City Manager Mark presented the city manager's recommended $928,000,000 budget for fiscal 2025–26 and the proposed capital investment program, saying the plan "funds organizational and community priorities that will keep Plano as the premier city in North Texas." The presentation included projected operating revenues and expenditures, proposed transfers to capital and maintenance funds, and a request that the council consider a tax-rate adjustment to keep pace with service demands and the new bond authority.

The recommendation arrives amid a multi-year financial roadmap the city accelerated last year, which produced policy changes for fund balances and cost-recovery. Karen Rhodes Whitley presented budget detail, saying, "The budget that y'all received on Monday totals $928,000,000." She told the council the recommended plan uses an assumed city tax rate of 41.76¢ and that the average market value in Plano is $591,947, an increase of 2.1 percent from the prior year; the average taxable value rose about 8.1 percent.

Why it matters: the recommended budget sets the starting point for public hearings and council decisions that will determine the operating tax rate and service levels for the next fiscal year. Karen Rhodes Whitley told the council the public hearing on the budget and the capital improvement program is scheduled for Aug. 11 and that the council will adopt the budget, the CIP and set the tax rate on Sept. 8.

Key details in the recommended budget include a 3 percent across-the-board salary increase plus step increases for public safety, the net addition of two positions and $93,000 in new operations and maintenance tied to CIP projects. The city plans to use fund balances within adopted policy targets; the general fund shows about 58 days of working capital under the recommended plan and the capital improvement program totals about $319,000,000, led by streets, water and sewer, and parks projects.

On utilities and user fees, Whitley warned of contract-driven increases. The city’s wholesale water costs from the North Texas Municipal Water District are projected to rise; the budget assumes an 8 percent pass-through rate increase on both water and sewer, to be implemented Oct. 1, to cover about $12.8 million in higher wholesale charges. Solid-waste rates also include increases: she said the 95-gallon container monthly fee would rise from $24.60 to $25.60 and the 68-gallon container from $17.61 to $18.32.

Revenue-side highlights included projected combined taxes (property and sales) of about $388,000,000 and charges for services of about $333,000,000; fund balances total roughly $137,800,000 in the recommended plan. Whitley summarized exemptions and taxpayer impacts: she said the typical homeowner’s average tax bill under the presented numbers would rise about $144 annually, or roughly $12 per month, compared with last year, noting that exemptions (including a 20 percent homestead exemption and senior tax freeze) offset part of the increase for many households.

Council questions focused on legal limits and timing for tax-rate action, truth-in-taxation deadlines and voter-approval thresholds under state law. Whitley said the council will receive calculated no-new-revenue and voter-approval rates and other statutory notices before the Aug. 11 hearing. She also reminded the council that some items (for example, meet-and-confer outcomes and certain economic-development projects) were not included in the recommended budget and could require later adjustments.

Less-critical and background items: the presentation reported a planned issuance of about $98,000,000 in general obligation debt for projects from the recent bond referendum and $45,000,000 in revenue bonds issued in May for water and sewer needs. The capital maintenance policy was revised in the last year; the city plans a $15,000,000 transfer from capital maintenance into the general fund to help reach a 60‑day fund-balance target. Detailed rate models and the solid-waste and drainage rate proposals will be presented to council at upcoming work sessions in August.

What’s next: staff will provide the statutory tax-rate calculations and more detailed information at the Aug. 11 public hearing and the Aug. 14 budget work session, then return to council for adoption of the budget, CIP and tax rate on Sept. 8.