Denton City Council members unanimously passed the fiscal year 2026-27 budget and the property tax rate at their Sept. 22 meeting.
Council members also directed staff during budget workshops leading up to the meeting to suspend a proposed 3% electric rate increase with Denton Municipal Electric until the beginning of next year.
The details
The $2.22 billion budget is balanced for fiscal year 2026-27. The budget is structured across five major pillars that support day-to-day operations, or the general fund, self-sustaining public utilities, internal city operations, restricted-use accounts and long-term capital investments, according to a presentation from Chief Strategic Officer Aimee Kaslik.
Personnel Services make up the majority, or 67.57%, of the general fund’s budget. This includes up to a 2.5% merit increase for general government employees, a one-time cost-of-living adjustment and a 3% base increase for fire department personnel, according to previous reporting.
Council also approved a 1% funding increase for the fire department and fully funded two new EMS lieutenants in the general fund. Kaslik also said at the Sept. 22 meeting all city positions are fully funded for the fiscal year.
Zooming in
The city also unanimously passed the new property tax rate of $0.548485 per $100 of valuation at the Sept. 22 meeting, a decrease from FY 2025-26’s property tax rate of $0.595420 per $100 valuation. Kaslik said the last time the property tax rate was that low in Denton was 2004.
During the meeting, Council Member Suzi Rumohr asked what that decrease looked like for the average Denton resident, which Kaslik said was a decrease of $203 per year.
“The increase in our overall values ... to $26.7 billion allowed us to lower our tax rate for this next year,” Kaslik said.
When Rumohr asked why there was such a big increase in property tax value, Kaslik said the $3 billion increase stemmed from data center development. Core Scientific currently operates in the southwest portion of the city, and Qumulus is in development and is expected to be operational in 2028, according to previous reporting.
Mayor Chris Watts clarified during the meeting that the official language says there is a 6.3% increase in the tax rate, which is based on the no-new tax rate calculation.
“We are having a 5-cent tax decrease, and here we’re making a motion [to say] it's a tax increase. It’s legislative,” he said. “I just want to provide a little bit of context to that.”
Looking ahead
In the original budget presentation from Aug. 8, officials stated there would be a 3% increase in electric rates with DME. That has been suspended until Jan. 1 pending an Oct. 27 work session to review energy fund balances, pricing and utility rates.
Because of this pause, the initial monthly utility rate adjustment for an average homeowner was reduced from an increase of $8.15 per month down to a $5.94 increase per month starting Oct. 1.
Watts noted that while the budget still shows a 3% increase, there is a dash in the presentation since it’s pending until the Oct. 27 work session.
