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BASTROP — Bastrop homeowners could see lower tax bills next year under the city’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget, despite a slightly higher tax rate.
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino presented the latest budget proposal to City Council Aug. 12, based on a no-new-revenue tax rate of 51.79 cents per $100 valuation. The rate is up from last year’s 49.94 cents, but average home valuations in Bastrop fell in 2025 from $335,116 to $309,839, according to officials.
“Keeping the tax rate low is of primary concern. We continue to live within our means and strive once again for no change to the tax rate and living with only the new revenue that has been generated,” Carrillo-Trevino said.
According to Carrillo-Trevino, the average homestead would pay about $68.91 less in property taxes than last year. With $31.7 million in new development added to the tax rolls, the city will still collect $403,073 more in property tax revenue, a 4.46% increase.
Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland noted that residents should pay attention to both tax rates and property valuations.
“There are politicians out there that will tell you that every year they were in office they lowered your tax rate,” he said. “The thing is the amount you pay in taxes is the valuation of your house times the tax rate. If the value of your house goes up by 10% and they lower the tax rate by only 5% then they have increased the amount of money you’ve had to pay in taxes.”
Unlike many neighboring cities, Bastrop will need less of its tax rate to cover debt in the new fiscal year, the report said. The portion dedicated to debt service will drop from 19.62 cents per $100 to 18.52 cents. That figure accounts for $15 million in future bonds planned for bridge and quality-of-life projects and includes $750,000 in payments for existing debts.
The city will begin the year with $5.47 million in its general fund. Revenues are expected to add $18.89 million, with expenses totaling $18.96 million, leaving the fund with about $5.4 million at year’s end, according to Carrillo-Trevino.
She added that across all funds, including Bastrop Power and Light, the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. and the vehicle equipment and replacement fund, Bastrop is projected to start the fiscal year with $58 million, collect $72.4 million in revenue and spend $68.8 million.
The budget includes four new staff positions: a mechanic, a human resources generalist, an accountant and a part-time library associate.
Staffing requests from the police and fire departments — six and four new full-time positions respectively — were not included. Carrillo-Trevino said those additions would push the tax rate above the state’s cap and require voter approval.
Councilman Kevin Plunkett questioned why the street maintenance fund, which starts with $863,643, is projected to finish the year with more than $2 million.
“I’m not a big fan of taxing now and holding on to money when we have a lot of projects we can do, and they’re going to be cheaper to do now than they are ever going to be again,” he said. “I’d like to reduce that as much as possible so the current taxpayers are getting benefit from what was extracted from them.”
Carrillo-Trevino said pending projects should move faster once the city hires a streets director, which would begin drawing from the surplus.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at City Hall, 1311 Chestnut St. The proposed budget is available on the city’s website at cityofbastrop.org.
