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Missouri City receives early, preliminary look at FY2027 budget as city manager prepares to retire
Summary
City staff presented a high-level FY2027 budget showing $239.7M in preliminary revenue and $253.2M in preliminary expenditures; staff warned a ~5% decline in assessed values may force the city closer to the no-new-revenue tax rate and that the numbers are preliminary pending certified values.
The Missouri City Council received an early, high-level presentation on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget at a special meeting on June 29, where staff warned that preliminary estimates of property values could shrink revenue and push the city closer to a no-new-revenue tax position.
City Manager Angel Jones, who said she will retire before the FY2027 budget is adopted, opened the workshop and framed it as a transparency exercise to prepare council for forthcoming decisions. "I will be retiring before the fiscal year 20 27 budget is adopted," Jones said, noting staff sought to give council an early foundation for the incoming manager.
Assistant City Manager Bertha Alexander presented the numbers, stressing they are subject to revision once certified property values are received late July. "Total preliminary revenue across all funds are estimated at approximately 239,700,000," Alexander said. She reported preliminary expenditures of about $253,200,000 across all funds, an estimated gap that will be bridged primarily with one-time fund balance for capital and strategic investments rather than recurring operations.
Alexander said the general fund comprises roughly 42% of total revenue, with property tax the largest single source at about $58.3 million and sales tax near $18 million. The presentation noted that maintaining the current maintenance-and-operations (M&O) tax rate of 0.455 based on preliminary values would generate about $400,000 less than this year’s adopted budget, driven by a preliminary estimated 5% decline in assessed values.
Council members pressed staff on the implications of lower certified appraisals. Alexander warned the decline in assessed values means "lower property tax revenue" and that issuing the remaining $30 million in voter-approved bonds will require moving closer to a higher debt-service tax rate unless alternatives are identified. Staff emphasized certified taxable values will be used to refine the revenue picture in a later workshop and the council will receive more detailed proposals, tax-rate options and a balanced proposed budget before any formal adoption.
Next steps: staff will update projections after certified property values are released in late July and present a more-detailed workshop so the council can provide direction on tax-rate choices and fund priorities.
