In New Braunfels, city employees will receive a 3% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, on Oct. 1, following City Council’s approval of its fiscal year 2026-27 budget.
In the general fund, revenue is projected to total $119.7 million with expenses at $121.7 million. City Council also adopted a tax rate of $0.415613 per $100 valuation for FY 2026-27.
The budget and tax rate were unanimously approved by the City Council on second and final reading Sept. 14. New Braunfels Mayor Michael French was absent from the meeting.
What you need to know
The approved budget includes:
A 3% COLA for all city employees and step increases for eligible sworn personnel
25 additional positions
Continued funding for 12 firefighter positions following the expiration of federal grant funding
$300K annual increase for citywide street improvements to meet Americans with Disabilities Act modifications
A step plan is a pay structure for public safety staff that gives employees incremental salary increases based on their tenure.
The budget also includes funding for a maintenance partnership with Comal County to support the regional flood siren system and a West End local stormwater master plan. The plan would work to expand the city’s drainage asset inventory, evaluate system performance, identify local flooding issues and recommend improvements to reduce street and property flooding on the city’s west side. The budget also includes funding to replace the fitness room flooring at Das Rec.
The tax rate of $0.415613 per $100 valuation is equal to the no-new-revenue rate, which is the rate needed to generate the same revenue as the prior year from existing properties.
The no-new-revenue rate, along with a budget modification, created an additional $1.47 million in funding capacity that helped fund more public safety personnel, street maintenance projects and compensation. The $1.47 million came from June sales tax collections that were higher than expected, as previously reported by Community Impact.
This is an increase of about $0.67 from the previous year, according to the presentation.
The average homeowner will see a $13 annual increase, or $1.08 monthly increase, to their property tax bill, said New Braunfels Assistant City Manager Jared Werner.
Quote of note
District 3 Council member D. Lee Edwards said city staff did a good job putting together a “no fluff” budget.
“I think there was a lot of work put in by all parties to achieve this budget. I want the public to be aware of it,” Edwards said.
Before you go
City staff are working on creating an adopted budget document which will be uploaded to the city's website once it is finalized. Individuals can visit www.newbraunfels.gov/budget to learn more.
