Travis County commissioners approve 9% property tax hike

A house on Sandy Meadow Circle on the banks of Big Sandy Creek near Leander, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, was heavily damaged in the Fourth of July weekend flood.

Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Travis County homeowners should brace for a 9.12% property tax increase next year after commissioners bypassed voter approval to adopt the rate Tuesday.

The tax hike will add an average of $200 to property owners' bills next year, putting about $42.2 million in county coffers. Much of the money will refill reserves drained by July’s deadly floods, but county leaders also plan to use it for overdue infrastructure repairs and future disaster protection.

"I think it is prudent and responsible to prepare ourselves to address the challenges we do know and we can address," Commissioner Jeff Travillion said.

Under a 2019 state law, the county can only pass a 3.5% adjustment to the property tax rate without voter approval, but the law allows up to 8% to be added for one year if the county received a disaster declaration from the governor that year.

Once the fiscal year ends, the county’s tax rate will revert to the 3.5% cap, under which the average homeowner will still pay an estimated $128 more a year in county taxes than before, largely due to higher property values.

Travis Gatlin, the county’s budget director, said more than $20 million has been transferred from the emergency reserve to cover costs from the floods — the disaster that triggered the tax exception. That money has gone toward personnel responding to the disaster, debris cleanup, and repairs to roads and bridges.

But commissioners hope some of the $42 million can fund long-needed repairs and disaster mitigation. They announced plans to finally advance long-stalled Onion Creek flood control projects and to address nearly 100 miles of substandard roads and low-water crossings that leave residents vulnerable during storms.

"Onion Creek has flooded many times and affected a great number of families … the only reason we haven’t fixed it is because we didn’t have the money," Commissioner Margaret Gómez said. "I believe this $42 million will finally help resolve that issue once and for all, so people can rest easy that they won’t be flooded in the middle of the night."