Brownwood City Council unanimously approved a $49,269,731 budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year during a special called meeting Tuesday morning, while also advancing a proposed tax rate and a broad package of city fee changes that could affect utility customers, landfill users, businesses, park renters and airport tenants.
The approved budget is 3.12% larger than the current fiscal-year budget. The council acted on second and third, or final, reading. Additional budget information was referenced in the meeting report.
Tax rate still requires two readings
Council approved a proposed 2026-27 tax rate of 0.7175 cents per $100 valuation on first reading. That figure represents a 1.7% increase over the current fiscal year’s rate.
The tax-rate ordinance is expected to return to the council for second and third, or final, readings, likely during the next meeting on Sept. 8. The source report describes that date as likely rather than confirmed.
Utility, sanitation and landfill fees proposed
The council also approved on first reading ordinances establishing charges, fees, rates and deposits for Brownwood’s water, sewer and sanitation customers, along with fees, rentals, licenses and permits for the city during the 2026-27 fiscal year. Those measures are also expected to return for second and final readings, likely Sept. 8.
Recommended utility-rate changes include higher water and sewer tap fees, a separate rate schedule for sanitation customers outside the city limits and an increase in the excessive brush or debris pickup fee from $58.44 to $100.
The proposed landfill changes include raising the outside-city-limits tonnage rate from $52 to $54, correcting cubic-yard rates used when scales are unavailable and creating a $500-per-vehicle annual Early Access Gate Pass. The pass would allow landfill access beginning at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Other recommendations include a fuel surcharge, a new $10 fee for white goods requiring Freon recovery, and a revised roll-off dumpster or truck pickup structure. That structure would include a $195 haul charge and separate tonnage charges of $44 inside the city limits and $54 outside the city limits.
The proposal would remove the fee for computer monitor and television recycling, add over-containment charges of $30 per truck, trailer or container and $75 per large-capacity transporter, and provide a 15% gate-rate reduction for compost-eligible material.
The required deposit to establish utility service also would increase. The deposit for a three-quarter-inch meter would rise from $150 to $160. The report said the last increase occurred in 2024 and that the average monthly bill is now $105 to $120.
Permit, park, aquatic center and airport changes
Recommended miscellaneous-fee changes include restructuring food-establishment permit fees, simplifying the Fire Marshal inspection fee schedule and updating rental fees for several city park pavilions.
Family Aquatic Center rental costs would increase from $300 to $400 for the first two hours and from $150 to $200 for each additional hour. The proposal also adds a fee for audiovisual packages at the Brownwood Event Center Complex.
Minimal increases are recommended for hangar rentals and other airport fees. The council’s first-reading approvals mean the proposed charges remain subject to additional readings before final action.