At the Aug. 12 meeting of Cibolo’s City Council, council voted 4-2 to set a proposed 2025-26 fiscal year tax rate of $0.5226 per $100 valuation. Council members Joel Hicks and Norma Sanchez-Stephens were the dissenting votes.
The rate is voter-approval, the maximum rate allowed by law without triggering an election, and is an increase from the current $0.4990 per $100 rate.
Current situation
According to agenda documents, the proposed rate will generate approximately $1.2 million more in property tax revenue than FY 2024-25, with an approximate $900,000 increase to city maintenance and operations.
Director of Finance Anna Miranda said that certified net taxable value decreased by 2.6% in 2025 from the prior year, with a decline in values generally resulting in an increase in tax rate.
Miranda said the average homeowner will see an annual tax bill increase of $13.78 with the $0.5226 per $100 rate.
Mayor Pro Tem Katie Cunningham said keeping the same rate would cause the city to lose a lot of money which translates to employee positions. She said council has asked for multiple rounds of cuts to the FY 2025-26 budget with this rate in mind.
“Nobody is cheering raising taxes at all ... this is not a vote to increase taxes without also trying to decrease our expenses,” Cunningham said.
Next steps
A public hearing and adoption for the FY 2025-26 tax rate will take place Sept. 18. A hearing and adoption of the city's FY 2025-26 budget will also take place on that date.
