The gist
The fiscal year 2025-26 budget was approved with $54.2 million in operating expenses and a $45,000 deficit.
The proposed property tax rate increased from $0.3395 to $0.3576 per $100 valuation due to a decrease in property values, according to a press release obtained by Community Impact. The average home value in tax year 2025 is $411,609, over a $21,000 appraisal decrease from the previous year.
The new tax rate is above the no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.3430, which is the rate that would generate the same amount of revenue for the city as the previous year. The budget will raise 5.74% more property taxes than the previous budget.
The average homeowner in Buda paid about $1,454 in property taxes in FY 25, according to the city of Buda. With the new tax rate, the average home valued at $411,609 will pay approximately $1,470, or a monthly payment of $122.66.
Residents will also see a 9% water rate increase, resulting in approximately a $6.23 monthly increase for the average utility customer. Sanitation fees will remain the same.
Diving deeper
Some policy priorities for FY 2025-26 are mobility and infrastructure, public safety and parks—including sportsplex upgrades.
The FY 2025-26 budget accounts for contractual payouts that the city approved but has not paid out yet. A portion of the fund balance is set aside in case they need to be paid in FY 2025-26.
“...It’s not part of the operating budget,” Buda Economic Development Corporation CEO Jennifer Storm said at an Aug. 19 City Council special meeting. “It is something that we need to be mindful of.”
One of these contractual payouts is for the Sportsplex Expansion Project. In FY 2024-25, the city approved a $1.5 million payout to “enhance the ability to support larger-scale tournaments that generate sales and hotel occupancy tax,” according to the budget narrative document. This amount could be paid out in FY 2025-26.
By the numbers
The budget features a 23% increase in salary and benefits expenditures due to additional Buda Economic Development Corporation staff. In FY 2025-26, the city will pay for the salaries and benefits for eight full-time employees, compared to 6.5 in FY 2024-25.
Compared to last year’s budget, Marketing and tourism line items received some of the highest increases. The city allotted $506,000 for promotional purposes and marketing, which is over a 43% increase from last year.
Looking forward
The city of Buda will hold two public hearings at City Hall related to the budget and tax rate: Sept. 2 and Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.
If the city adopts the proposed tax rate Sept. 16, qualified voters may petition the city of Buda to hold an election to reduce the tax rate.
