Start here: City of Leander

Start here: City of Leander (DRAFT – not published)

In short

The City of Leander runs police, fire, roads, parks, and water and sewer. A seven-member council (a mayor and six members) makes the big choices. This site checks the city’s own records and shows the sources.

What the city does with your money

• Property tax: the city rate for 2026-27 is about 41.7 cents per $100 of value.¹ It has fallen since 2021.² The city still collected more property tax in fiscal 2025 than in 2024.³ → city tax rate · Key dates: Your property tax calendar
• The budget: what the city plans to spend in 2026-27. → city budget fy2027
• Police and fire: what public safety costs. → city public safety
• Water and sewer: paid by your bills, not property tax. → water and sewer
• Debt: what the city owes, and the two main kinds of loans. → city debt explained, city debt co vs go, city 2025 certificates of obligation
• Big contracts: → city big contracts
• Promised vs. built: → promised vs delivered
• How the council votes: → council voting record, council 2026 10 15
• Leander next to the county and school district: → local governments compared
• Is the city getting good value? → value for money

Browse by topic

Value for money: budget and spending

• Did Leander get value for its money? (2022 check).
• Leander’s 2026-27 budget: spending ran ahead, savings drop.
• Did Leander spend what it budgeted in 2024-25?
• Where the city’s main fund goes, 2026-27.
• Where the City of Leander’s money comes from.
• Money moving between city funds.
• Leander police and fire spending.
• Police and fire spending per resident: Leander vs nearby cities.
• What Leander said it would build vs. what’s built (draft, FY2025 data).
• Leander’s big contracts, and how the council approves them.
• Does the city golf course pay for itself?
• How many people work for the City of Leander?
• How has the city’s workload grown in 10 years?
• Where does the City of Leander keep its cash?
• The city’s savings cushion.
• What does the City of Leander own?
• Leander’s net position: what the city owns minus what it owes.
• How the Leander City Council votes, 2022–2026.
• Oct. 15 council: $36 million more for the regional water plant, now due 2028.

Water and sewer

• Water and sewer bills in Leander.
• Is Leander’s water and sewer fund healthy?
• What the water and sewer fund pays the city’s main fund.
• What Leander pays LCRA for raw water.
• Leander’s share of the regional water authority.
• Leander’s share of the Brushy Creek regional wastewater plant.

Debt and other money owed

• Leander’s city debt: what voters approved and what the council approved.
• The 2025 certificates of obligation, explained.
• How much debt sits on Leander property, counting every government?
• City workers’ retirement plan: what it costs and how well it is funded.
• City retiree benefits: health care and life insurance after work ends.
• What Leander owes on software subscriptions and leases.

Taxes and fees

• Leander’s tax rate: down 22% since 2021, while total city tax collected rose.
• How has Leander’s tax rate changed over 10 years?
• How Leander sets its tax rate each year.
• How much taxable property does Leander have?
• How much of its property tax does Leander collect?
• What it costs Leander to appraise and collect its property tax.
• Who owns the most taxable property in Leander?
• Sales tax: what Leander gets when you shop.
• Growth deals in Leander: 380 deals, PIDs, MUDs and the TIRZ.
• Leander’s “380” business deals: who got paid in 2025?
• How much property tax does Leander pay back to developers?

Jobs, growth and housing

• How fast is Leander growing?
• Is Leander one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas?
• What do the city’s reports say about jobs and income in Leander?
• How does income in Leander compare with nearby cities?
• How long is the commute, and how many Leander adults work?
• Do most Leander households own or rent?

How to read this site

• Every number has a footnote. Click it to see the source.
• “Gap” means we looked and could not find or check something.
• “The other side” sections give the city’s reasons or facts that cut the other way.
• New words are in the glossary.

What this site is not

• It does not tell you how to vote.
• It is not run by the city.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Added a list of every page, grouped by topic.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We added sources for the rate trend and tax collections.

Go deeper

Every page lists its sources in the notes at the bottom. The “Sources and methods” page explains how we check facts, and the “All pages” list shows every page.

Footnotes

1. Williamson County Truth-in-Taxation site, https://williamsonpropertytaxes.org, tax year 2026, City of Leander row: adopted rate 0.417282 per $100. ↩

2. Williamson County, 2025 Truth-in-Taxation summary, City of Leander rates by tax year (2021: 0.479699; 2025: 0.417282). https://www.wilcotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17149 ↩

3. City of Leander Annual Financial Report FY2025, government-wide property taxes. Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P11938164.pdf (MSRB EMMA). ↩