Highland Village residents will see an increase to the city’s portion of their next tax bill.
The city council unanimously voted Tuesday to approve the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget with a tax rate increase of $0.027557 – about a 3.9 percent increase.
According to officials, the new adopted tax rate of $0.528541 per $100 of taxable property value will add $377,615 to the General Fund and help cover a 2.8 percent decrease in certified property tax values.
Taxpayers will see an average of $105.74 added to their tax bills annually.
Council was less than enthusiastic about having to pass the increase.
“I want to express my appreciation for all the work the staff and the members of our community have put into this,” said council member Brian Fiorenza. “We worked really hard getting the budget down and minimizing the impact to the community.”
According to the city, the General Fund includes Budget includes $25.7 million in operating expenditures, which is about 1.9 percent less than the FY 25-26 adopted budget.
It also includes expenditure reductions intended to limit the use of fund balance while maintaining essential services and competitive employee compensation.
Some major cuts made by the city include:
- A hiring freeze, which will save $378,625
- The city’s intern program to save $29,000
- Nonprofit funding to save $62,000
- Recreation programs to save $9,000
- The city-hosted Tri-Town Amazing Race, which will save $3,310
- Wine Down with the Grinch, which will save $7,004
- Concerts in the Park, which will save $21,660
- Movies in the Park to save $3,970
- Some light upgrades, but not all, which will save about $23,000
The need for an increase to the tax rate and budget cuts comes as the city, and many other municipalities in Texas, face slower revenue growth and rising costs.
Highland Village announced in July that it was facing a $2.1 million budget deficit. City staff and council have been working to cut into that with the latest cuts and will continue to combat that deficit.
According to the city, Highland Village is nearly built-out, so it will not be able to add many more commercial or residential developments to increase revenue.
“The City will continue working to align ongoing revenues with ongoing expenditures and will conduct an Organizational, Workforce and Service Delivery Study in the coming fiscal year to identify opportunities for greater efficiency,” said Highland Village in a press release.
For more information on the city’s budget, visit the budget webpage.
