PORT ISABEL, Texas — Port Isabel commissioners have voted to advertise a proposed 2026 property tax rate of $0.790416 per $100 of taxable value while continuing work on the city’s fiscal 2027 budget.
The proposed rate matches the total rate used in 2025. City Manager Jared Hockema told commissioners the current budget draft would produce an estimated citywide surplus of about $203,000 if the existing total rate is maintained.
Hockema said higher property valuations have absorbed most additional debt-service requirements. Approximately two cents of the proposed rate remained connected to additional debt service and was expected to generate about $97,000. The estimated difference for an average homestead under the rate options discussed was about $23.
The budget proposal includes a 3% raise for employees who did not receive an increase during the current fiscal year and an additional targeted increase for police officers. The proposed schedule would place starting police pay at approximately $52,000 before overtime and bring the city’s lowest hourly wage to about $15.59.
Those compensation changes would reduce the projected surplus to about $50,000, Hockema said. City staff planned to continue reviewing revenues and possible spending reductions to create a larger budget cushion.
The commission’s vote authorized publication of the proposed rate and did not constitute final adoption. The first public hearing was identified for Sept. 8, the date of the city’s next regular commission meeting.
Source: Original report and Port Isabel public meeting information
