Kerrville City Council approves to raise property tax rate nearly 8%

KERRVILLE, Texas – The Kerrville City Council approved raising the property tax rate by nearly 8% on Tuesday night.

City officials also approved the city’s budget for the fiscal year 2026 on a second reading at Tuesday’s meeting.

State law allows taxing entities that have declared a disaster to use a special method with a higher percentage to calculate property tax rates. This method does not require voter approval.

In a normal year, most Texas taxing districts calculate their voter-approval rate using a 3.5% revenue growth rate. However, in the year following a disaster, districts can calculate the voter-approval rate with an 8% growth rate.

The Kerrville City Council has been exploring the disaster rate option over the last several weeks.

At a Sept. 9 city council workshop meeting, Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said choosing the disaster rate instead of the 3.5% voter-approval rate could bring the city an additional $336,817.

City officials also said property owners affected by the Hill Country floods will have until Oct. 20, 2025, to file a disaster exemption for these taxes.

More recent Kerrville City Council coverage on KSAT:

• 1.1 million+ cubic yards of debris have been collected since July 4 floods, Kerrville officials say
• Kerrville City Council approved new budget, property tax rate still to be decided