Keller City Council members voted unanimously on Sept. 15 to approve a $111.9 million budget for fiscal year 2027, along with a property tax rate increase described as 2 cents per $100 of valuation. The spending plan funds the largest public safety pay adjustment in a decade, new police equipment, and a five-year capital improvement program, while nudging up what the average homeowner pays each year.
According to Fort Worth Report, the city's new property tax rate is listed at 30.0417 cents per $100 of valuation, compared with 28.7 cents the year before — figures that, by simple subtraction, reflect roughly a 1.34-cent change rather than the 2-cent increase cited elsewhere in the city's own description of the vote. The average Keller homeowner is expected to pay $1,381 annually in city property taxes, which works out to $7.34 more per year than under the 2026 rate. The new fiscal year began Oct. 1.
Despite the uptick, Keller has kept its tax rate below the no-new-revenue rate — the rate that would bring in the same property tax revenue as the previous year — for nine consecutive years running, the outlet's report notes. City council member Ross McMullin said Keller had remained below that threshold longer than any other municipality in the area, and possibly in Texas.
Public Safety Gets the Biggest Raise in a Decade
Public safety spending accounts for 25% of the new budget, and police and fire personnel will receive an 8% pay increase. The same report describes it as the largest public safety pay adjustment in 10 years. McMullin called the compensation increase significant and official, per the outlet's account.
New officers will also receive $7,500 sign-on bonuses as the department works to recruit and retain staff. The budget funds 60 new Tasers, 70 new body cameras, and millions of dollars in police department renovations, the report states.
Utility Bills and a Five-Year Capital Plan
Keller residents will also see higher utility fees in 2027. Water bills are expected to rise by an average of $6.02 per month, and the drainage fee will increase by $1, the same account notes. Part of the pressure on water rates traces to the Trinity River Authority, which raised its rates by roughly 7%, the report says.
The budget pairs those fee increases with a five-year capital improvement program covering 15 specific projects, including $35 million for street work, $17 million for water infrastructure, and $9 million for wastewater projects. Listed projects include the Alta Vista waterline collaboration with Southlake, improvements to Old Town Keller's Elm Street, trail expansions at Bear Creek Park, and playground replacements at Johnson Road Park, according to the same account.
Part of a Broader Texas Budget Squeeze
Keller's modest tax bump comes as cities across Texas wrestle with tighter finances. Rising costs, slowing tax revenue and a sluggish economy have saddled some of the state's biggest cities with multimillion-dollar deficits, according to The Texas Tribune. State law caps how much more in property tax revenue cities and counties can collect each year without voter approval at 3.5%, the Tribune reports.
Fort Worth officials have proposed raising that city's property tax rate alongside spending cuts to help close a $94.4 million budget gap, while Austin raised its rate to the maximum allowed without going to voters, adding $195 a year to the typical homeowner's bill, per the Tribune. San Antonio has weighed its first property tax rate increase in more than three decades alongside roughly $90 million in spending cuts, while Dallas officials have eyed a slight cut that would save the typical homeowner about $61 a year, the outlet notes.
Keller's trajectory looks different from some of its neighbors even within the past year. The city adopted a no-new-revenue rate for the seventh consecutive year in fiscal 2025-26, per Community Impact, when the average Keller home, valued at $478,600, was expected to pay $1,374 in city property taxes under a $0.287 rate. That earlier budget totaled $111.3 million with general fund expenditures of about $47.3 million, the outlet reported at the time.
Neighboring Grapevine, meanwhile, adopted a fiscal 2027 tax rate of $0.226817 per $100 of valuation, described by the city as a 4.4% reduction from the prior year, according to information posted on the City of Grapevine's website. The contrast underscores how differently North Texas cities are balancing public safety demands, infrastructure needs and taxpayer pressure this budget cycle.
