Fort Worth City Council approved its budget and the ad valorem tax rate for fiscal year 2026-27, which starts Oct. 1.

What happened? The total $4.35 billion budget was passed unanimously, but the ad valorem tax rate passed by a 7-4 vote with Charlie Lauersdorf, Chris Jamieson, Michael D. Crain and Macy Hill voting against it. Lauersdorf and Jamieson represent northeast Fort Worth in districts 4 and 10, respectively.

The tax rate will be $0.70565 per $100 of appraised valuation, a 5.26% increase. The owner of a home valued at the city average of $232,925 will see their tax bill decrease by $8.19 to $1,643.64 annually. The decrease is due to lower estimated home values, according to the presentation.

What you need to know: The operating budget for FY 2026-27 is $3.33 billion, an increase of 10.81%, according to a news release. Several programs slated for reduction or cuts were restored following guidance from City Council in past meetings.

That includes the Alliance PetSmart Charities Adoption Center at 2901 Texas Sage Trail, restored employee positions to avoid service-level issues and employee pay-for-performance increases in the 4%-4.5% range, which will be paid in April 2027.

The Westlake Town Council voted in closed session not to renew the agreement with the city of Keller for police services at its Sept. 15 meeting.

Some context: The existing contract is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2028, according to previous reporting.

No discussion about the decision was made at the Westlake meeting. The vote occurred after more than three hours in closed session that covered a variety of topics.

A news release issued Sept. 16 stated an “exciting announcement” regarding a future public safety partner will be made soon.

The background: Westlake's decision to not renew its contract with Keller comes after a site plan for a data center at the Keller-Westlake border was approved by the Westlake Planning & Zoning Commission Aug. 4.
The Keller City Council voted to pursue legal action against the proposed data center during the Aug. 18 meeting, according to previous reporting.

Plano ISD saw enrollment drop by more than 2,500 students, while Trader Joe’s plans stores in Fort Worth and Plano. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. Plano ISD enrollment down more than 2,500 students from last school year

2. Trader Joe’s plans store in north Fort Worth

3. El Fenix Mexican Restaurant temporarily closes McKinney location

4. Trader Joe's to open second Plano store

5. Project Nexus takes flight, launches air taxi testing at Perot Field in Fort Worth

6. Red's on Main reopens Frisco location after funding challenges

Some Texas Republican leaders have vowed to get rid of the property taxes that homeowners pay to their local public school districts, and lawmakers are analyzing how much it would cost to do so.

The big picture: Texas school districts collect about $29 billion per year in maintenance and operations taxes, which cover schools' daily expenses.

Of that $29 billion in school tax revenue, the state comptroller's office estimates that about $8.6 billion is paid by homeowners, and the rest comes from commercial and industrial property taxes.

This means the state would need to spend at least $8.6 billion annually to zero out homeowners' school property tax bills, officials said.

Quote of note: "Broadly speaking, you have a question about how much you want to fund schools, and then separately, where does that money come from?" Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during a Sept. 15 legislative hearing. "If you have a target of how much you want to spend, you need to make sure you have enough variable revenue sources to reach that."