Austin staff: certified tax rolls lower typical homeowner’s property tax impact to $8.68 per month

City of Austin budget staff told the Audit and Finance Committee on July 30 that certified property tax rolls have reduced the projected property‑tax impact on a typical homeowner for fiscal year 2026.

“Based on the official roll and the official voter approval rate, we were showing an $8.68 per month or 5.3% increase,” Eric Nelson, deputy director of budget, said during a presentation to the committee. He said that figure is lower than the $12.90 per month (7.9%) increase projected in the proposed budget because the certified rolls and successful homeowner protests reduced the typical homeowner value.

The change lowers the overall monthly burden the staff presented: when combined with the city’s basket of fees and rates, the typical homeowner’s total monthly increase under the certified roll is now $18.13, a 4.0% growth figure, down from the earlier projection of $22.35 (4.9%). Nelson said the official voter‑approval property tax rate is 0.52388 per $100 of taxable value and that each penny of tax rate would generate about $21,900,000 for the general fund. He added that each penny translates to roughly $3.30 per month for the typical homeowner.

The committee’s chair and members pressed for clear taxpayer math. The chair walked through the arithmetic the committee wants reflected in public materials: the proposed base budget would raise the typical ratepayer’s total annual bill by $217.56; a one‑cent increase would add $39.58 annually to that typical bill. Nelson said staff would include a memo and has prepared staff‑amendment language to allocate approximately $5,000,000 that would be generated at the voter‑approval rate.

Why it matters: Council will vote the next day to set the maximum tax rate the city will consider. If the council adopts a budget that increases revenue above the base budget, state law would trigger a tax rate election (TRE). Committee members asked staff to present penny‑by‑penny TRE scenarios at a focused meeting next week so council and the public can see what each incremental rate change would fund.

What’s next: The chair said the council will set the maximum tax rate at its next meeting, and staff will present TRE scenarios in a focused session on Tuesday, August 5, with Thursday reserved for laying out individual budget amendments. Filing deadlines for proposed council amendments were announced for August 4 at 6:00 p.m., and council reserved August 13–15 as potential days to pass the budget.