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The Hutto City Council approved its budget and tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year at its Sept. 3 meeting.
What you need to know
The $315.1 million city budget is supported by a tax rate of $0.397011 per $100 valuation, the city’s no-new-revenue tax rate. This is higher than the 2025-26 tax rate of 0.385928.
The rate will still generate $1.35 million more in property tax revenue for the city than the previous year due to new property growth and development, Mayor Mike Snyder said.
The median-valued homestead property in Hutto dropped from $351,580 in 2025-26 to $329,770 in 2026-27. Because commercial property valuations dropped more sharply than residential ones, a larger proportion of the tax burden has shifted onto homeowners, City Manager James Earp said.
“There’s commercial, and then there’s residential,” Earp said. “If you squeeze one part of the balloon because it’s gotten smaller, the other part of the balloon has to get bigger, and that can cause overall dollars out of your pocket to go up.”
Because of this shift, homeowners are expected to see an annual increase of about $13.57 in taxes per $100,000 of valuation, city documents show.
“The rate going up is because the valuations came down, and our commercial properties also shrank in relation,” Earp said. “So that’s why you end up with the property owners paying a little more out of pocket, even with no-new-revenue.”
Dig deeper
Hutto’s FY 2026-27 capital improvement plan contains more than $214 million in investments. Projects include roads, intersections, sidewalks, parks, police and public safety facilities, water and wastewater infrastructure, and drainage.
The proposed general fund budget totals about $37.3 million in revenue and expenditures. The city says property and sales taxes are its primary general fund revenue sources. A significant portion of expenses go toward employees, with the general fund budget including about $23 million for salaries and benefits.
The city is also putting $2.2 million toward its annual road maintenance program, an increase of $105,000 over the previous year. There is another $154,000 for sidewalk repair and maintenance.
The proposed Justice Center is another major capital project, but it is contingent on voter approval during the November 2026 bond election.
