The city manager’s office is in ongoing discussions with the Denton City Council on next year’s proposed budget, attempting to address a possible $14 million shortfall and the increased costs of offering services.
Senior city staff have also requested help from the community by releasing a city budget simulator for fiscal year 2025-26 to solicit input on property tax increases and funding for administrative, community and neighborhood services, public safety and transportation. The city’s budget simulator will be online until Sept. 9.
Council members discussed the property tax rate Tuesday with staff, who have proposed a rate of $0.59542 per $100 property valuation. For a home with a taxable value of $200,000, that would mean a city tax bill of $1,171.
The proposed rate is one penny more than the current rate, $0.58542 per $100 valuation.
A public hearing for the budget and tax rate will take place Sept. 9. Adoption of the budget and tax rate is scheduled for Sept. 16.
Earlier Tuesday, the council received a staff presentation that highlighted 3% and 11% rate increases across the board for water and wastewater service.
According to staff calculations, the average residential wastewater bill will increase from $41.63 currently to $46.21 next fiscal year, while the average residential water bill will slightly increase from $51.33 to $52.87.
Those fee and rate increases will go into effect Oct. 1 if the council approves the budget next month.
There is no rate increase for solid waste or electricity, although residential customers could see electric rate increases in fiscal year 2026-27.
“We are behind the eight ball when it comes to incremental [rate] increases,” City Manager Sara Hensley explained to the council about the 11% increase in wastewater rates. “People can absorb smaller increments. It’s a hard pill to swallow two years in a row.”
Wastewater rates also increased 11% in 2024, after no increases in 2020, 2021, 2022 or 2023, according to the staff’s presentation Tuesday.
Deputy City Manager Cassey Ogden, who was filling in for Assistant City Manager Christine Taylor, pointed out that if the city does not raise rates for some time, it has a compound effect, which is what residential customers have been experiencing recently.
“We have seen the need for rate increase and continue to see those as the city grows and infrastructure needs to be replaced,” Ogden told council members.
Residents are also likely to see other fee increases when visiting a city library or recreation center, or renting out a city facility for an event.
Some of the proposed changes, with the current fee and the proposed fee:
Library
- Lost DVD or music CD — from $6 to $7
- Lost or damaged RFID tag — from 50 cents to $1
- 3D printing fees — from 75 cents per 10 grams to 20 cents per gram
Recreation centers
- Rec Pass — for ages 8 and older, from $15 to $20
- Day pass — from $3 to $5
- Gym membership — from $20 per month to $25; for a three-month membership, from $40 to $60
Aquatic facilities
- Water Works Park season pass and monthly pass prices will increase $5. For Denton residents, that would mean $85 for a season pass or $40 for a one-month pass. The cooler pass — which lets a season pass holder bring in a cooler of sealed drinks — will increase from $60 to $75.
- Daily admission tickets to Water Works will increase $2 for those under 48 inches tall — from $12 to $14 — and $3 for those taller than 48 inches — from $16 to $19.
- All-Access Aquatics Pass prices will go up $20. For a Denton resident, that would be $240 for one year.
- Civic Center Pool season pass prices will go up $5 — a resident season pass would be $45. Daily admission would go up from $5 to $8 for ages 15 and older; for ages 3-14, from $4 to $6.
During the Tuesday meeting, council member Vicki Byrd recalled sitting in on discussions over the years where the council “was very mindful of all of us struggling to pay bills and get back on our feet.”
Byrd said that while council members could have raised rates incrementally over the years, they instead decided to hold off on increasing rates to ease the burden on residents who had been blindsided by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Putting it all together and looking at the whole, now we have to get caught up,” Byrd said. “I’m hoping that our community can understand that part.”