Missouri City homeowners will pay about $2 more per month in city property taxes after the council adopted a $305.9 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27.

The council approved the budget and set the tax rate at its Sept. 22 meeting. The vote was unanimous, Community Impact reported. The new rate is $0.578363 per $100 of taxable value, up from $0.570825, an increase of roughly three-quarters of a cent per $100.

The entire increase falls on the debt service side of the rate, according to a city press release. The maintenance and operations portion stays the same.

For the median Missouri City homestead, valued at $310,147, the new rate means an estimated annual city tax bill of $1,793.78. That is about $24 more per year.

The budget is roughly $18.72 million larger than the revised fiscal year 2025-26 budget, Community Impact reported. It includes $84.4 million in Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) spending across five categories: $34.5 million for utility construction, $33.2 million for transportation, $7.5 million for facilities, $5.2 million for parks and recreation, and $4 million for drainage.

Where the capital dollars go

Street reconstruction projects in the CIP include Robinson Road Phase II, La Quinta Drive south of Cartwright, Masters Lane, Meadow Creek Drive and Oakview Drive, Westwood Circle and North Evelyn Circle. Drainage work covers North East Oyster Creek detention improvements, Pine Meadow, Gregory and McLain, and the Public Safety Headquarters site.

Parks funding targets Sta-Mo Park and Hunters Glen Trail. About $2 million goes toward citywide facility safety and maintenance needs.

The city plans roughly $30.5 million in general obligation financing, with $30 million backing those street, drainage, parks and facilities projects. The tax rate increase covers debt service on that borrowing.

Tax rate in historical context

Mayor Robin J. Elackatt tied the rate to the $85.85 million bond program voters approved Nov. 2, 2021, for streets, facilities and parks. The city's tax rate that year was $0.578035.

"Nearly five years after voters approved a major bond program for our community, Missouri City's overall tax rate remains essentially at the same level it was at that time," Elackatt said.

After the 2021 bond vote, the rate dropped to $0.573750 and then to $0.570825, where it stayed for three consecutive years. The adopted fiscal year 2027 rate is less than four-hundredths of a cent above the 2021 level.

Interim City Manager Allen Bogard said the rate increase funds debt service on previously authorized capital projects. The operating portion of the rate did not change, he said.

New positions and separate water debt

Community Impact reported the budget adds 15 new positions, mainly in public works, with others in public safety, cybersecurity and human resources. The budget also includes salary increases for police, fire and non-civil-service staff.

Separately, the budget carries $28 million in utility enterprise fund debt for the Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant. That financing comes from utility revenues, not property taxes.

The fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027. Residents can review budget details on Missouri City's Financial Transparency page at missouricitytx.gov/529/Financial-Transparency.