Turn on your kitchen faucet, flush your toilet, or set your trash bin by the curb. In Georgetown, performing any of these basic daily routines is about to cost you significantly more, thanks to a city council that views local taxpayers as a bottomless piggy bank. For everyday Texans already struggling to keep up with the soaring cost of living, these mandatory fee spikes represent a direct, municipal attack on household stability and financial independence.
On September 8, 2026, the Georgetown City Council adopted a staggering $1.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2027. To fund this massive expansion of the local government apparatus, the council voted to increase the city's property tax rate to 36.32 cents per $100 of taxable valuation, up from 35.3 cents. But the council did not stop at property taxes. To maximize their revenue extraction, they also enacted an aggressive series of utility rate hikes set to take effect on October 1, 2026, hitting captive residential customers on multiple fronts.
The details of the new fee schedule are a masterclass in bureaucratic greed. Residential property owners will face a 4% base charge increase alongside a whopping 14% volumetric water rate hike and a 12% wastewater rate hike. Additionally, the monthly stormwater drainage fee is jumping from $6.50 to $8.00, and solid waste collection fees are rising by 5%. These compounding rate hikes mean that citizens are being penalized financially just for maintaining their homes and accessing basic, monopolized city services.
This systematic squeezing of local residents highlights a broader threat to property rights and economic liberty. As detailed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation: Restoring Private Property Rights: Regulatory Takings, local governments frequently leverage their administrative utility monopolies to impose backdoor taxes that bypass traditional taxpayer protections. When municipalities are exempted from state level property rights preservation acts, they are left free to levy high cost mandates and utility assessments, effectively devaluing private property and transforming voluntary residential ownership into an expensive, conditional privilege.