Government
BY GRANT CRAWFORD & GRACIE WARHURST
City’s cost for bus service to Austin rises The city of Round Rock’s cost for bus service to Austin is expected to increase, as City Council approved an agreement with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Sept. 11. The gist As part of the agreement, Capital Metro will continue to provide fixed route bus service from Round Rock to Austin. Capital Metro provides the vehicles, supervisors, fuel and bus operators for the service. The contract amounts to over $1.5 million—up from the $1.3 million agreement approved last year. Half of the cost will be funded by federal funding and the other half will come from the city’s general revenue. The agreement will go into effect Oct. 1 and expire at the end of September 2026.
In FY 2025-26, the median household in Round Rock—valued at $395,240— will pay $123 in city property taxes per month, which helps fund a variety of departments and services. Breaking it down
Police: $39 Fire: $30 Parks and Recreations: $15 Transportation: $11 Management and Planning: $10 General services: $8 Fiscal support: $6 Library: $4
Median tax bill: $123
SOURCE: CITY OF ROUND ROCK/COMMUNITY IMPACT
City approves $789.7M budget, tax rate increase Round Rock City Council approved its final fiscal year 2025-26 budget, as well as a property tax rate increase, at its meeting Sept. 11. The details The $789.7 million budget is supported by a prop- erty tax rate of $0.372 per $100 valuation. A 6.9% increase over the no-new-revenue rate, the median homeowner can expect to pay $123 per month in
property taxes to the city. This is approximately $7.88 more per month compared to the last fiscal year. The budget can be broken down into: • $188.7 million for the general fund • $418.7 million for the community investment program, or CIP • $182.3 million for special revenue funds like hotel occupancy tax and Type B sales tax revenue Digging deeper The budget will fund 17 new public safety posi- tions, $161.7 million in road expansions and $33.8 million in utilities and stormwater upgrades.
Commissioners pass $702M budget, tax rate hike Williamson County commissioners approved a $702.4 million budget and supporting tax rate of $0.413776 per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2025-26 at a Sept. 3 meeting. What residents should know
The Williamson County budget for FY 2025-26 is broken into three funds. WilCo budget
Using the new tax rate, a resident’s estimated county property tax bill for the upcoming fiscal year comes out to $1,556, based on the median property value of $358,542. This is an increase of approxi- mately $122 per year from FY 2024-25. The budget is about $67 million more than the previous year’s. Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said the rising cost of materials is contributing to the hike.
General fund: $401M
Debt service fund: $223M
Total: $702M
Road and bridge fund: $78M
The newly approved tax rate is the highest rate commissioners can adopt without calling for an election. It is a 3.4% increase over FY 2024-25’s rate.
SOURCE: CITY OF ROUND ROCK/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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