembers pressed staff for more time to review the 146-page proposed budget and asked for an additional meeting or staff follow-up. Council did not adopt a final tax rate or the budget on the night of the meeting; the recorded vote sets only the ceiling. Staff said if council wants a rate above the no-new-revenue figure, they must indicate that at this stage so staff can schedule a public hearing and process the adoption timeline.

Council also asked staff to monitor sales-tax receipts in the first quarter of the fiscal year; staff described the sales-tax projection used in the budget as a conservative 3% increase and cautioned if the projection does not materialize, staff would report back and the city may need to recalculate the budget or recommend adjustments.

The council directed staff to bring the proposed budget back for additional review with the full council present and to meet individually with Councilmember Hancock to address outstanding questions. A final budget adoption and any formal tax-rate adoption are scheduled for subsequent meetings.