Leon Valley council sets FY26 budget to 0.54 tax rate to fund three firefighters

The Leon Valley City Council voted unanimously Sept. 2 to update the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget to reflect a 0.54 property tax rate, a change city staff said would generate about $347,000 and allow the city to add three firefighters.

City Manager Dr. Caldera presented the budget and described the city's reserves and options for staffing. He told the council that, under the proposed increase, "0.54 will get you the 3 firefighters that you needed, and that would raise the average tax rate to $169.30," and warned the council that pending state legislation limiting tax-rate increases could make adding public-safety staff harder in future years.

The decision follows multiple public comments about delayed or missing local emergency response and a consultant recommendation the city add staffing. During the public hearing, residents told the council they preferred a tax increase rather than continued reliance on mutual aid from neighboring jurisdictions. Tiffany Bradfield, a new Leon Valley resident, said she supported the increase "because our safety is important."

City staff provided a range of options: a 0.52 rate would generate an estimated $123,000 (roughly one firefighter and partial administrative support), 0.53 about $235,000, and 0.54 about $347,000. Council members repeatedly framed the choice as a tradeoff between quality-of-life programs and public-safety staffing; several members specifically noted the Forest Oaks pool operating contract discussed earlier in the meeting as one possible trade.

The vote: Councilor Bolton moved to update the budget with a 0.54 tax rate; Councilor Roscoe seconded. The motion "passed unanimously," according to the meeting record. Staff said the item will return for final ratification in a separately noticed meeting because state law requires a second reading and public notice for tax-rate adoption. Dr. Caldera said staff will post updated taxpayer impact statements on the city's website and bring the revised numbers back to council on Sept. 16.

What happens next: Staff will reformat the FY26 budget to include the 0.54 rate, produce updated homeowner impact statements, and publish required notices. The council must hold an additional hearing and vote to ratify the tax rate and adopt the budget before the Sept. 30 deadline for a balanced budget.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda (items 6.1–6.4): adopted on voice vote as moved and seconded; individual roll-call votes not listed in the meeting record. - Motion to update FY26 budget with 0.54 tax rate: motion made by Councilor Bolton, seconded by Councilor Roscoe; recorded as passing unanimously. The meeting record does not include a roll-call tally with individual votes.

Funding and fiscal detail

Dr. Caldera noted a combined capital and emergency reserve of roughly $6.9 million and explained staff had aimed for a long-term capital reserve target. He also discussed legislative uncertainty: a state amendment under consideration could cap allowable tax-rate increases at 1% without voter approval, which staff said could force the city to go to the voters to add public-safety positions in future years.

Council reaction

Multiple council members said the increase was a difficult but necessary decision. Councilor Marsh and others asked staff to ensure the PD and master-plan updates align with future budget impacts. Several council members and members of the public urged transparency and promised that staff would post clear impact statements explaining average homeowner cost changes.

The council scheduled follow-up meetings to finalize the numbers and complete the required second reading and adoption steps.