McKinney approves higher water and sewer bills, flat tax rate

McKinney’s City Council approved next year’s budget at its September 1 meeting, raising water, sewer, and trash bills while keeping the property tax rate flat.

The council passed the budget, the tax rate, and the fee changes in a series of 6-0 votes, with District 3 council member Geré Feltus absent. Council member Michael Jones moved to approve the budget; council member Patrick Cloutier seconded.

The changes hit monthly utility bills starting October 1, 2026. Water rates go up 9% and wastewater rates 11%, according to the city’s fee list.

For a home inside the city, the base water charge alone climbs from $19.80 to $21.60 a month. The base sewer charge for a single-family home rises from $28.10 to $31.20 a month.

Trash pickup will also cost more. The monthly residential collection fee, which covers one garbage cart and one recycling cart, rises 3%, from $20.36 to $20.99.

The city’s stormwater drainage fee for homes goes from $5.25 to $5.50 per unit, a 5% increase. Ambulance charges rise about 2%.

The property tax rate does not change. The council kept it at $0.412284 per $100 of value, the same rate as this year.

Because the median home value fell, the median tax bill drops. The city says the median homestead value went from $534,480 to $518,165. At the unchanged rate, the median bill falls $67.26, from $2,203.58 to $2,136.31.

The adopted rate is higher than the no-new-revenue rate of $0.409212. That is the rate that would raise the same total money from the same properties as last year.

The city will still collect about $5.7 million more in property taxes than last year, a 3.16% increase, which the council ratified in a separate vote required by state law. New construction added to the tax rolls accounts for about $6.1 million of that. Taxes from properties already on the rolls drop by about $500,000, Chief Financial Officer Mark Holloway told the council.

The city’s tax base grew to $44.971 billion, including $1.4 billion in new value, according to the budget presentation at the meeting. The presentation listed a tax rate ceiling of $0.422676; the adopted rate is about a penny below it.

A slide from the city’s budget presentation on September 1. Image: City of McKinney meeting video.

The city’s fee ordinance says the increases are needed to cover costs. It states that “the current fees are insufficient to cover the costs of the respective services.”

No one signed up to speak at the budget or tax rate hearings.

The new rates and fees take effect October 1, 2026.

Your friendly neighbor, T.