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Commissioners set public hearing and vote date on University Health tax rate; rate recommendation held steady
Summary
University Health officials presented construction and fiscal updates and asked county support for maintaining the hospital district's current tax rate; commissioners set a public hearing and vote for Sept. 9 on the recommended rate.
Bexar County Commissioners Court on Aug. 5 accepted a presentation from University Health leadership on the proposed ad valorem tax rate for fiscal year 2026 and set a public hearing and vote for Sept. 9, 2025. The hospital district asked the court to adopt the existing total tax rate of 0.276235 per $100 of taxable property value (tax rate rounded in presentation) and to set the formal public hearing and vote dates.
Presentation highlights: University Health leaders (including CEO Ed Banas and CFO Reid Hurley) reviewed construction and expansion projects, staffing and utilization trends. Projects discussed included the Palo Alto and Ratama hospitals and the VIDA preventive‑health campus adjacent to Texas A&M‑San Antonio, plus the Wheatley location. Officials reported heavy growth in patient volumes over the past decade (average daily hospital census up from about 458 to roughly 793), increasing NICU census, and surgical volumes rising to an expected 34,000 operations in 2025.
Finances and exemptions: Hurley said assessed values for the hospital district rose about 3.4% year over year. The presentation reiterated previously adopted homestead exemptions (a 20% homestead exemption and an over‑65 partial exemption) and estimated taxpayer savings from the exemptions (roughly $74 million from the 20% homestead exemption). University Health presented a conservative clinical‑services budget projection and said maintaining the current tax rate would add approximately $17.3 million in maintenance & operations revenue for fiscal 2026.
Action: Commissioner Rodriguez moved (seconded by Commissioner Calvert) to set the proposed total tax rate at 0.276235 per $100 and to schedule a public hearing on Sept. 9, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. with the vote immediately after; the court approved the motion. Commissioner Clay Flores later asked that the record reflect she voted yes (she had stepped out and returned). The motion carried.
Why it matters: University Health is a major local safety‑net and specialty provider; tax‑rate decisions affect hospital district revenues and county taxpayers. The court’s action set the statutory public‑hearing process in motion but did not finalize the adopted rate; the Sept. 9 hearing and vote are scheduled to receive public comment and a final decision.
