Katy ISD homeowners will pay slightly more in property taxes for 2026-2027 even though the district's tax rate isn't going up.

Trustees voted Sept. 21 to keep the total tax rate at $1.1171 per $100 of property valuation for the third straight year. The rate breaks down to $0.7271 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.3900 for debt service, or interest and sinking (I&S).

The rate is the same. The bills are not.

Because home values across the district grew 1.5%, the average Katy ISD household will see its tax bill climb to roughly $2,900, a 1.93% increase over the 2025-2026 bill, Community Impact reported. For a $400,000 home, after the state's $140,000 school homestead exemption, the district would tax $260,000 of that value, producing a bill of about $2,904, according to Covering Katy.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Smith told trustees at the Sept. 21 meeting that the 1.5% property value growth is the district's lowest in recent memory. He said when local revenue rises, state funding drops to offset it. Homestead exemption increases are not on the ballot for 2026, Smith said, and appraisal values did not rise enough for the state to compress the rate.

"The state legislature does try to offset that through homestead exemption increases or compressing the tax rate," Smith said at the meeting, as Community Impact reported.

Board President Lance Redmon said in a district statement that holding the rate steady shows fiscal discipline while the district manages evolving student needs and rising costs.

The tax rate vote came weeks after trustees approved a $1.17 billion general operating fund budget on Aug. 24, part of a $1.48 billion total budget serving roughly 95,000 students. Enrollment is essentially flat after the district's first decline in decades. That budget projects a $25.7 million operating deficit, but district officials said the shortfall is expected to shrink during the year. In each of the past three audited fiscal years, Katy ISD adopted a deficit budget and still finished with a balanced ledger, according to a district news release.

At the Aug. 24 budget meeting, Smith told trustees the district's track record supports that expectation. "I can't stand in front of you today and say that we will have underspending … But I've seen underspending in my entire time in Katy and in this business," he said, as Covering Katy reported.

Katy ISD holds about $374 million in reserves. Even if the full deficit materialized, more than $348 million would remain.

The new rates took effect immediately and will appear on fall 2026 tax statements.