FY 2026–2027 Proposed Budget (Updated Aug. 20, 2026)
- August 20, 2026
Above and Beyond — Delivering More Than Expected
The City of Springtown will conduct a public hearing for the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 7:00 pm. The adoption of the ordinance approving the budget is scheduled for Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Municipal Annex Building, 200 N. Main Street, Springtown, Texas 76082. (Full notice in Budget document and at end of this page.)
Tax Rate Notices can be found in the budget document or by clicking here.
The City of Springtown’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2026–2027 Budget is built around a theme that captures both the City’s financial philosophy and the level of service it provides to the community: “Above and Beyond — Delivering More Than Expected.” The theme reflects an important reality about Springtown. Although Springtown remains a relatively small municipality, the City provides a breadth of municipal services, public safety functions, infrastructure responsibilities, community amenities, and quality-of-life programs that often exceed what is provided directly by other communities of a similar size. The proposed budget seeks to continue delivering that high level of service while maintaining fiscal discipline, protecting the City’s strong financial position, investing strategically in employees and infrastructure, and minimizing the financial impact on taxpayers.
At its core, this is a fiscally responsible budget. The budget process began months before adoption, with the City Council establishing priorities during its April mid-year budget workshop and staff beginning revenue forecasting as preliminary taxable values became available. Throughout May and June, departments reviewed their operations, refined revenue and expenditure projections, identified efficiencies, and limited supplemental requests to the most critical needs. Council then held two additional special budget meetings in July to review the developing budget and provide further direction. This deliberate process demonstrates that the proposed budget is not simply a collection of departmental requests; it is the result of months of evaluation, prioritization, forecasting, and financial planning.
That disciplined approach is particularly important in the current economic environment. The City continues to face inflationary pressure and increasing costs for labor, equipment, materials, utilities, and contractual services. Nevertheless, the proposed operating expenditures for both the General Fund and Enterprise Fund increase by less than two percent overall compared with the current fiscal year. The budget accomplishes this while still making targeted investments in employees, infrastructure, public safety, parks, technology, accessibility, and organizational capacity. The budget book attributes this result to careful financial planning, disciplined spending, and an emphasis on maximizing the value of every public dollar.
The Proposed Budget Is Based on the Current $0.494822 Tax Rate
One of the most important points regarding the FY 2026–2027 budget is also one of the easiest to misunderstand:
The proposed budget is built using the City’s current property tax rate of $0.494822 per $100 of taxable valuation.
The budget does not require the City Council to adopt the higher $0.512679 rate-not-to-exceed in order to fund the proposed expenditures. The budget book specifically states that the proposed budget is currently built on the $0.494822 current tax rate and that Council can fund the proposed budget by adopting that rate.
This distinction is critical because the rate-not-to-exceed is not the tax rate the City Council has decided to adopt.
The Council-approved rate-not-to-exceed of $0.512679 is instead a statutory ceiling established during the Truth-in-Taxation process. It preserves the City Council’s ability to consider a rate up to that amount as the budget process continues. It gives Council flexibility while final revenues, expenditures, taxable values, financial conditions, and other considerations are evaluated before final adoption. Setting that ceiling does not commit the Council to adopting it, nor does it mean the proposed budget was prepared assuming that higher rate.
In practical terms, the rate-not-to-exceed establishes the upper boundary of Council’s options, not the final destination.
The statutory process requires the City to calculate several tax rates and follow specific public-notice requirements. The no-new-revenue rate for 2026 is $0.491617, and the state’s tax-rate documents explain that the voter-approval rate represents the highest rate that generally may be adopted without triggering an election. The Council’s rate-not-to-exceed establishes the maximum rate Council may consider through the adoption process, but Council remains free to adopt a lower rate.
For FY 2026–2027, the proposed budget demonstrates that the City does not need to go to that ceiling. The financial plan presented in the budget is supported at $0.494822 — the same tax rate currently in place.
That is an important indicator of fiscal responsibility. The City has preserved flexibility through the legally required tax-rate process while simultaneously preparing a budget that can maintain services, make targeted investments, support employees, meet financial obligations, and prepare for future growth without assuming an increase in the City’s property tax rate.
A Long-Term Record of Tax-Rate Reduction and Revenue Diversification
The proposed $0.494822 rate should also be viewed in the context of Springtown’s longer-term tax history. The budget book shows that the City’s overall property tax rate has declined substantially over the past decade. As the City’s taxable base has expanded through development and investment, that growth has allowed the City to generate additional revenue without relying exclusively on increases in the property tax rate.
Springtown has also deliberately diversified its revenue structure so that property owners are not responsible for carrying the entire cost of municipal operations. According to the city-to-city revenue comparison in the budget book, property taxes fund only approximately 30 percent of Springtown’s General Fund budget, approximately seven percentage points below the Parker County city average. Sales taxes, fees, and other non-property-tax revenues therefore carry a larger portion of the cost of police, streets, parks, administration, and other municipal services.
Springtown has taken an additional step by dedicating a portion of its sales tax specifically to property tax reduction. One-third of City sales tax revenue is dedicated for this purpose rather than simply being used to support additional spending. Springtown is identified in the budget book as one of only three Parker County cities with this dedicated sales tax for property tax reduction. The budget estimates that, without this dedicated revenue source, maintaining a similar level of General Fund services would require approximately 18.7 additional cents on the property tax rate for General Fund operations.
That policy is an important example of the “Above and Beyond” philosophy applied to financial management. The City is not simply asking how much revenue it can collect; it is continually looking at how revenues can be structured to provide the services residents expect while limiting reliance on property taxes.
Maintaining a Strong Financial Position
Fiscal responsibility is also reflected in the City’s fund balances and reserve practices.
Operating reserves provide the City with the ability to continue essential services during revenue fluctuations, emergencies, unexpected expenditures, or other unforeseen circumstances without immediately disrupting operations. The City measures these reserves by the number of days of operating expenditures that could be supported by available fund balance. When General Fund or Enterprise Fund balances exceed recommended operating reserve levels following the annual audit, the excess is not simply treated as an opportunity for recurring spending. Instead, surplus is divided among designated reserve funds for economic development, capital assets, and capital projects.
This structure represents a conservative and forward-looking approach to public finance. The Capital Asset Reserve and Capital Projects Reserve allow Springtown to accumulate resources for future equipment, vehicles, facilities, infrastructure, and other significant needs. When sufficient cash is available, those reserves can allow the City to pay for future capital needs without borrowing the entire cost. That reduces reliance on debt and, in turn, reduces future interest expense.
The Economic Development Reserve provides similar long-term capacity for strategic development opportunities. Because Springtown does not have a separate economic development corporation, the reserve provides the City with resources that can be deployed for projects and initiatives designed to encourage investment, business development, and continued community growth.
These balances are important because a strong financial position gives the City the ability to address unexpected circumstances, make strategic investments, plan for future capital needs, and avoid making short-term decisions that create long-term financial problems.
Investing in Priorities Without Abandoning Fiscal Discipline
Fiscal responsibility does not mean avoiding investment. It means directing limited resources toward priorities that provide meaningful value to the community.
The proposed budget includes a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for employees and a 2 percent discretionary merit pool to recognize high-performing employees. It also addresses infrastructure needs through projects such as replacement of the deteriorated sewer line serving the Springtown Public Library and resurfacing of 5th Street.
Public safety remains a significant priority. The budget provides for an additional School Resource Officer vehicle to support the new Littleton Springs Elementary School campus and funds an additional telecommunications employee to help ensure adequate public safety coverage and timely response to calls for service. It also expands training opportunities for both Council and staff.
The budget also makes targeted investments in quality-of-life services and organizational readiness. It provides commercial-grade mowing equipment to improve parks and right-of-way maintenance, funds work necessary to prepare City websites for upcoming federal ADA accessibility requirements, and provides for the installation of flags representing each branch of the United States Armed Forces at Veterans Memorial Park.
Each of these investments reflects the broader budget philosophy: spend strategically, maintain what the City already owns, support the employees who provide services, anticipate future requirements before they become emergencies, and preserve the City’s ability to serve a growing community.
Above and Beyond: A Full-Service City
Perhaps the most important context for evaluating Springtown’s budget is understanding what residents receive in return.
Comparing two cities solely by population, total expenditures, or tax rate can create an incomplete picture. Two communities with similar populations may provide dramatically different levels of service. One city may contract for services, rely on another governmental entity to provide them, or simply not provide certain services at all. Another may choose to employ its own personnel, maintain its own facilities, provide additional amenities, and retain greater local control.
Springtown has largely chosen the latter model.
The budget’s Parker County city-to-city comparison emphasizes that Springtown provides numerous quality-of-life services that many similarly sized communities do not provide directly. Maintaining those services requires staffing, equipment, facilities, and operating resources, but it also allows Springtown to exercise greater control over service standards and respond more directly to its residents.
This is especially significant in public safety. While some comparable communities depend upon another governmental entity or an outside provider for certain functions, Springtown operates many of those services with City personnel. That local approach allows Springtown to establish its own staffing expectations, training standards, operating procedures, and service priorities. It also creates greater accountability and allows employees to develop direct familiarity with Springtown’s neighborhoods, businesses, schools, and residents.
The City’s organizational structure illustrates just how broad those responsibilities have become. Springtown’s operations encompass traditional functions such as police patrol, criminal investigations, streets, parks, water, wastewater, finance, court, code enforcement, planning and development, and administration, but they extend well beyond those basic responsibilities. The City also provides School Resource Officers, telecommunications, animal control and an animal shelter, emergency management, a library, a museum, special events, building and health inspections, economic development activities, communications, and numerous other community functions.
This breadth of service is central to understanding the “Above and Beyond — Delivering More Than Expected” theme. The phrase is not simply a slogan for the budget document. It describes a service model.
Springtown operates its own animal shelter and animal control services. It maintains a library and museum. It provides parks and community programming. It maintains local public safety personnel and School Resource Officers. It manages streets and infrastructure. It operates water and wastewater systems. It performs planning, permitting, inspections, code enforcement, court services, communications, special events, economic development functions, and emergency management.
Many similarly sized communities do not directly provide that same combination of services.
The budget therefore cautions against comparing cities solely on the basis of tax rates or expenditures. A lower-cost government may simply be providing fewer services, contracting responsibilities to another entity, or operating at a different service level. Springtown’s approach is to maintain a broader range of locally controlled services, giving the City greater control over quality, responsiveness, accountability, and service delivery.
Public Safety and Core Services Remain the Priority
The allocation of General Fund expenditures further demonstrates where the City’s priorities lie. Public safety — including Police, School Resource Officers, and Animal Control — represents approximately half of General Fund expenditures. Infrastructure management, including streets and parks, represents another substantial share.
This means a significant majority of the General Fund is directed toward highly visible, front-line services: responding to emergencies, protecting neighborhoods and schools, maintaining streets, caring for parks and public spaces, operating animal services, and supporting the employees and systems necessary to deliver those functions.
At the same time, Springtown continues providing services that enhance the community beyond the minimum functions of municipal government. The City’s library, museum, parks, events, and community programs contribute to quality of life while planning, development, infrastructure investment, and economic development efforts help prepare Springtown for continued growth.
The result is a municipal organization that is expected to do considerably more than its population alone might suggest.
Balancing Taxpayer Impact With Increasing Service Costs
Maintaining this level of service is becoming increasingly challenging.
The budget identifies two particular pressures affecting future tax-rate decisions: the growing percentage of properties subject to the senior and disabled property-tax freeze and lower levels of new-construction value.
The senior and disabled tax freeze adopted in 2022 limits the amount of City property taxes paid on qualifying homesteads. As more properties become frozen, a larger portion of the City’s tax base cannot generate additional property tax revenue from rising values. However, the cost of serving those properties is not frozen. Police protection, streets, parks, libraries, infrastructure, and other municipal services continue to be provided, and those services remain subject to inflation and increasing operating costs.
New construction has historically provided another important source of revenue. New homes, businesses, and development add taxable value and generate additional revenue without increasing the tax rate on existing properties. When new-construction values decline, less new revenue is available to offset increasing service costs. The combination of more frozen properties and lower new-construction value therefore places additional pressure on the remaining tax base.
Despite those pressures, the FY 2026–2027 proposed budget is still built on the current $0.494822 tax rate.
That fact is especially meaningful when considered alongside inflation, increasing personnel and equipment costs, infrastructure needs, the City’s expanding responsibilities, and the unusually broad range of services Springtown provides.
Responsible Debt and Capital Planning
The budget also demonstrates an effort to distinguish between recurring operating costs and long-term capital obligations.
Springtown’s property tax rate consists of two primary components: Maintenance and Operations, or M&O, which supports recurring City services, and Interest and Sinking, or I&S, which is dedicated to eligible debt payments. The City’s debt obligations have helped finance major investments in water, sewer, roadway, parks, and other infrastructure.
At the same time, the City’s reserve strategy is designed to reduce future dependence on borrowing. By transferring excess operating reserves into dedicated Capital Asset and Capital Projects reserves, the City can accumulate cash for vehicles, equipment, facilities, and infrastructure. Paying cash when financially appropriate avoids both additional debt issuance and the interest expense that accompanies it.
That approach represents another important aspect of responsible financial stewardship: addressing today’s needs without unnecessarily transferring their cost to future taxpayers.
A Budget Focused on Value
Ultimately, the FY 2026–2027 proposed budget is about value.
Springtown’s residents receive a municipal service package that is unusually broad for a community of its size. They receive locally controlled public safety services, School Resource Officers, telecommunications, animal control and shelter operations, streets, parks, water and wastewater utilities, a library, museum, municipal court, planning and development services, inspections, code enforcement, community events, communications, economic development support, and numerous other functions.
Providing those services costs money. Providing them well requires qualified employees, reliable equipment, maintained infrastructure, adequate reserves, sound financial systems, and long-term planning.
Yet the proposed budget does not approach those needs by simply increasing the property tax rate.
Instead, it is based on the existing $0.494822 tax rate, uses a diversified revenue structure, benefits from sales tax dedicated specifically to property tax reduction, maintains substantial operating reserves, sets aside surplus funds for future capital needs, and limits the overall increase in General Fund and Enterprise Fund operating expenditures to less than two percent despite continuing cost pressures.
That combination is the essence of “Above and Beyond — Delivering More Than Expected.”
It means delivering more services than might ordinarily be expected from a city Springtown’s size.
It means maintaining local control over services that other communities may outsource or not provide.
It means investing in public safety, employees, infrastructure, parks, utilities, and quality of life while remaining attentive to the burden placed on taxpayers.
It means maintaining reserves not simply because policy requires them, but because those reserves protect residents from financial uncertainty and allow the City to plan ahead.
It means using surplus resources to prepare for capital needs and reduce future reliance on debt.
It means diversifying revenues so property owners do not bear the full cost of municipal services.
And, importantly, it means presenting a FY 2026–2027 budget that can be funded at the current property tax rate of $0.494822.
The $0.512679 rate-not-to-exceed should therefore not be confused with the tax rate Council will ultimately adopt. It is the statutory ceiling Council established to preserve its options during the remainder of the budget process. It is the highest rate Council may consider within that process — not a commitment to levy that amount. The proposed financial plan before Council is built at $0.494822, and the budget specifically states that Council can fund it at that current rate.
The final tax rate remains a decision for the City Council at adoption.
What the proposed budget demonstrates today is that Springtown enters that decision from a position of financial strength and disciplined planning. The City has maintained healthy reserves, diversified its revenue sources, dedicated sales tax to reducing property-tax reliance, planned for capital needs, invested in infrastructure, and carefully controlled operating growth. At the same time, it continues providing a range of locally controlled services that is exceptional for a community of its size.
The FY 2026–2027 Proposed Budget therefore reflects more than a one-year financial plan. It reflects Springtown’s broader philosophy of municipal government: be responsible with the resources entrusted to the City, plan for tomorrow instead of simply reacting to today, protect the taxpayer wherever possible, and continue providing a level of service that goes above and beyond what might ordinarily be expected from a city of Springtown’s size.
Above and Beyond — Delivering More Than Expected is ultimately a commitment to exceptional service, extraordinary value, and responsible stewardship of every taxpayer dollar.