The Princeton City Council will hold two distinct public hearings this month regarding municipal finances. The first session is set for Monday, Sept. 21, focusing on the proposed city budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27. A second hearing will follow on Monday, Sept. 28, to address the proposed property tax rate.
The council initially voted during a special meeting on Sept. 8 to combine these hearings into a single session on Sept. 16. However, officials later reconsidered that decision and voted to separate the events. Princeton Chief Financial Officer Kelly Wilson stated that this change followed further legal review of statutory requirements for the city’s budget and tax processes.
Wilson explained that Texas Local Government Code Section 102.006 mandates a public hearing on the proposed municipal budget. This hearing must occur after the budget has been filed with the City Secretary for the required period but before the governing body establishes its tax levy.
The Sept. 21 meeting is intended to allow residents to review the document and provide comments, but no adoption will take place during that session.
On Sept. 28, the council will hold the hearing on the tax rate and consider formal actions to adopt both the FY2026-27 budget and the 2026 property tax rate. The proposed tax rate is set at $0.472959 per $100 of taxable value, which aligns with the voter-approval rate. The calculated no-new-revenue rate stands at $0.445102.
