Georgetown Texas Adopts $1.3B FY 2026 Budget, Lowers Tax Rate, Raises Utility Rates

At its Sept. 9 meeting, the Georgetown City Council adopted the Fiscal Year 2026 budget and set the City’s property tax rate. The adopted budget totals $1.3 billion and lowers the City’s property tax rate to 35.3 cents per $100 valuation—the lowest of any city in the Austin metro area with a population over 20,000.

Due to rising property values, the average Georgetown property tax bill will increase by about $14 this year.

The budget also includes several rate changes for City utility customers:

• Water/wastewater: 9% water and 12% wastewater rate increase, about $6.90 more per month for residential water customers using 10,000 gallons and $6.50 more for wastewater.

• Electric: 2% increase, about $2.40 more per month for residential customers and $2.80 for small commercial.

• Solid waste: 4.5% increase for residential customers (about $1 more per month) and 9.5% for commercial ($3.65 more per month).

“In the coming fiscal year, residents will see continued investment in the services and infrastructure that make Georgetown a great place to live—from reliable utilities and well-maintained streets to enhanced public safety and customer service,” Mayor Josh Schroeder said. “This FY 2026 budget reflects careful financial stewardship while making the strategic investments needed to support our growing community.”

Major themes of the FY 2026 budget include: maintaining reliable service delivery, public safety resource investment, and strategic infrastructure investment while maintaining strong fiscal stewardship. Factors influencing the budget include marginal growth in sales and property tax revenues, the City’s commitment to infrastructure expansion, and the challenge of maintaining service levels with a growing community.

Highlights of the adopted budget include:

• 70 new positions in key service areas, including 21 for police and fire.

• Employee recruitment and retention efforts, including an average 3% merit increase and additional market reviews.

• Rate adjustments for nonresident use of parks, recreation, and library services to help offset rising costs.

• Scaling back underutilized or low-impact services, including closing an underutilized pool and reducing winter mowing/landscape maintenance frequency.

• Major infrastructure and public safety investments such as preliminary design for new fire stations, transportation improvements, water and electric utility staffing, equipment, and parks improvements.

The proposed budget is available at georgetowntexas.gov/finance. The adopted budget book will be published online later this year.