Missouri City homeowners could pay about $45 more per year in property taxes under a maximum rate the City Council approved on Aug. 17.
The council set a maximum tax rate of $0.578363 per $100 of taxable value, a 1.32% increase over the $0.570825 rate the city held for three consecutive years, Community Impact Newspaper reported. The final adopted rate can come in at or below that cap but cannot go higher.
"If approved, the property bill of a home with an average taxable value of $334,958 would see an annual increase of $45, or $3.75 per month," Chief Financial Officer Rhonda Smith said at the Aug. 17 meeting.
The proposed rate sits above the city's no-new-revenue rate of $0.559173, which would generate the same property tax revenue as the prior year. It falls below the voter-approval rate of $0.619391, the threshold that would trigger a public vote.
Budget includes $900K for deteriorating animal shelter
The fiscal year 2026-27 budget also includes $900,000 for animal shelter operations. Interim City Manager Allen Bogard proposed the funding at an Aug. 10 budget meeting.
The money covers preliminary costs for short-term improvements to the Animal Services Building, which an assessment found is deteriorating. The funding would let officials analyze options for shelter operations over the next several months before presenting an implementation plan, according to an Aug. 14 city news release.
A new shelter facility is part of Missouri City's five-year capital improvement plan and could go before voters in a future bond election as a long-term solution.
The shelter question carries added weight after the Stafford City Council voted 7-0 on March 19, 2025, to end its interlocal agreement with Missouri City for joint use of the shelter, after approving a new agreement with the Houston Humane Society. Missouri City's facility now operates without that partnership.
What's next
City Council is scheduled to adopt the final FY 2026-27 budget and tax rate in September, before the new fiscal year begins in October. If the shelter funding is approved, detailed cost data will be presented at future council meetings.
