Friendswood residents will face a higher tax rate in fiscal year 2026-27 than in the previous year.
However, city leaders were able to lower this year’s rate from earlier staff recommendations by making $2 million in budget cuts.
What residents should know
Friendswood City Council voted 5-2 at its Sept. 14 meeting to pass the first and final reading of an amended $128.8 million budget and 6-1 to pass a tax rate of $0.52483 per $100 home valuation, which is one penny higher than the no-new-revenue rate.
Council members Trish Hanks and Randy Hale voted against the amended budget. Hale also voted against passing the tax rate.
By the numbers
The adopted tax rate was $0.03488 lower than the initial tax rate proposed at the beginning of budget planning for fiscal year 2026-27, according to city documents.
As a result of the decrease in the tax rate, residents with a home valued at $460,000 will have an annual tax bill of $1,931.42, according to city documents.
The decrease is expected to put a $2 million dent in expected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, offset by a $300,000 increase in projected sales tax revenue.
Budget explained
Prior to adopting the budget and tax rate, City Council approved budget amendments to decrease expenditures by $1.7 million, as requested at earlier meetings.
Expenditures removed from the budget included:
$600K fire and EMS variable refrigerant flow establishment
$500K deferred maintenance
$500K severe weather reserve
$150K special election services
$28.4K economic development division
$17.5K recodification services
$48K Christmas in the Park transferred to the Friendswood Downtown Economic Development Corporation
The approved amendments also included adding a $150K salary for a deputy city attorney, according to the presentation.
The budget amendments changed how various city departments will be funded and reduced the overall budget from $129.4 million to $128.8 million, according to city documents.
In their own words
Mayor Mike Foreman, who voted for the amended budget and tax rate, said he felt the budget cuts amounted to “kicking the cans down the road” for future government leadership to address, but felt they were necessary to pass the budget.
“I’m sad to see this because I think it’s important that we do this investment for our city, like the vehicle replacement,” Foreman said. "But I get it, we’re trying to pass a budget, we’re trying to pass a tax rate up here.”
Council member Randy Hale, who voted against the amended budget and tax rate, thanked staff for their efforts to trim the budget and said he’d prefer to trim more expenditures and pass the no-new-revenue rate.
“I think there [are] a few more things in that budget that we could trim,” Hale said.
