Most cities, counties, and school districts are right now in the process of adopting budgets and determining tax rates for the next fiscal year. In some cases, these local decisions will increase the cost of government and put upward pressure on property tax bills. In a few cases, local governments appear ready to absolutely wallop taxpayers.
Given the very real prospect of tax increases, now is the time for Texans to learn what’s happening in their communities and get involved in the decision-making process—while there’s still time. Doing so could mean the difference between being able to afford your home or not.
To better illustrate what may be at stake, consider the city of Copperas Cove.
According to its newly-published Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase, the average Copperas Cove homeowner’s tax bill could soon rise by 11.11%, or an additional $143 per year. Should city hall move to adopt this increase, then the city’s total tax burden will grow from $1,286 to $1,429 annually.
One reason for this level of tax increase is that city officials are raising their rates while property values also rise.
For 2025-26, city officials are proposing increasing the tax rate from $0.661043 per $100 of value to $0.686419 per $100 of value, representing a growth of 3.83%. Simultaneously, property values are expected to grow by 7%. The combination of these two factors—higher rates, higher values—results in the average homeowner likely experiencing a more than 11% tax increase.
If Copperas Cove wanted to do right by its taxpayers, city officials would reject the proposed tax rate and adopt the no-new-revenue (NNR) tax rate instead. The NNR rate is the tax rate that would effectively hold tax receipts constant and “giv[e] homeowners and businesses a chance to catch their breath.” For FY 2026, the NNR rate is $0.641782 per $100 of value or a little more than 4-cents less than what has been put forward.
A formal hearing on the city’s proposed tax rate is set to occur shortly. The date, time and location are listed below, per the public notice.
