Willow Park's council holds its budget and tax-rate hearings tonight and votes on a rate not to exceed $0.429041 per $100

The agenda, posted Sept. 1, lists a public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 budget (item 6), an ordinance adopting it (item 7), Resolution No. 2026-34 ratifying the property tax increase reflected in the budget (item 8), a hearing on the tax rate (item 9), and an ordinance adopting a rate not to exceed 0.429041 per $100 valuation for tax year 2026 (item 10). The packet's Property Tax Information page lists the no-new-revenue rate at $0.429041, the voter-approval rate at $0.470653, the de minimis rate at $0.466499 and last year's adopted rate at $0.421646, and splits the rate into $0.169112 for maintenance and operations and $0.259929 for debt; item 10 on the agenda prints the debt levy as $0.25929. The council voted 4-0 by roll call on Aug. 25 to propose the rate (Crummel, Contreras, Wright, Smith), per the Aug. 25 minutes in tonight's packet.

What no-new-revenue means. Tax Code Section 26.04 defines the no-new-revenue rate by a formula: last year's levy, minus the levy on property that left the roll, divided by this year's total value minus the value of new property. It is the rate that collects the same total tax from the properties taxed in both years, so it rises when values fall and falls when they rise. The agenda's Taxpayer Impact Statement shows the median Willow Park homestead's taxable value falling from $426,133 to $407,970, and the packet's cover page shows the no-new-revenue rate moving from $0.424084 last year to $0.429041 this year. New property is left out of that calculation, so a unit at the no-new-revenue rate still collects more in total; the cover page puts the revenue from new property added to the roll this year at $179,174. The cover-page comparison counts new property and the no-new-revenue calculation leaves it out, which is why the same packet can say both that the rate equals the no-new-revenue rate and that the budget raises $124,891, or 3.38 percent, more property tax revenue than last year's budget. State law requires both statements.

Aledo's Aug. 20 vote shows the same rule from the other side. The council adopted $0.352415, a lower rate than the year before, but the motion the state requires read that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a rate of $0.352415, which is effectively a 0.77% increase in the tax rate, because that rate sat above Aledo's no-new-revenue rate. Willow Park's rate goes up and is the no-new-revenue rate; Aledo's went down and was, in the statute's words, an increase. The two other benchmark rates: the voter-approval rate, $0.470653 for Willow Park, is the no-new-revenue maintenance-and-operations rate times 1.035 plus the debt rate and any unused increment, and a rate above it goes to the voters; the de minimis rate, $0.466499, is the no-new-revenue M&O rate plus the rate that would raise $500,000 plus the debt rate.

Why there are separate votes. Local Government Code Section 102.007(c) requires a separate vote to ratify a property tax increase when a budget raises more property tax revenue than the previous year; that is Resolution 2026-34. Tax Code 26.05(b) requires the vote on the tax rate to be separate from the vote on the budget, and 26.05(a) says the rate's two components, debt and maintenance and operations, must each be approved separately. A rate above the no-new-revenue rate would need a record vote with at least 60 percent of the council in favor and the motion form Aledo's Aug. 20 motion used; tonight's rate does not exceed it.

What goes into the budget. The General Fund is $5,360,440 in revenue against $5,359,868 in expenditures. Its largest revenue lines are sales tax, $2,300,000, and the maintenance-and-operations property levy, $1,755,139.73, followed by the Planning & Development department's lines, $585,000, the Oncor electric franchise, $215,000, rental income, $173,000, municipal court, $170,600, interest, $75,000, and mixed beverage tax, $60,000; in this budget the sales tax line is larger than the maintenance-and-operations property tax line. On the spending side, Police is $2,417,062.65, which the Ledger computes at 45 percent of General Fund expenditures; then Administration, $725,464.32; Planning & Development, $609,482.05; Legislative, $427,886.26; Fire Marshal, $395,375.32; City Services, $316,000; Municipal Court, $258,597.46; Streets, $125,000; Parks, $95,000. The budget funds 41 positions. Outside the General Fund: Water, $3,961,915 in revenue and $3,894,154 in expenditures; Wastewater, $1,952,000 and $1,905,025; Drainage, $425,000 and $371,275; Hotel Occupancy Tax, $190,000 and $200,000, using $10,000 of fund balance. The debt side of the rate pays $2,671,364.12 in property-tax-supported debt service this year, of which the 2026 Tax Note for roads, $977,438, is the largest line; the debt rate rises from $0.225893 to $0.259929, while the M&O rate, $0.169112, sits above its no-new-revenue M&O level of $0.168435. The rate calculation uses a captured appraised value of $72,260,367 for TIRZ #1 (Wilks) and $0 for TIRZ #2 (Beall).

The Aug. 25 minutes record what the council heard from CPA Jake Weber: the budget is balanced; it carries a 3% pay increase for all staff and 5% for police department staff; attorney fees are budgeted at $350,000; the home-rule charter election's postage and mailing are figured at $50,000 to $75,000; a penny on the rate would generate an additional $98,000; adding $500,000 for road repairs would raise the rate by 12% or up to $0.47; and he would not be comfortable using more than $450,000 from reserves.

What it means for a homeowner. The agenda's Taxpayer Impact Statement estimates $1,796.77 last year on the $426,133 median homestead and $1,750.36 this year on $407,970, under either the no-new-revenue or the proposed rate. The packet's Property Tax Information page prints a different pair, $379,253 at $0.421646 for $1,599.11 and $392,206 at $0.429041 for $1,682.72; both sets are reported here as printed, and the Ledger cannot tell from the packet which median is current. Per the Aug. 25 minutes, Weber said citizens could see a decrease of $46.00 because some property values have gone down. Any one bill depends on its own appraised value. For comparison: Aledo adopted $0.352415 on Aug. 20; Parker County proposed $0.284719, which its notice identifies as the county's no-new-revenue rate, with the vote set for Sept. 22 at 9 a.m.; Aledo ISD adopted $1.1775.

What the record allows next. The council can adopt the budget and rate as proposed, adopt a lower rate, or go above the no-new-revenue rate only with the 60 percent record vote and motion language in Tax Code 26.05(b). State law requires a rate before the later of Sept. 30 or the 60th day after the certified roll is received. The Ledger's tax calculator leaves the Willow Park line blank until the rate is adopted; it will be filled from the adopted ordinance.

Read: The no-new-revenue rate, explained · Rates, values and levies by year · What will my 2026 bill be? · A typical Aledo home's 2026 taxes · Aledo's Aug. 20 budget and rate vote, from the minutes · Aledo's FY2027 budget tracker · What a TIRZ is · The Willow Park packet (budget at Item 6)

Source: City of Willow Park: City Council Meeting September 8th, 2026 Agenda, items 6 to 10; Agenda Packet, Item 6 (FY 2026-27 Adopted Budget: statutory cover page, Budget Overview, Property Tax Information, Debt Service and department schedules) and Item 2 (Aug. 25, 2026 minutes); Tax Code Sections 26.012, 26.04 and 26.05 and Local Government Code Sections 102.005 and 102.007 (text as of May 2025); Ledger report on the Aug. 20, 2026 Aledo council minutes; Ledger tax-rate pages. The Ledger did not review the Comptroller worksheets that begin on page 51 of the packet.