The jump comes after Cedar Park City Council passed the city’s FY 2025-26 budget and set the FY 2025-26 property tax rate at $0.36 per $100 of taxable value at its Sept. 11 meeting.
What residents need to know
In a presentation to City Council, interim Director of Finance Erica Solis said the budget totaled $215.2 million.
“The general fund is the largest component of this at $82.8 [million],” she said. “That funds the day-to-day operations for the city.”
The utility fund, which pays for water and wastewater services, is the second largest portion of the budget at $45 million, Solis said. There are also a number of restricted or special funds that will be used for things like debt service and public arts that total $87.4 million.
What else?
The property tax rate of $0.36 will be applied to every $100 of taxable property.
“That’s a decrease of 0.3 cents from the current rate of 36.3 cents,” Solis said, noting the tax rate is broken into two categories.
The maintenance and operations portion of the tax bill funds the city’s day-to-day operations and accounts for 54% of the bill. The other category, applied to the city’s debts, will account for 46% of the bill, she said.
The adopted property tax rate is the highest rate the city could adopt without having to call an election, according to agenda documents.
Dig deeper
Though the adopted tax rate is a decrease from the prior rate, the city saw a 4.9% growth in taxable value, Solis said. The city’s taxable value jumped from $15 billion in FY 2024-25 to $15.73 billion in FY 2025-26.
“Our base values grew by 3.3%, and new growth accounts for 1.6%,” Solis said. “The new growth does include additions to existing properties and new builds on the tax roll at Jan. 1, 2025.”
Because property value grew, residents will see an increased tax bill on average even though the tax rate has decreased.
What they’re saying
Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin noted the process of crafting the budget was a long journey for city staff, and he thanked them for their hard work.
“We’re all proud that not only does it balance our expenditures and revenue, but balances the many competing demands faced by our city, as well as continuing to grow our amazing workforce,” Penniman-Morin said.
