Fulshear homeowners would see their city property tax rate jump from $0.167903 to $0.19310 per $100 of taxable value under a proposal the City Council advanced Wednesday, Aug. 19, according to Community Impact. The 15% increase is driven largely by debt service on the $13.5 million park bond voters approved in May 2025.
Council will hold a public hearing on the budget and tax rate at its Tuesday, Sept. 1 meeting. Formal adoption is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15, though Finance Director Angela Alvarado said the council could vote immediately after the hearing.
The proposed $0.19310 rate is the maximum voter-approval rate allowed under state law. Council members chose it as a ceiling rather than a lower figure because Texas law bars a city from raising its rate once proposed. Council member Omar Peña said the move preserves room to maneuver on capital projects.
"That gives us flexibility to, at least, evaluate these projects on cost, timing, impact and how quickly can we get commercial business going," Peña said.
Alvarado told council the rate would cover bond debt service, add $912,000 in maintenance and operating funding and leave a $1.25 million surplus above the city's 25% reserve target.
Slowing growth changes the math
The city's certified tax roll shows $7.26 billion in total appraised value and $5.6 billion in taxable value. But new taxable value from new property came in at $180.2 million, less than half the $375 million City Manager Zach Goodlander said the city recorded last year.
Alvarado acknowledged the trend is not a one-year blip. Fulshear's taxable-value growth has slowed over the past three years, she said, even as the city remains one of the fastest-growing in the country. Census Bureau estimates ranked Fulshear the second-fastest-growing city nationally, with population up roughly 21% in a single year, according to a Substack analysis of the city's finances.
That same analysis pegged Fulshear's proposed capital plan at roughly $332 million through fiscal year 2031, the largest in the city's history.
What it means for your tax bill
Most of the debt-service increase traces to the park bond, which roughly 67% of voters approved. Early staff projections showed the interest-and-sinking portion of the rate rising from about $0.051 to $0.069 per $100 of value.
The city's new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and state law requires the budget and tax rate to be adopted before that date. Residents can attend the Tuesday, Sept. 1 public hearing or contact council members through the city's website. The council includes Mayor Don McCoy, Mayor Pro-Tem Sarah B. Johnson and council members Camron K. Miller, Jason Knape, Patrick Powers, Christina Baron, Richard Russell and Abhijeet Utturkar.
