Lindsay adopts tax rate that raises revenue 13.48%

LINDSAY, Texas — The Lindsay City Council has adopted a property tax rate of $0.47587 per $100 of value for the 2026-27 budget year. City documents say the rate will raise $237,660.42 more in property tax revenue than last year, a 13.48% increase. Ordinance 0926-2 splits the rate into $0.18176 for maintenance and operations and $0.29411 for interest and sinking, which pays debt. The rate applies to the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2026, and ends Sept. 30, 2027. The city's notice for the Sept. 15 tax-rate vote listed a no-new-revenue rate of $0.341589. That is the rate that would raise about the same revenue as last year from properties taxed in both years. The adopted rate is about 13.4 cents per $100 higher. The notice also listed a voter-approval rate of $0.475885. A city that adopts a rate above that level triggers an automatic election. Lindsay's adopted rate is $0.000015 below it. The council adopted the budget the same night in Ordinance 0926-1. That ordinance repeats the $237,660.42 increase and says $7,977.88 of it comes from new property added to the tax roll this year. The general fund budget shows $883,090.32 in spending. Projected general fund income is $759,960.17 before transfers. The budget covers the $123,130.15 gap with $97,546.10 from reserves, $20,224.05 from the water fund and $5,360 from the sewer fund. Under Texas Local Government Code Section 102.007(c), the council also had to vote separately to ratify the tax increase. Resolution 091526-1 did that, restating the same rates and the $237,660.42 increase. Mayor Scott W. Neu and Aldermen Sam Sparkman, Glenn Block, Jeff Neu, Robert Sharp and Klay Gilbert are all marked as voting for the budget ordinance and the ratification resolution. The tax-rate notice said Sparkman, Jeff Neu, Block and Sharp voted for the proposed rate, with Gilbert and Scott Neu absent from that vote. The adopted documents are posted on the City of Lindsay website.