Fulshear homeowners will pay more in property taxes after the City Council voted 5-2 on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to adopt a new rate of $0.190549 per $100 valuation.
The rate marks a 13.49% jump from the current $0.167903 rate, according to Community Impact. Council members Camron Miller and Abhijeet Utturkar cast the dissenting votes.
The city's official taxpayer impact statement estimates the increase will cost the median homeowner about $140 more per year, or roughly $11.65 per month, based on a median taxable homestead value of $492,498. That estimate was calculated at the originally proposed rate of $0.193100; the adopted rate is slightly lower, so the actual bill increase may be a few dollars less.
What's driving the increase
Two factors pushed the rate higher: a voter-approved $13.5 million parks bond from May 2025 and declining construction permit revenue. City Manager Zach Goodlander told ABC13 in August that the parks bond accounts for about two-thirds of the increase. He also said building inspections in Fulshear had dropped from 200 per day to an average of 60 to 70, reflecting a construction slowdown cutting into permit fees.
"New growth will significantly slow down in the coming years and we're kind of seeing that now," Finance Director Angela Alvarado said at the council's Aug. 18 meeting, when she presented a certified tax roll showing new taxable property value had fallen from $375 million to $180.2 million in one year.
Alvarado told the council on Sept. 1 that Fulshear's adopted rate remains below what neighboring cities including Katy, Richmond, Sugar Land and Rosenberg have proposed.
Where the money goes
The fiscal year 2026-27 general fund budget lists $21.14 million in revenues and $20.81 million in expenditures, producing a surplus of about $323,000. On top of that, $3.13 million in one-time capital improvement spending covers facilities, parks, technology, streets and transportation.
Major line items include roughly $6.71 million for the Police Department, with three new police vehicles, and about $2.45 million for Public Works, including three new employees. The budget also reflects approximately $6.22 million in sales and use tax revenue, boosted by a voter-approved reallocation from the Type A Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in May 2026.
The downtown land dispute
Utturkar's dissent centered on a downtown land purchase funded through the general fund. He argued the city should tap the EDC instead.
"I'm not on board with the downtown land purchase bringing into the city's budget," Utturkar said at the Sept. 1 meeting. "There's no need to do that when there is alternate funding."
Assistant City Manager Kelsee Lee said the EDC's budget had already been approved before council considered it as a funding source, but added that a partnership on the downtown area could still happen.
Council member Sarah Johnson defended the purchase, saying residents have been asking for opportunities to make downtown Fulshear a cultural hub.
The budget takes effect Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027.
