Fort Worth officials are considering increasing resident property tax rates to balance a projected $94 million shortfall.
Fort Worth City Manager Jesus “Jay” Chapa presented the budget for fiscal year 2026-27 during a council work session on Aug. 11.
The $4.35 billion plan includes $3.32 billion in operating funds and $1.03 billion in capital investment. The overall budget, if approved by council next month, represents a 1.1% decrease compared to this current fiscal year, according to previous reporting.
Chapa proposed a 3.2-cent hike in property tax to help close a projected budget shortfall of $94 million. The proposed tax rate would be $0.702 per $100 valuation.
“Over the last several months, I have worked alongside city staff to refine a budget that prioritizes core services that our residents rely on, and preserves filled positions wherever possible,” Chapa said. “It’s never easy to recommend these kinds of budget cuts and I recognize that these decisions have meaningful impacts on the lives of Fort Worth residents and employees.”
A closer look
The current tax rate is $0.6700 per $100 in valuation. If approved by council, the change to $0.702 would be broken down to $0.5545 in maintenance and operations, or M&O, and $0.1475 in interest and sinking, or I&S, which help cover debt service and bond payments. Despite the increase in tax rate, a typical Fort Worth homestead will pay less in city taxes in FY 2027 than FY 2026, due to falling taxable values. However, the decrease in the tax bill is partially offset by increases in the cost of city services.
The average homeowner would pay $1,630.48, or $21.34 less, but Chapa noted the average value of a home decreased from $246,000 to $232,000.
Chapa also suggested the possibility of pushing back a bond from 2030 to 2031. The reduction in projected revenue growth would lower the capacity, or max, of a bond from $500 million to $458 million.
Fort Worth voters passed an $845 million bond in May, according to previous reporting.
Explained
In June, the original forecast showed a $49.3 million budget gap between expenses and revenue. That was changed to $48.2 million after getting updates in July. Chapa said that increased public safety and other expenses of $46.2 million widened the gap to $94.4 million. The added expenses included an 8.5% pay raise for firefighters, 6% for police, $14 million in healthcare increases and the addition of 77 police officers, funded through the crime control prevention district.
To help close the gap, Chapa said city staff has proposed several cuts. The reductions would be:
- Reducing pay for performance from 5% to 1.5%
- Eliminating 51 vacant positions, a half-year freeze on 91 vacant positions and a full-year freeze on 29 vacant positions
- Decreasing training by 50%
- Reducing the economic development initiative fund by $4.5 million
- Reduction in mowing cycles
How we got here
The city staff estimated mid-year value loss due to certified value at $4.5 billion in FY 2027. That is a 350% increase in expected losses compared to FY 2022, according to the presentation.
There were three takeaways listed:
- Erosion of values due to single-family protests without reappraisals
- Multifamily and commercial performing poorly
- Falling value means the city earns less money despite rising costs
The city’s adopted tax rate did not produce the target revenues, while the city is seeing midyear losses due to protests. There have been 60,000 additional protests of appraised values in the past two years despite not having a reappraisal since 2024, according to city documents.
According to certified appraisal data from Tarrant, Denton, Parker and Wise counties, Fort Worth’s net taxable value increased less than 1% overall, driven entirely by new construction, while existing property values decreased citywide.
The outlook
Each of north Fort Worth’s council members will hold budget meetings.
District 4 council member Charlie Lauersdorf will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 27, at the Northpark YMCA, located at 9100 N. Beach St.
District 10 council member Chris Jamieson will hold his budget meeting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 3, at Compass Church North Fort Worth, located at 12512 NW US 287.
There will also be a virtual option available for both locations, according to a Facebook post.
A council work session on the budget is scheduled for Aug. 21.
