Fair Oaks Ranch council adopts 2025-26 budget, sets 28.53¢ tax rate and approves electronic bidding and EMS interlocal

FAIR OAKS RANCH, Texas — The Fair Oaks Ranch City Council on Sept. 18 adopted the city’s fiscal year 2025–26 budget, set a property tax rate of 28.53 cents per $100 of taxable valuation and approved a package of related measures that included a resolution authorizing electronic bidding and authorization to sign an interlocal agreement for fire protection and emergency medical services.

The budget ordinance, the second reading of the plan that takes effect Oct. 1, 2025, passed on a roll-call vote with six council members in favor and none opposed. The council also adopted an ordinance levying a property tax rate of 28.53¢ per $100, a rate the city said is effectively a 3.65% increase relative to the no-new-revenue rate used for comparison. The council separately approved a resolution required under Texas Local Government Code section 102.007(c) to ratify that the adopted budget will raise more total property tax revenue than the prior year.

Summer Fleming, the city’s director of finance, told the council that “This provision requires the city council to ratify by a separate vote any increase in property tax revenues resulting from the adoption of the annual budget.” Fleming said the adopted budget will raise $488,000 in additional property tax revenue compared with last year’s budget, and that roughly $157,000 of that increase is attributable to new property added to the tax roll this year.

Council members approved a separate resolution…