Weatherford City Council voted to propose maintaining last year’s tax rate of 39.2246 cents per $100 valuation for the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Linzy Blain, director of Finance, told the council the No-New-Revenue Rate, which would have resulted in the same amount of dollars coming into the city, was 1 cent higher.
“Holding the rate flat,” she said, “saves the average homeowner about $33 a year. Each homeowner's experience will differ based on appraised value, exemptions, and other factors; but, for the average Weatherford home valued at $300,183 at the proposed tax rate of 0.392246 per $100 of taxable value, the estimated city tax on that home would be about $1,177.46.”
The public can comment on the rate Sept. during a public hearing to be held before the council’s final vote on the rate.
Earlier in the meeting, Budget Manager Ashley Esquivel reviewed the city’s budget, which is based on the above property tax rate, during a public hearing.
“To recap this budget, it maintains Weatherford's strong position. Our reserve levels will remain more than 120 days of operational funding. Our general fund is balanced with a marginal surplus, and the budget was built using less than the No-New-Revenue rate,” Esquivel said.
The fiscal year 2027 budget includes $61,403,364 in revenues and $61, 338,428 in expenses.
Esquivel said the city’s primary source of revenue in the coming year is sales taxes, which are anticipated to increase by 7%, while property tax revenue holds steady from last year.
“This represents the sixth year in the past seven that we have adopted and/or proposed a rate equal to or less than the No-New-Revenue rate,” Esquivel said.
On the expense side, personnel is the city’s largest expense, taking 57% of the budget. The police and fire Departments “make up the largest share of general fund expenditures,” Esquivel said.
The city will fund several capital improvements during the year, including replacement of Love Street Park’s playground and a restroom renovation, $3 million for street repairs and improvements, vehicle and equipment replacements, and replacement of public safety equipment.
“The budget includes allocations to continued advancement and completion of several major capital projects that are already in progres,” Esquivel said. “These include McGrath Skate Park reconstruction; Holland Lake Park renovation; development services and park administration office renovation; Phase 2 of animal shelter improvements; construction of Fire Station 5; the public works and parks warehouse; and transportation initiatives, which do include Lamar Street, Claremont Boulevard, and Kirkpatrick Drive.”
Mayor Paul Paschall commended the city staff on its handling of the budget.
“I think it's just important for our citizens to know that we're able to do the things like build Fire Station No. 5 and secure the apparatus that will be here when that opens, and we're able to do that because of the sound physical fiscal and not have to have bond elections,” Paschall said. “Y'all go to great lengths and detail to be ultra-fiscally responsible to protect our tax rate, but to also provide the services, the quality and the quantity of services that our citizens expect.”
The council entered into an extensive discussion about the proposed Clairmont Senior Housing community, which would be on 31 acres on an extension of Clairmont Drive where it would intersect with West Park Avenue on the western side of the city.
Developer Glenn Lynch has plans for a 62-and-older community of 204 one-story cottage residences.
Amenities would include a possible relocation of Weatherford Meals on Wheels & Senior Center, senior day care and courtyard, clubhouse, pool, fitness center, two pickleball courts, three dog parks, a pond, and water features.
Much of the discussion centered around building aesthetics and concerns amenities should be “essentially complete” by the time residents would move in. Resident comments were generally in favor, although some speakers expressed concerns about traffic and parking.
Paschall explained the need for a development agreement as he posed several questions for Lynch. He explained that in the past, there had been developers who made grandiose claims about the amenities of their projects, and at the end the capital would be gone and the amenities would not be built.
“Since we started using development agreements, and everybody knows what's expected and when it's expected, that's changed drastically because everybody signs on the dotted line and everybody knows the rules going into it. So that's been a great tool,” Paschall said. “History teaches you to use tools to protect your citizenry.”
Lynch agreed, and the council voted unanimously to authorize City Manager James Hotopp to negotiate a development agreement with Lynch, although council denied a platting request for the property on technical grounds.
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