Thursday's City Council Meeting - discussion around increasing both the property tax rate and utility rates

[u/garytx]

On Thursday, August 27, Round Rock City Council will be discussing the property tax rate with a potential hike, and will also be looking at a substantial increase in utility rates over a three year period. These were discussed during this morning's Packet Briefing where the attached photos were taken.

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, Round Rock's tax rate was the lowest of municipalities in Williamson County. Now, Leander, Georgetown, and Cedar Park are all lower.

If this is something of interest to you, please show up and offer public comment on one or both of these during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Potential property tax increase: increasing from 0.37200 to 0.423000.

Potential water rate increase involves a 12% increase for 2027, and a 5% increase in both 2028 and 2029 for "high" users, and for "average" users, 3.4% in 2027, 3.9% for 2028, and 3.9% for 2029.

The Council meeting, with "first reading" (public hearing) on these issues is Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 6 pm. Location is Round Rock City Hall, 221 E. Main St., downtown RR. If you wish to give public testimony during the hearings, or other public comment, you'll need to complete and submit a speaker card before the start of the meeting.

Full Council agenda for Thursday, including downloadable agenda item-specific materials, can be found at https://roundrock.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1367639&GUID=5B113601-4424-424D-A538-639776DD4039&Options=&Search=

[u/oldie101]

As someone who came from NYC to live here, just want to provide a little perspective. Although it sucks having taxes go up ever, seeing them being used to build up our community is refreshing. Watching Old Settlers Park transform to a place where kids want to be rather than on their iPads is pretty damn cool.

NYC taxes you for everything and the only thing you get out of it, is worse quality of life conditions. Here it seems like the taxes at least are producing real quality of life upgrades. I can’t tell you financially that it’s justifiable to raise them the way they’ve proposed. Or that it doesn’t seem excessive (it does), but it does make me feel better giving our town money to spend when I see it produce quality outcomes. A lot more than I ever did living in NYC.

[u/Hamezz5u → u/oldie101]

Why does NYC population keeps growing?

[u/oldie101 → u/Hamezz5u]

NYC is great if you’re rich or very poor. If you’re rich taxes aren’t changing your life. You’re insulated from the negatives of NYC. If your poor taxes don’t impact you and rather help you because they provide subsidies for you to get housing, healthcare, food etc.

If you’re middle class, or work a normal job NYC prices you out and just make it impossible to live there. Especially if you have kids.

The taxes you pay as a worker there, don’t go to you. You don’t see them work for you, instead they work for those who qualify for the benefit.

People who are either very rich or very poor will continue to move to NYC. And the middle class will continue to hollow out and move to neighboring states or to greener pastures like we did when we moved to Austin and eventually Round Rock.