Property tax and utility bills in Arlington are going up by an average of $12 a month after the city council voted 7-2 on Tuesday to approve the 2026 rate.
The council also voted 8-1 to adopt the $750 million proposed operating budget.
Council members Bowie Hogg and Andrew Piel, who represent Districts 7 and 4, respectively, voted against the tax rate increase. They voted the same way on initial approval of the increase earlier this month.
"For us to increase [the tax rate] by three cents when I don't think we had to go all the way up to three cents, I think it was a bold move — but I don't think it was the right move," Hogg said.
Increasing taxes is part of the city’s plan to address a $25 million deficit projected for the 2026 budget. The tax rate increase is also part of the final push by city leaders to eliminate that deficit, in addition to spending cuts and fee increases.
On Tuesday Hogg voted to adopt the FY 2026 operating budget, which left Piel as the sole nay on that particular vote — another repeat of their votes earlier in the month.
"I think we've put together a good budget," Hogg said. "I think there's some other pieces we could have cut. There's some IT projects and some things that I think could have been delayed for over the next year, but overall, I think we're in a good budget."
"I still think we're going to be in a budget crunch for the next year. We've passed a budget, now let's start working on next year's budget almost immediately," Hogg added.
Arlington's budget woes come after an unprecedented number of successful property value protests and the decision by the Tarrant Appraisal District to delay home value assessments until 2027.
The city has also seen what City Manager Trey Yelverton has previously described as an unusually high number of successful property value protests. Yelverton said the city wants its property owners to contest high valuations but said the number of successful protests has exceeded trends and created new problems.
Increasing some fees, like those for utilities provided by the city, can help close the gap further. But even with those cuts, the budget still needs millions of dollars to bridge the rest of the funding chasm.
Increasing the property tax rate by 3 cents to 62.98 cents per $100 valuation would provide the city with more than $11 million in revenue next year, according to the city.
Two cents of that increase would provide around $7.4 million, enough to balance the 2026 budget.
The additional cent of the tax rate increase would bring in about $3.7 million.
In 2026, that money would be used for a one-time investment in technology, facility maintenance and the city’s fleet of vehicles. In 2027, it could help the city avoid further budgetary challenges created by new business property tax exemptions and traveling housing finance corporations.
Got a tip? Email James Hartley at jhartley@kera.org or follow James on X @ByJamesHartley. Email Andy Lusk at alusk@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
