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Colleyville property owners will see an increase in their city property tax rate as part of long-term strategy to “bank” revenue now and keep the city’s finances stable without forcing “draconian” moves years from now.
The city council is considering a 13% increase in the tax rate, to 35.24 cents per $100 of property value appraised for tax purposes. That compares to the 31.19-cent rate for the current year.
The change would put the city’s proposed 2026-27 budget into surplus, and Colleyville would transfer the surplus into its capital expense fund, keeping a lid on debt and interest payments, City Manager Jerry Ducay said.
Ducay told Mayor Bobby Lindamood and city council members that raising the tax rate now could forestall a “much more draconian change” in the future.
That’s due to state law that limits property tax revenue cities can collect for operations and maintenance without going to voters for an election, Ducay said.
“If you don’t take advantage of some of that opportunity and bank that revenue, years down the line, you’re going to have a problem where you’re going to have a much more draconian change that’s going to have to be undertaken,” Lindamood said.
Colleyville is proposing the tax rate increase for three reasons, Ducay said.
As in other cities, property appraisal values in Colleyville have dropped, resulting in less revenue for the city. The decreased values are due in part to the Tarrant Appraisal District’s policy of reappraising residential properties every two years and because of rising protests, arbitration and litigation.
In addition, interest payments on debt for a new fire truck and recreation center are coming due. And maintenance and operations costs are going up.
Protests, litigation and arbitration lower tax rolls, meaning cities collect less money by leaving the tax rate the same.
The average value of a single-family home in Colleyville is $678,440 under the new appraisals, down from $705,492 from the prior year, city staff told council members.
The proposed hike in the tax rate would raise the city tax bill for that home from $2,200.64 to $2,391.41.
The Tarrant Appraisal District this summer appraised Colleyville’s tax rolls at $8.9 billion, down 3.09%, city staff said. Residential values were $7.8 billion, down 3.52%. Commercial values were $1.1 billion, up 0.17%.
Ducay proposed a general fund budget that includes $31.25 million in revenue and $30.7 million of expenses. The general fund pays for most basic city services. The current year’s original budget projected $30.7 million in revenue and $29.8 million in expenses.
The council will take up the formal tax rate discussion at its Aug. 18 meeting and is expected to set the first public hearing for Sept. 1, followed by final adoption of the budget and rates on Sept. 15. The new fiscal year begins in October.
The proposed budget would also raise utility bills for many homes. For customers with a 1-inch meter, monthly bills would go up by:
- Water (base rate), $2.48
- Wastewater/Sewer (base rate), $2.59
- Total residential increase, $5.07
Lindamood emphasized that much of the utility rate increase is outside the city’s control, because the city is responding to costs passed along by the water provider.
“I just want to make sure that people know a lot of this is pass-through,” Lindamood said. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Eric Zarate is a freelance journalist. Scott Nishimura, senior editor for local government accountability at the Fort Worth Report, contributed reporting. If you believe anything in this account is inaccurate, please email us at news@fortworthreport.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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