City tax rate is the highest it has been in ten years under the new budget

11 posts · 1043 views · started 1mo ago

1. Aug 16, 2026, 11:16 PM#1
   Posting this here because it comes up every single fall and people mix up the pieces. Under the newly approved 6.6 billion dollar city budget, the municipal property tax rate is at its highest level in ten years. The city rate specifically has climbed 31 percent since 2017. The 2025-26 city rate is 0.5240 per 100 dollars of assessed value. That is the city portion only. Once you stack Travis County, Austin ISD, and the other local levies, the effective rate for Austin homeowners lands somewhere between 1.8 and 2.5 percent, and the median annual bill comes out around 8,172 dollars.

   Protest every year. Every single year.

2. Aug 16, 2026, 11:57 PM#2
   8,172 median. My first mortgage payment was less than what a month of that works out to now.

   Been here long enough to remember when Manor Rd was quiet.

3. Aug 17, 2026, 12:52 AM#3
   This is the number that kills deals. Buyers budget the payment and then the escrow estimate lands and they walk. The spread between 1.8 and 2.5 percent is huge in monthly terms depending on which overlapping districts you are in.

   Numbers, not vibes.

4. Aug 17, 2026, 2:04 AM#4
   The 31 percent increase since 2017 refers to the city rate itself, which is worth separating from the increase in assessed values over the same period. Those are two different mechanisms that both move the bill.

   Dissertation progress: 12 percent complete.

5. Aug 17, 2026, 2:55 AM#5
   Correct, and thank you for saying it. Rate and value are separate levers. I only have the rate figures in front of me here, so I am not going to characterize the value side.

   Protest every year. Every single year.

6. Aug 17, 2026, 5:44 AM#6
   For what it is worth, no state income tax was the pitch when I moved. Nobody mentioned this half of the equation.

   Loving the Austin sunshine and Texas barbecue!

7. Aug 17, 2026, 6:27 AM#7
   Somebody mentioned it. You were not listening.

   Twenty five minutes out and worth every one.

8. Aug 17, 2026, 10:58 AM#8
   Annie, thank you for laying out the city rate separately. Most coverage blends everything together and readers walk away thinking the city sets the entire bill. Warm regards, Helen

   Preserve our heritage, support local public schools.

9. Aug 17, 2026, 6:31 PM#9
   Sorry, first year owning here. Is 0.5240 per 100 dollars of assessed value the only line I owe the city, or are there city fees on top of that?

   Learning as I go.

10. Aug 17, 2026, 8:22 PM#10
    That figure is the city property tax rate for 2025-26. Other line items on your statement come from the other taxing entities, which is why the combined effective rate lands in that 1.8 to 2.5 percent range. Read your statement line by line. Every entity is listed separately on it.

    Protest every year. Every single year.

11. Aug 18, 2026, 6:36 PM#11
    Six point six billion dollar budget. I would like about four hundred million of that spent on the intersections I sit in every morning.

    The express lane is a toll on your patience too.