Lubbock's City Council has approved a 6.78% property tax rate increase to support a 2026-27 budget featuring raises for city employees, increased road maintenance and the addition of several new public safety and city employee positions.
During its meeting Tuesday Sept. 8, the council gave its unanimous second-reading approval for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, with Councilman David Bruegel casting the lone vote against the new property tax rate, which passed separately in a 6-1 decision.
The new rate plus rising property tax valuations will amount to a $103.40 city property tax increase for the average Lubbock homeowner, who saw an average valuation increase of 2.1% from about $224,000 to over $229,000, according to data provided by
the city.
Mayor Mark McBrayer acknowledged the decision to raise taxes was not an easy one, but that it came as city leaders heard from citizens and saw a need to investment more in public safety. He said the higher rate supports a budget that includes increased spending for public safety - partly driven by new meet-and-confer agreements with Lubbock fire and police leaders that provide for raises, new equipment and new hires - as well as additional investment in street maintenance.
"We recognize this is a significant tax increase ... but want to be a safe city for our citizens, so we hope they know this isn't something we take lightly," McBrayer said.
Here's a quick overview of what you need to know about the proposed tax rate and budget.
What is the proposed tax rate?
The council ultimately voted to adopt a city property tax rate of 50.7349 cents per $100 property valuation, which is effectively a 6.78% increase over the current year. The budget raises more total property taxes than last year’s budget by about $9.3 million or 7.4%, and of that amount, about $3.13 million is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the roll this year, according to data provided by the city.
This new tax rate was slightly lower than the proposed maximum tax rate of 51.3421 cents per $100 property valuation the council set as a ceiling back in August. That would have effectively been a 9.83% increase in the tax rate, but leaders whittled that down ahead of Tuesday's vote.
The no-new revenue tax rate would have been 47.5154 cents per $100 valuation.
The new Lubbock budget includes:
- 3% raise for non-civil service employees
- 5% raise for Lubbock police plus 10 new officers and equipment as per one-year meet-and-confer agreement
- 3% raise for Lubbock fire plus 22 new probationary firefighters and equipment as per six-year meet-and-confer agreement
- 6 more public safety civilian employees and 4 more non-public safety employees
- Additional $1.3-million-plus investment in public safety, not factoring in meet-and-confer agreements with Lubbock police and fire
- $15 million for street maintenance - up $500,000 from the current year.
The council is tasked each year with approving a new budget and property tax rate ahead of the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
The full FY 2026-27 Budget can be found on the home page of the City of Lubbock website.
Adam D. Young is the Editor of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and Amarillo Globe-News in Texas. Have a news tip for him? Email him at ayoung@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock City Council OKs budget with tax hike, focus on public safety
