Collin County commissioners adopted a $633.8 million budget and a higher property tax rate for fiscal year 2027, marking the first increase in the county’s overall tax rate in more than three decades.

Commissioners approved a combined property tax rate of $0.151414 per $100 of assessed value Sept. 14, up 1.39% from the current rate of $0.149343.

For a median-value homestead used in the county’s comparison, valued at $517,911, estimated county taxes would increase $62.88, from $682.10 to $744.98.

County Judge Chris Hill, the lone dissenting vote on the budget and tax rate, said he wanted to avoid increasing the rate for the fifth consecutive year.

“…after 33 years of not raising the tax rate, this will be the first year to actually raise the tax rate,” Hill said.

The adopted rate includes $0.109564 for maintenance and operations and $0.041850 for debt service and remains below the county’s voter-approval rate of $0.152822.

The FY 2027 budget includes $410.9 million in property tax revenue and $222.9 million from other sources. Total expenditures are projected at $619.5 million.Overall revenue is expected to increase 8.1% from the current fiscal year, while expenditures are projected to rise 3.4%.

The General Fund, which pays for many of the county’s day-to-day operations, totals $366.2 million, up from $323.5 million in FY 2026. Property taxes are expected to provide $295.2 million of General Fund revenue.

The budget also increases county staffing to 2,247 full-time equivalent positions, up from 2,170.5 in the current budget.

Among the additions are six deputy sheriff patrol positions, a deputy assigned to GHOST and a sergeant assigned to narcotics. The budget also adds two felony prosecutors in the District Attorney’s Office and positions in facilities, juvenile probation and detention, engineering, elections, information technology and other county operations.

Commissioner Darrell Hale, Precinct 3, said after the meeting that he supported the budget and tax rate to allow the county to keep pace with its growing population.

“I felt that we owe it to our citizens to have excellent services. In order to do that in a growing county we have to add people to keep a level of excellence,” Hale said.

The county’s taxable property base has continued to grow even as its tax rate has generally declined. Certified adjusted taxable value increased from $238.74 billion in 2022 to $330.10 billion in 2026, including $7.75 billion in new construction this year.

For comparison, the county’s total tax rate was $0.225 per $100 of assessed value in 2016.

The higher rate will not mean a higher county tax bill for every homeowner. The county’s average home value declined from $603,190 in 2025 to $588,119 in 2026.

At that value, estimated county taxes would be $845.97 under the new rate, compared with $855.78 under the previous rate — a decrease of $9.81.

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