What does the City of Leander own?

In short

• The city’s assets were on its books at about $1.13 billion on Sept. 30, 2025, after wear (our math).¹²
• That is up about $86 million in a year (our math).¹²
• About $198 million was still being built (our math).¹²

Related: city debt explained · water and sewer fund health · city cash and investments

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• Book value is cost, less wear. The city records its assets at what they cost. Each year it takes off a share for wear, called depreciation.³¹
• The report splits assets in two. Tax-funded city services are one part. The water and sewer utility and the golf course are the other.¹

What the numbers show

Sept. 30, 2025 (after wear)	Tax-funded services	Utility and golf
Capital assets, net	$624,079,425	$503,439,727
A year earlier	$582,126,634	$459,285,939
Still being built (not yet worn)	$65,221,817	$132,677,884

Source: the city’s fiscal 2025 annual financial report, Note 5.¹

• Infrastructure is the biggest part. On the tax-funded side it cost $612.5 million. On the utility side it cost $446.9 million.¹
• Wear in fiscal 2025 was about $30.3 million. Public works had the most, about $15.2 million.¹
• Building contracts still had about $40 million left to pay. The city had spent about two-thirds of $123.6 million in signed contracts (our math).¹²

The other side

• Assets are not cash. The city cannot spend its roads or pipes. They wear out over set useful lives, so they will need replacing.³
• Debt is tied to these assets. The report counts about $232.6 million (tax-funded) and $82.8 million (utility) of bonds against them.¹
• Book value is not market value. The report uses cost, not what the assets would sell for.³

Questions to ask

• How does the city plan for replacing roads and pipes as they wear out?
• When does the city expect the largest unfinished utility projects to be done?

What we still don’t know

• The condition of the city’s roads and pipes. The annual report does not rate it.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
• Nov. 2, 2026: New page.

Footnotes

1. Same report, Note 5, “Capital Assets,” pp.45-47: governmental activities capital assets, net $582,126,634 (beginning) and $624,079,425 (ending); construction in progress $65,221,817; infrastructure cost $612,525,854, accumulated depreciation $103,268,937. Business-type activities net $459,285,939 and $503,439,727; construction in progress $132,677,884; infrastructure cost $446,887,345. Depreciation/amortization total $30,253,002 (public works $15,246,425). Bonds payable in net investment: governmental $232,606,000; business-type $82,845,000. Construction commitments: total $123,555,913, spent $83,489,602, remaining $40,066,311. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Our math. Total net: 624,079,425 + 503,439,727 = 1,127,519,152. Year earlier: 582,126,634 + 459,285,939 = 1,041,412,573. Change: 86,106,579. Being built: 65,221,817 + 132,677,884 = 197,899,701. Spent share of contracts: 83,489,602 ÷ 123,555,913 = 67.6%. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. City of Leander, Texas, Annual Financial Report for fiscal 2025, Note 1: “All capital assets are valued at their historical cost or estimated historical cost if actual historical cost is not available”; depreciated “using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives.” ↩ ↩² ↩³