Council introduces 2025-26 budget and moves property-tax adoption toward Sept. 2 vote

The San Angelo City Council held the required first reading and public hearing on the fiscal year 2025–26 operating budget and voted to advance the budget and property-tax actions to final consideration.

Tina Dierski, director of finance, summarized the proposed budget during the council meeting and said the budget document shows the city will collect $5,716,170 more in total property taxes than the prior year — a 9.7 percent increase — and that $861,795 of that amount is revenue expected from newly added property to the tax roll. Dierski presented the budget composition and said personnel costs represent roughly 40 percent of expenses while public-safety expenditures account for about 59 percent of general-fund spending.

Council approved the first reading of the budget ordinance by a 7-0 vote. Separately, the council then voted 7-0 to ratify the property-tax revenue increase reflected in the proposed budget and placed final adoption of the tax rate on the council agenda for Sept. 2, 2025.

The council also introduced an ordinance fixing and levying ad valorem taxes and read a proposed rate of $0.7947 per $100 valuation; a motion on the record described that rate as effectively a 9.67 percent increase. City staff said the modest increase in the rate is largely driven by the coliseum bond issue included in the budget, and that the rate change was less than the rate increase discussed during the bond election planning.

Councilmembers asked questions and there was no public comment on the votes taken that evening. The council will take final action on the tax rate at its Sept. 2 meeting, when adoption of the budget is scheduled as an action item.