Local · Trusted · Free
The Morning Impact — your neighborhood's most important stories, delivered every morning.
Southlake City Council held the first reading of its proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget and tax rate and at its Sept. 1 meeting.
The details
The proposed budget projects $159 million in total revenue, an increase over the $154.4 projected in the adopted fiscal year 2025-26 budget.
Total proposed expenditures have decreased to $133.7 million from $137.7 million in FY 2025-26.
The proposed budget has increased expected revenues for the general fund, raising it to $61.3 million over the previous fiscal year’s projected general fund revenues of $60 million.
General fund projected expenditures have also increased in the proposed FY 2026-27 budget, up to $57.6 million over the previous fiscal year’s $56.4 million general fund expenditures.
The budget also includes a 3% cost-of-living pay adjustment for employees, revenues exceeding expenses across all funds, no service level reductions and a plan for existing debt to be paid off within 10 years, according to data presented during the meeting.
The Crime Control and Prevention District operating budget is proposed to increase revenue by 6.7% for a total of over $3 million. Expenditures are also increasing from $2.7 million to $3 million. The CCPD fund is used to pay for police equipment, including an expected body camera equipment upgrade, according to the budget.
The fund also supports the School Resource Officer Program, which assigns officers to schools throughout Carroll ISD.
Related highlights
Council discussed the proposed tax rate of $0.29 per $100 valuation, a decrease from the current rate of $0.295 per $100 valuation and below the no-new-revenue rate.
The city is also continuing the 20% homestead exception, as part of its tax relief efforts. The exception provides a $217,000 reduction in taxable value on the average-priced home, which is equivalent to a 5.9-cent reduction in the tax rate. This results in an effective tax rate of $0.231 per $100 valuation, according to the proposed budget.
What they’re saying
Mayor pro tem Dr. Randy Robbins commended staff for the auditions to the budget while also continuing the trend of decreasing the tax rate.
“It never ceases to amaze me how this staff can seem to do more with less every year,” Robbins said.
Mayor Shawn McCaskill called the proposal “our best budget ever” and said the proposed tax rate would be comparable to one from 40 years ago.
Council will vote on the proposed budget during its Sept. 15 meeting.
