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City officials have proposed maintaining the current property tax rate
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Leander officials are considering a roughly $447.8 million budget.
The city's proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year is roughly 1.5% higher than the previous year's adopted budget. However, city council members are seeking to maintain the current municipal property tax.
Under this proposal, the average Leander homeowner would pay around $52 less to the city, as county data indicates taxable property values have fallen.
The local impact
The city's general fund revenue comes largely from property and sales taxes.
City officials are looking to maintain the current property tax rate of $0.417282 per $100 of property valuation. After applying the city’s exemption, the median Leander homeowner located in Williamson County would pay $1,756 in yearly municipal property taxes, using data from the Williamson Central Appraisal District.
However, the same homeowner would be paying less in municipal taxes since median home values for Williamson County fell in 2026.
By the numbers
Funding for general capital improvement projects and utility capital projects made up the two largest categories of the budget at $140 million and $104.4 million, respectively. These two categories fund infrastructure improvements like roads, wastewater facilities and new city facilities.
The city’s general fund—which pays for day-to-day operations like city employee salaries—is financed by about $82.7 million in revenues. This outpaces the general fund's total projected expenditures of about $80 million.
Overall, the city will employ about 465 employees through its general fund, 28 through its golf fund and 71 through its utility fund.
Additionally, the city is seeking to add about 29 new employees who will be compensated through the city’s general fund. Among the proposed additions are:
A new firefighter
A new economic development specialist
An additional emergency communications operator
A crime scene and evidence specialist and a crime analyst
Two positions, with one being half-time, to support fire administration
Two new police employees specializing in crime scenes
Four new library staff members, including a part-time role
Overall, the city will increase the number of staff employed through the general, utility and golf funds by 40, bringing the total to 565.
Going forward
A public hearing on both the budget and tax rate will be held Sept. 17, after which the Leander City Council will vote. The fiscal year for Leander begins Oct. 1.
