Declining property values have left nearly every large taxing entity in Bexar County with a revenue deficit this year, causing many of them to consider their first rate hikes in many years.
The result could mean higher property taxes on homeowners and businesses at the same time water and electric bills could soon go up for all residents — all while Americans are already feeling the effects of rapidly climbing inflation.
The infusion of cash that municipal governments received in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is finally drying up while Texas’ once skyrocketing property value landscape has stabilized more quickly than many expected.
“While Texas is still growing, it’s growing at a far slower rate than it had been previously,” said Dave Gannon, who chairs the board overseeing the Bexar Central Appraisal District, which appraises properties on the tax rolls.
The City of San Antonio and Bexar County have both reported that their expenses are rising faster than their revenues headed into this fall’s budget season, which leaders will have to address when they approve their 2026-2027 tax rates and budgets.
San Antonio officials have already said they plan to propose their first tax rate increase in more than three decades — on top of other budget cuts and higher fees.
Meanwhile, the Alamo Community Colleges District and several San Antonio-area school districts, including Northside ISD, San Antonio ISD and South San ISD are all considering similar moves.
“There is a distinction to be made there,” Gannon said of the school districts, which have less control over their budgets than the other taxing entities. “They’re reliant on the state, and the state hasn’t always been consistent in the way that it funds the schools.”
Changes in state policy have also hit municipal governments in recent years.
Just a few years ago, in times of high growth, state law forced some local governments to lower their tax rates. Now many are coming back up, as they take in less property tax revenue than before.
Against that backdrop, local leaders are openly worrying about hitting residents with so many increases at once.
The city’s major utility companies say they can no longer hold off raising rates, and San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) is asking the City Council to approve a set of gradual increases that would bump up the average home’s bills by about $15 per month by 2029 — a number could go even higher after council members delayed the vote to October.
CPS Energy is also looking at a potential rate increase next year, to solve a $50 million shortfall in its annual operating budget.
Both discussions have been pushed back until after the city’s budget is approved in September.
Leaders across the taxing entities and utilities will continue to hash out their needs in the coming months before finalizing what these increases could look like and when they’d go into effect.
In the meantime, the San Antonio Report staff rounded up what we know so far about all of the potential tax and rate increases, based on leaders’ public comments and presentations to the City Council, local school boards, the Alamo Colleges District board and other government entities.
For the average San Antonio homeowner with a homestead exemption on their property, the rate increase currently looks like a jump of about $14 per month, or $167 per year, so far.
That’s not including the school districts, or the potential changes to San Antonio’s debt service rate, for which leaders haven’t publicly shared their estimates. It also doesn’t include a potential rate increase for CPS Energy.
City of San Antonio
M&O property taxes
San Antonio faces a $158 million budget deficit over the next two years, and City Manager Erik Walsh is calling for raising taxes as high as the city can legally raise them without having to call an election to seek permission from voters.
Even with that additional revenue, Walsh said the city will likely need to make other big changes to balance its budget.
Those could include delaying the hire of more police officers, continued increases to city fees, shifting more of the city’s Fiesta costs onto event organizers, and financing streets projects over multiple years — to name a few of the proposals presented to council in the earliest draft of their budget.
Current tax rate: The city’s total tax rate is currently $0.541590 per $100 of valuation, including both the maintenance and operation and debt service portions of the bill. Tax rates are frozen for people 65 years and older, as well as those who have a disability, if they have a homestead exemption on their property.
How much? The earliest estimates from the city show the average homestead paying about $6.75 more per month, or about $81 per year more in property taxes in 2027.
City officials haven’t laid out the new rate yet, but generally speaking, they’re calling to raise it to the maximum allowed under state law.
Texas law allows cities to collect up to 3.5% more revenue from property taxes over the previous year without asking voters’ permission — not including taxes collected on new development.
Cities can go even further by using what’s known as the “unused increment,” which allows them to grow revenue beyond the 3.5% if they didn’t reach that cap in either of the past two years.
San Antonio has some unused increments to roll over, and given the massive deficit, staff is recommending raising they use it.
The exact rate increase won’t be known until the appraisal district, which estimates the market value of real estate and business personal property within a county, finalizes its numbers later this summer.
Council must also decide whether to go along with staff’s proposals.
City bond
The city could also ask taxpayers to pitch in more this year to increase their bond capacity in 2027, where the sports and entertainment district known as Project Marvel is competing for funding with other critical infrastructure projects.
Bonds are money borrowed against future growth, something that’s normally reliable in a fast-growing city.
But slowed economic growth and dropping property valuations now have city staff projecting San Antonio’s bond capacity for 2027 will be about half the size of the last city bond in 2022 — $625 million compared to $1.2 billion.
“Based on the current forecast, a bond program comparable in size to the 2022 program would require a tax rate increase to meet the bond repayment obligations,” Troy Elliott, the city’s chief financial officer, told the council in May.
Current rate: The debt service portion of the tax bill in San Antonio hasn’t changed since 2004. It’s currently set at $.21150 per $100 of valuation.
How much? Under city staff’s proposal, the rate would adjust up or down to meet the bond capacity the city chooses to pursue. City Council could go for a bond that’s comparable to the $1.2 billion voters approved in 2022, or lower, according to a Jan. 21 presentation.
The state’s 3.5% growth cap doesn’t apply to the debt service portion of the tax bill, and the city has been using it to finance more projects that it previously funded with cash through the general fund.
For example, City Manager Erik Walsh said in early June that the city could move $7.3 million designated for street maintenance in the 2027 budget to the capital budget, as it has been doing with other projects in recent years.
City staff is recommending what’s known as a variable debt rate strategy, where rates go up or down as needed based on property valuations.
The council had mixed reviews on that suggestion, and city staff said exact figures for such a plan wouldn’t be available until later this summer.
However, this bond cycle is the best opportunity many council members have to secure major projects for their districts, considering the challenges with the general fund.
Storm water fee
City leaders are also looking at increasing the storm water fee on residents’ water bills to help fund flood and drainage infrastructure.
San Antonio is coming off of one of the most deadly summers in decades due to flooding, and traditional funding sources, like the budget and bond, are already stretched thin.
This could be a way to fund critical flood projects at a time when the city hasn’t received much state or federal funding to help pay for them.
Current: According to a Jan. 21 presentation from city staff, the last stormwater fee increase was in 2020. Residential properties are categorized into three tiers, with most falling in Tier 2, which pays $4.94 per month, or about $59.28 per year.
How much: The Jan. 21 presentation laid out options for increasing the stormwater fee from as little as $1.20 per year to as much as $3.00 per year.
The rate would keep rising over the next five years, with Tier 2 properties increasing by as much as $10.08 per year by 2031.
The city’s Storm Water Advisory Board just completed a new matrix to rank flood control projects by need, which could help put a price tag on the most pressing needs.
Parks and environmental fee
A city trial budget — the earliest draft of staff’s spending recommendations — called for increasing the parks and environmental fee collected on residents’ CPS Energy bills, which helps maintain and operate the city’s park system.
Current: San Antonio’s parks and environmental fee is currently $2 per month.
How much? The June trial budget called for raising the rate to $2.25 in the 2026-2027 fiscal year, and $2.50 per month the following year.
Bexar County
Bexar County property taxes
Bexar County’s top budget and finance experts say the county is headed for its worst financial year since the crash of 2008, thanks to slowed economic growth.
Unlike the city, which has more varied revenue streams, about 80% of the county’s general fund comes from property taxes.
County Manager David Smith projected that property tax revenue will come in about 1.5% lower in the 2026-2027 fiscal year, but can be addressed with cuts instead of a tax hike.
Current rate: Bexar County’s current tax rate is $0.276331 per $100 of valuation.
How much? So far Smith said he intends to address the issue with budget cuts, not a tax increase. More details will come this fall when staff makes a formal budget proposal, and the five-member Commissioners Court weighs in on the cuts.
Alamo Colleges District
Alamo Colleges District, which includes all Bexar County taxpayers, is considering a tax rate increase for the first time in more than a decade as it faces a $28 million budget deficit.
In June, its board of trustees unanimously approved a budget for fiscal year 2027 that hinges on raising the maintenance and operations portion of its tax rate by $0.0125.
The district’s tax rate has remained unchanged since 2013, but district officials warned that without an increase, they would likely have to start sunsetting student-focused programs, such as AlamoADVICE, AlamoBOOKS+ and AlamoPROMISE — which has helped more than 30,000 local students start college tuition-free.
Current rate: Alamo Colleges’ current tax rate is $0.149 per $100 of valuation.
How much? If approved by the board, the total tax rate would rise to $0.162 per $100 of valuation.
For a home valued at the median homestead of $271,000, the increase would mean homeowners would pay an additional $2.82 per month, or $33.84 per year.
Hospital district
Bexar County’s hospital district, which does business as University Health, has kept its tax rate steady for several years. A University Health spokesperson said the tax rate will remain the same this year.
“Only 16% of University Health’s revenues came from property taxes in 2025,” University Health spokesperson Elizabeth Allen said. “The rest was from patient revenues, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and other payment programs.”
The public hospital system is in the process of getting three new hospitals up and running. University Health’s budget is managed by a seven-member board of managers. The organization runs on a January to December budget cycle.
Current rate: $0.276235 per $100 of valuation.
San Antonio River Authority
The San Antonio River Authority is responsible for managing the San Antonio River Basin.
In the face of a deadly flood last year, it continues to face big pressure executing major flood mitigation and response efforts — at the same time it’s expected to bring in less revenue this year.
The agency collects revenue from several sources, including property taxes from a four-county jurisdiction made up of Bexar, Karnes, Wilson and Goliad counties.
Last year Bexar County leaders paid $21 million out of pocket to fund the River Authority’s NextGen flood warning system, but the agency had to raise taxes so it could fund the same efforts in Karnes, Wilson and Goliad counties, said Deputy General Manager Rick Trefzer.
“We had secured the commitment from Bexar County to invest in those flood response systems … and so the decision around the tax rate was really about, how do we have the resources to expand into those Southern Basin counties to provide them the same level of responsiveness?” he said.
As of this week, Trefzer said the River Authority had only just received the preliminary valuations from the four counties it serves.
Early numbers indicate they’ll face a reduction in revenue like the other taxing entities in this area, he said, but can probably avoid a rate increase.
“At this point, we are not anticipating cuts of the current level of service, but we’re certainly being very thoughtful about what things we might add to this budget,” Trefzer said. “We’ll have a lot better information in August to determine what the impact of some of this decrease in the valuations might be.”
The River Authority follows the same fiscal year calendar as the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. Staff prepares its budget and tax rate recommendations, and an elected board of directors approves them in September.
Current rate: The River Authority’s current rate is at $0.0183 per $100 valuation. It’s statutorily capped at $0.02 per $100 of valuation, meaning it could go slightly higher.
Utilities
San Antonio Water System (SAWS)
The SAWS is preparing to invest $3.2 billion in its infrastructure over the next four years, with rates going up to fund upgrades to its water system.
Projects range from replacing water mains and upgrading pump stations, to retrofits of water recycling plants.
The utility’s initial proposal received pushback from the City Council, causing leaders to come back with a slightly lower ask.
But the council remained divided on the issue when it came up for a vote this month, so the final decision isn’t expected until October — potentially increasing the cost of some of the projects and, therefore, the cost of a potential rate adjustment.
Current: The last time SAWS raised rates was in 2020, taking the average monthly residential water and sewer bill from $65.83 to $72.38, according to the utility.
How much? The latest plan presented to the City Council would raise the average residential bill by $3.91 per month, or $46.92 per year, in the first year after it’s implemented.
Bills would continue to increase gradually over the coming years, and SAWS could use a range of available rate increases — from 5.5% to 7% in 2028 and 5% to 6.6% in 2029 — to meet their needs.
The utility estimates that the average residential bill would climb $14.90 per month, or $178.80 per year, by 2029.
SAWS has a rate calculator on its website that allows customers to see how their own bills would change, though it requires the customer to pull some technical information from the second page of their bill.
CPS Energy
CPS Energy is also talking about a potential rate increase in the coming year, after its board approved a fiscal year 2027 budget that includes a $50 million shortfall.
That gap could be funded by a rate increase, the utility said, but the City Council hasn’t agreed to it yet. CPS Energy officials had planned to look at its rates again at the end of summer, but has since changed leadership.
How much? The utility has been downplaying the potential rate hike as a possibility — not a done deal.
But Councilman Edward Mungia (D4) told the San Antonio Report in March that it could be as much as a 4% increase on ratepayers.
At a June board meeting, CPS Energy officials touted an average monthly bill of $191.77 as being lower than other Texas cities. A 4% increase would raise that monthly bill by $7.67, with an annual cost of $92.04 — but since CPS Energy has not yet committed to the increase or said how big it would be, our San Antonio Report calculations left it out until there’s more clarity.
CPS Energy says it will know more about its financial status after the summer, when it typically makes money by selling energy onto the grid.
School districts
For those taxpayers in the surrounding neighborhoods of local school districts, their school property taxes could also go up.
Bexar County is divided between more than 17 school districts, including three that have already announced plans to raise taxes.
Northside ISD
Northside ISD officials are discussing a voter approval-tax rate election, or VATRE, and a bond election in November.
VATREs increase tax rates on the maintenance and operation side, unlocking extra dollars a school district can use on day-to-day costs like pay, student programs and utilities.
Bonds increase tax rates on the interest and sinking side to pay for infrastructural projects like HVAC and building renovations.
Like most school districts, NISD currently faces a $38 million budget deficit due to lowering enrollment, largely flat state funding and rising costs.
How much? The district hasn’t said how much it would increase the tax rate.
It’s currently undergoing an “optimization” plan, weighing whether to invest in strategies to boost enrollment, consolidate campuses or do a mixture of both to stabilize its revenue and expenses.
San Antonio ISD
San Antonio ISD officials are discussing a voter approval-tax rate election and a bond election in November.
San Antonio ISD is facing a $46 million budget deficit because of declining enrollment, largely flat state funding and rising costs. More than a century old, the district also has several small and aging buildings, increasing their maintenance costs.
How much? The district hasn’t said how much it would increase the tax rate.
Only a few months ago, SAISD felt positive it could go out for a bond between $450 million, requiring no tax rate increase, and over $1 billion, which would require a 10-cent increase. Now the district may have to lower its sights.
South San Antonio ISD
South San Antonio ISD will put a voter approval tax-rate election on the November ballot this year.
South San ISD is currently under state control after years of financial mismanagement and board dysfunction. While not in a budget deficit, state-appointed superintendent Raul Hinojosa has been pushing for the rate increase to generate extra dollars for pay, facilities and student programs.
How much? The district hasn’t said how much it would increase the tax rate.
Hinojosa estimates a rate increase could generate an extra $3 million to $4 million a year for the district.
Judson ISD
Under the leadership of an interim superintendent, Judson ISD officials are also considering a voter approval tax-rate election. Few details are known so far.
Law enforcement
Last year, San Antonio raised parking ticket prices, as well as fees on alarms and permits, to shore up its budget. Further fee increases were discussed in this year’s trial budget, and Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) called for more expensive speeding tickets.
Bexar County just rejected a plan to raise more revenue by writing more tickets.
Precinct 3 Constable Mark Vojvodich also said he’s also not going forward with a plan to bring in revenue by signing up for an expanded federal immigration enforcement partnership.
Diego Medel contributed to this story.
Methodology: This story contains San Antonio Report calculations built from leaders’ public comments, presentations to the City Council, local school boards, the Alamo Colleges District board and other government entities. While the entities’ definitions of an “average” homeowner or ratepayer may vary, each increase cited is based off how local officials have said these changes will affect an average community member.
