CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — City Council, on Tuesday, approved the first reading of an ordinance to set the property tax rate at $0.599774 per $100 valuation for fiscal year 2025-26. The public hearing by council is required to be in compliance with the Truth-in-Taxation guidelines as it relates to the adoption of the budget and the property tax rate.
The proposed rate is the same as last year’s but represents a 0.23% increase over the no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.598423. That’s the rate the city would need to generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, without accounting for rising property values.
City officials estimate the tax rate will generate $169.4 million in revenues. The amount needed for debt service or Interest and Sinking is $62,438,810 and the difference of $107,053,585 is for the general fund or Maintenance and Operations. Of this amount, $11,303,751 will be transferred to the Streets Fund for Residential Streets. Additionally, $6,625,901 in tax revenues will be collected for the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones.
City Manager Peter Zanoni emphasized that while the rate has not technically increased, homeowners and business owners may still see higher bills due to rising property valuations.
“With our expenses going up, just due to inflation and mandated increases, we’ve reduced the budget by $4 million. Last year, we reduced the budget by $9 million,” Zanoni said. “So over $13 million has been reduced in our operations over the past two fiscal years.”
Some residents voiced concerns during the council meeting.
Community member Rachel Cabarello said, “Our community cannot continuously afford this money grab from a governing body.”
Others, like Mark Muenster, criticized the burden on average taxpayers compared to corporations with tax breaks.
“You’re raising it for residents through their property taxes who don’t have the deals and abatements and the reductions available that huge corporations have,” Muenster said.
City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the property tax rate and the fiscal year 2025-26 budget on September 9.
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