Katy Council adopts FY2025–26 budget, sets tax rates unchanged from 2024

Katy City Council on Monday adopted the city’s fiscal year 2025–26 budget and approved tax rates that the city said are the same as the 2024 rate.

The council approved a debt-service tax rate of 0.050368 per $100 of assessed valuation and a maintenance-and-operations tax rate of 0.374632 per $100 of assessed valuation. The council held a public hearing on the rate for 2025 before taking final action.

The ordinance adopting the budget and associated fee schedule notes the budget will raise $1,959,549 more in total property taxes than last year — an increase of 8.16% — and that $315,737 of that figure is tax revenue from new property added to the roll this year. The council also ratified additional revenue raised from property taxes under Texas Local Government Code section 102.007(c).

Councilmembers voted on each item by roll call. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Harris, Councilmember Janet Court, Councilmember Gina Hicks and Councilmember Dan Smith all voted “yes” for the debt-service rate, the maintenance-and-operations rate and for adoption of the budget ordinance.

At the meeting, council members noted the city’s commercial growth and sales as a factor keeping the tax rate below the no-new-revenue rate for the first time, and discussed that parts of the budget and tax-rate calculations were provided by Fort Bend County for school-tax-related calculations. No amendments to the budget were recorded on the public record at the meeting.

The council also approved a separate ordinance specifying when city property taxes will be due and payable for 2025 and each year thereafter, and providing for penalty and interest on late payments. All votes on the budget-related items were unanimous on the record.