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 Tomball.
According to its newly-published Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase, the average Tomball homeowner’s tax bill could soon rise by 7.9%, or an additional $88.86 per year. Should city hall move to adopt this increase, the city’s total tax burden will grow from $1,124.97 to $1,213.83 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 council is considering increasing the tax rate from $0.336365 per $100 of value to $0.34094 per $100 of value, representing a growth of 1.36%. Meanwhile, property values are expected to rise by 6.45%. The combination of these two factors—higher rates, higher values—will force tax bills up.
If Tomball 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 $0.31575 per $100 of value or a little more than 2.5-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.
- A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PROPOSED TAX RATE WILL BE HELD ON August 18, 2025 AT 6:00 PM AT 401 Market Street Tomball, Tx 77375.
