During their Monday meeting, the Levelland City Council set a tax rate ceiling of .575000 for the FY26 Annual Budget.
City Manager James Fisher explained that one of the first steps in setting the tax rate for the next budget year is for the Council to establish a ceiling tax rate. This number is a proposed tax rate number that the City Councl states it will not go above this number. They can go below this number, but not over.
The Council set the public hearing dates for the tax rate and adoption of the proposed annual budget. City staff recommended two public hearings on the proposed tax rate and the FY 26 Annual Budget (October 1, 2025 September 30, 2026) on Monday, September 8 and Monday, September 15 both at 6 p.m. While only required to hold a single public hearing for the proposed tax rate and budget, Fisher explained that the second meeting is to allow an additional opportunity for the public to attend and voice any opinions or concerns.
When the Council deliberates a new tax rate to support the FY 26 Annual Budget, Fisher stated that each individual rate will be discussed and considered by the City Council.
No-New-Revenue Tax Rate: The NNR tax rate enables the public to evaluate the relationship taxes for the prior year and for the current year based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties that are taxed in both years. When appraisal values increase, the NNR tax rate should decrease.
$0.536706 (FY 2025-2026) Voter-Approval Tax Rate: The voter-approval tax rate is the highest tax rate that a taxing unit may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the rate. The voter-approval tax rate is split into two separate rates: Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Tax Rate: The M&O portion is the tax rate that is needed to raise the same amount of taxes that the taxing unit levied in the prior year plus the applicable percentage allowed by law. This rate accounts for such things as salaries, utilities and day-to-day operations.
Debt Rate: The debt rate includes the debt service necessary to pay the taxing unit’s debt payments in the coming year. This rate accounts for principal and interest on bonds and other debt secured by property tax revenue.
$0.600688 (FY 2025-2026) De Minimus Tax Rate: The de minimus rate is the rate equal to the sum of the no-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate, the rate that will raise $500,000, and the current debt rate for a taxing unit. This section should only be completed by a taxing unit that is a municipality of less than 30,000.
$0.652514 (FY 2025-2026)