The Texas Municipal Statutory Calendar: A Plain-English Guide
Texas cities operate under a steady rhythm of state-mandated deadlines for adopting a budget, setting a property tax rate, holding elections, and filing compliance reports. None of these dates are optional, and several carry real consequences for missing them: a city that files its audit late can lose the ability to raise its tax rate, and a council that skips a required vote on a tax increase can find its budget legally vulnerable.
The trouble is that the statutes describing these deadlines are written in the kind of language only a city attorney could love. Terms like “no-new-revenue rate” and “voter-approval rate” show up constantly in budget season, but they're rarely explained in a way that makes sense to someone outside city finance. Below is a walk-through of the year's key statutory dates, in plain English, organized the way a city's calendar actually unfolds: budget and fiscal year first, then property tax rate-setting, then elections, then ongoing compliance.
A quick note before diving in: most of these dates aren't fixed points on the calendar. They're defined relative to something else — an election, a certified appraisal roll, the end of a fiscal year — so the exact date shifts every year. Treat everything here as a framework for understanding the sequence and confirm the current year's specific dates with the Texas Secretary of State, the Comptroller's office, or the Texas Ethics Commission before relying on them.
Fiscal Year and Budget
Most Texas cities run their fiscal year from October 1 to September 30, this is essentially the city's version of a company's fiscal year, though state law (Local Government Code Chapter 102) actually allows a city to choose any 12-month cycle it wants (looking at you Munday, TX.) Before that new fiscal year begins, the city council must formally adopt its annual budget. That adoption must happen by what's called a “record vote,” meaning each member's vote is captured on the record rather than taken informally, the council is voting in public, on the record, to approve how the city will spend its money for the coming year.
There's an added wrinkle if the new budget will bring in more property tax revenue than the previous year did. In that case, approving the budget itself isn't enough, the council must take a second, separate vote specifically ratifying that tax increase. The adopted budget's cover page also must spell out the rate comparison and how each council member voted, so the increase can't get buried in the fine print.
Truth-in-Taxation: Setting the Property Tax Rate
This is the part of the calendar governed by Tax Code Chapter 26, and it's where most of the confusing terminology lives. It starts around April 30, when the county's chief appraiser certifies an early, unofficial estimate of what property in the city is worth for the year, useful for early budget planning, but not the final word. That final word comes around July 25, when the chief appraiser certifies the actual appraisal roll: the official locked-in list of property values the city will use to calculate its tax rate.
Once the city receives that certified roll, it must calculate two numbers and publish them, along with its proposed rate and hearing details, on its website. The “no-new-revenue rate” is the tax rate that would raise the same total dollar amount as last year, adjusted for new construction — think of it as the rate that keeps total collections flat. The “voter-approval rate” is the highest rate the city can adopt without triggering a requirement to ask voters directly. The council then must formally adopt a tax rate before September 30, or by the 60th day after receiving the certified roll, whichever comes first.
If the council wants to set a rate above the voter-approval rate, it must act early: that rate must be adopted no later than the 71st day before the next uniform election date, and the election itself has to be ordered by the 78th day before that election. And if the council simply misses its adoption deadline altogether, state law doesn't leave the rate undecided it automatically defaults to whichever is lower, the no-new-revenue rate or the prior year's rate, and the council just has to formally confirm that within five days.
Elections
Texas gives cities two state-approved dates for holding general elections: the first Saturday in May, and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (which is also the state's general Election Day). Candidates who want to run for city council or mayor have a defined filing window, it opens roughly 30 days before the filing deadline and closes on the 78th day before the election, at 5:00 p.m. If nobody files for a four-year term by that point, the filing window automatically stays open a bit longer, until the 57th day before the election, to give someone a chance to step up.
Compliance and Reporting
A few recurring reporting obligations round out the calendar. Under Senate Bill 1851, a city has roughly six months (180 days) after its fiscal year ends to complete and file its independent financial audit. Miss that window, and the city risks being barred from adopting any tax rate above the no-new-revenue rate until the audit is filed, which can be a serious constraint heading into the next budget cycle.
Separately, candidates and officeholders must file what's often just called a “campaign money report” with the Texas Ethics Commission, formally, a semiannual campaign finance report. It's a twice-a-year public disclosure of who donated to a campaign and how the money was spent: one report is due January 15, covering the previous July through December, and the other is due July 15, covering January through June. Anyone actively on the ballot also must file two additional reports closer to election day, 30 days out and 8 days out, so voters can see recent campaign fundraising activity before they cast a vote.
The Bottom Line
None of these deadlines exist in isolation. A late audit can limit what the council can do with next year's tax rate, and a missed tax-rate deadline can force an election the city didn't plan for. Keeping the sequence straight, and understanding what each term actually means, is most of the battle. As always, this is a general reference rather than legal advice, and because most of these dates move every year, it's worth confirming the current year's specifics with the Texas Secretary of State, the Comptroller's office, and the Texas Ethics Commission before treating any date here as final.
-Reilly McGee, Managing Partner
Sources: Texas Comptroller – Truth-in-Taxation · Travis County – Property Tax Important Dates · Texas Secretary of State – Important Election Dates · Texas Ethics Commission – Filing Schedules · Local Government Code §102.007 – Budget Adoption · SB 1851 Municipal Audit Compliance Requirements
