With budget season coming to a close, here are a few highlights from Bee Cave, Lakeway, Rollingwood and West Lake Hills’ recently adopted fiscal year 2025-26 budgets.

Bee Cave

The city voted to maintain its $0.02 property tax rate this year, a decision it has made for the past 20 budget cycles. Highlights of the budget include:

  • The budget projects just under $13.8 million in revenue with $11.4 million in operating expenses, leaving the city with a budget surplus of about $2.4 million.
  • The average Bee Cave homeowner will pay $154 in city property taxes this year.
  • The city spent $1.22 million on planning and development this year, compared to $941,651 last year, to ensure adequate capacity for project review, engineering work and inspections.
  • The city also slightly increased its spending on police, from $3.67 million to $3.73 million, purchasing new radios and safety gear.

Lakeway

The tax rate in Lakeway was passed with a 6-1 vote on Sept. 22 at a rate of $0.16964. This marks a 6.2% increase from the previous year’s rate. Highlights of the budget include:

  • Yearly tax bills for average Lakeway homes are estimated at $1,435, with an average taxable homestead value of $845,983.
  • The largest revenue collection for Lakeway came from ad valorem taxes—a total of $9.7 million.
  • The police department received $7.9 million of city expenditures, and parks received $2.3 million.
  • With a total expenditure value of $20.6 million and a revenue value of $20.6 million, the city had a budget surplus of $8,048.
  • Supplemental budget requests included in the budget are a city IT assistant for $53,006 and a police department pay scale increase for $54,283.

Rollingwood

The city adopted the voter approval tax rate of $0.202039, which is a 1.8% decrease from last year’s rate of $0.2058. Highlights of the budget include:

  • The average home’s taxable value in Rollingwood is $2.42 million, meaning the average yearly tax on a home will be $5,014.22.
  • The budget will raise $103,453 more in property tax revenue than last year’s budget—a 5.48% increase.
  • Total revenue is listed at $3.85 million. Expenditures are listed at $4.30 million, leaving a projected shortfall of $450,123.
  • Police spending increased by 30.8% due to items including new video cameras and microphones, computers, new vehicles and outfitting.



West Lake Hills

The tax rate in West Lake Hills was adopted on Sept. 16 at a rate of $0.176783—a 1.02% decrease from last year’s rate of $0.1786. Highlights of the budget include:

  • The tax on the average residence with the rate approved totals $3,828.72, with the average taxable residence being $2.17 million.
  • The approved budget shows revenues at $10.12 million, with expenditures totaling $10.1 million, leaving a budget surplus of $16,393.
  • Revenue from taxes makes up 78% of the city’s revenue, and interest and miscellaneous revenue total 9% of revenues.
  • Police spending makes up 39% of expenditures this year, compared to 45% last year.
  • Spending on maintenance and operations increased from $38,750 in FY 2024-25 to $275,250 in FY 2025-26.