Burleson increases property taxes

Burleson City Council approves tax and fee-increasing budget, discusses county bond

BURLESON — The Burleson City Council approved increasing property taxes and fees and discussed a bond that’d further increase taxes Monday at City Hall.

Burleson’s property-tax rate is increasing for the first time since fiscal-year 2015-2016 to $.6627 in the 2024-2025 budget from $.6325 in the 2023-2024 budget.

This tax increase will raise over $4.38 million more than the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Approximately $1.25 million will come from new properties. 

Council member Alexa Boedeker asked deputy city manager Harlan Jefferson about wanting transparency on what the increased taxes pay for.

“Several city residents came to me and wanted to know why taxes are being raised and what they will be spent on,” Boedeker said at Monday’s meeting.

City manager Tommy Ludwig said there will be a large presentation outlining all potential changes and improvements to be bid on “at a future council meeting.”

The 2024-2025 budget includes a 2.25% growth of existing properties on their property tax revenue and a 3.69% increase on new properties.

The total assessed valuation of all properties within the City of Burleson for the 2023-2024 current fiscal year is around $6.7 billion, including certified and protested values but excluding any exemptions. 

The average Burleson home value, which is what the city bases its budget on, in Johnson County increased to $299,889 in fiscal-year 2023-2024 from $282,966 in 2022-23. Average Burleson homes in Tarrant County are around $286,000.

In the 2024-2025 budget, Burleson is focusing on having a high performing city organization, a dynamic and preferred city, a beautiful, safe and vibrant community and making Burleson a great place to live, Jefferson stated as he presented the budget to the council. 

Among the budget’s goals are making sure all the funds have a strong balance while being resilient and flexible to economic impacts, according to the presentation.

Burleson citizens’ top three concerns for the budget were streets and traffic control, police and fire, according to the results of 309 responses to the city’s survey posted on social media.

Council discusses county bond with Johnson County officials

Property taxes could continue to increase if Johnson County’s proposed bond passes in the November 5 election. Johnson County Commissioner Kenny Howell and other Johnson County officials discussed the bond with the council Monday.