New property supplies 81% of Guadalupe County’s projected tax-revenue gain

Look at the second row: growth in the tax roll accounts for most of the forecast increase. That tells taxpayers something useful about the county’s budget, but it answers a different question from what happened to the tax bill at an existing address.

What the rate tells taxpayers

The budget notice lists a FY2026 property-tax rate of $0.3304 per $100 of taxable value. The adopted FY2027 budget lists a county property-tax rate of $0.3493 per $100 of taxable value. The rate is higher, while the 80.72% calculation measures the sources of projected countywide revenue growth.

A rate and a revenue projection are not a parcel’s final charge. An existing owner’s taxable value and exemptions matter to that calculation. The budget’s new-property share should therefore be used to explain the county forecast, not to promise that an existing owner’s bill stayed flat.

The next test

The next test of an existing homeowner’s tax change is the parcel’s final bill, measured against its prior bill. A comparison with the certified county levy would also show how the budget projection lines up with the tax actually imposed. Readers can inspect the county’s FY2027 adopted budget and its revenue notice while those parcel-level comparisons are checked.