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Council sets maximum property-tax rate for September budget hearings, keeps proposed budget tax rate lower
Summary
Council set a maximum tax rate for public hearings and scheduled two taxpayer hearings in September; city manager said the proposed budget already uses a lower rate (0.5435) and the motion simply sets a maximum allowable rate for the required hearings.
Farmers Branch city council voted to place a proposal on the Sept. 16 agenda to consider adopting a maximum property tax rate of 0.631795¢ and scheduled two public hearings on the tax rate for Sept. 16, 2025. City manager Ben Williamson emphasized this procedural vote does not set the final tax rate for the budget — the proposed balanced budget under consideration was built on a lower rate of 0.5435.
Staff explained that state law requires disclosure of a maximum tax rate and that the council’s motion sets the highest rate that may be considered at the public hearings; the actual adopted rate will be set later when the council votes on the budget and tax rate ordinances. Williamson reviewed the budget disclosures that must appear in the truth-in-taxation documents and explained the budget as proposed would increase overall expenditures modestly (roughly 1 percent) while maintaining a low debt-service portion of the tax rate.
Council approved the motion and scheduled the required public hearings; staff will publish required notices and the truth-in-taxation information as part of the September budget process. The city manager and finance staff repeated that the budget under consideration is based on the lower 0.5435 rate and that any decision above that figure would trigger voter-notice thresholds under state law.
