The Canyon City Commission faced a choice this budget season: collect more money from property owners or find a way to make the city’s finances work with a lower tax rate.
Commissioners chose the latter.
On Tuesday, the commission approved amendments to Canyon’s fiscal year 2026-2027 budget after previously adopting a property tax rate lower than the rate used to build the proposed budget.
That decision will leave the city with an approximately $365,000 budget deficit, which Canyon plans to cover with proceeds from a recent property sale.
Normally, deliberately adopting a budget with a deficit should invite some skepticism. In this case, however, the circumstances matter.
The commission voted Aug. 18 to adopt a combined 2026 property tax rate of $0.50438. That's $0.00743 below the 2025 rate and a significant $0.02975 below the rate originally proposed for 2026.
More importantly for taxpayers, city officials say the effective impact on the average property owner will be zero.
“The commission actually adopted a tax rate with the intention of keeping that payment for the average-valued home the same as the last year,” Budget and Purchasing Manager Beau Boyer said.
That is a worthwhile goal.
A declining tax rate doesn't necessarily mean a declining tax bill when property values are increasing. Canyon's commission appears to have recognized that distinction and focused on what residents actually pay rather than simply pointing to a lower rate and calling it a tax cut.
The decision is also notable considering the options available to the city.
Since 2021, Canyon has adopted rates between the voter-approved tax rate and the de minimis rate. Texas law gives smaller cities such as Canyon greater flexibility to use the de minimis rate, which can generate additional revenue.
Having the authority to collect more money, however, doesn't mean a city always should.
Canyon instead chose a rate designed to hold the average homeowner's city property tax payment steady and found another way to cover the resulting budget gap.
At the same time, commissioners aren't balancing the budget by ignoring some of the city's most important responsibilities.
The amended budget includes nearly $470,000 in additional personnel expenses. That includes three part-time firefighters as part of Canyon's Community Wildfire Protection Plan, a part-time bailiff for Canyon Municipal Court, a 3% merit increase for civil and fire employees and step-pay increases for police officers.
The firefighting decision is particularly understandable given what this region has experienced.
The original proposed budget included six months of salary for another full-time firefighter, but the city could afford either that position or three part-time firefighters. Boyer said Canyon Fire Chief Dennis Gwyn selected the three part-time positions in light of recent wildfires.
There could eventually be additional help. Canyon has applied for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant that could provide three more firefighters. The new budget includes nearly $56,000 for the city's grant match.
Public safety spending doesn't stop there.
Commissioners on Tuesday also authorized the purchase of five new police vehicles for no more than $350,000. City staff sought approval before the new budget takes effect because police vehicles can take months to arrive after being ordered.
The purchase includes vehicles for detectives and patrol officers, along with a Ford Explorer that can eventually be outfitted as a K9 unit.
The Canyon Police Department has been exploring the creation of a K9 program, and Officer Patrick Arriaga's arrival in 2025 helped make the idea more practical. Arriaga previously spent around four years as a K9 handler in the U.S. Air Force.
The Explorer can still serve as a patrol vehicle until the department obtains a dog, meaning taxpayers aren't being asked to pay for a specialized vehicle that will simply sit unused while the program develops.
There are other moving pieces in Canyon government. Commissioners appointed Mike Criswell as interim Municipal Court Judge with a $5,500 monthly stipend following the staffing change the city announced Aug. 21. His appointment runs through Jan. 21, 2027.
The Municipal Court remains temporarily closed, and the city has released little additional information about the staffing situation. Residents deserve more information about what prompted that disruption when the city is able to provide it.
But the larger budget decision deserves credit.
Canyon could have taken the easier route and adopted the higher proposed tax rate. Instead, commissioners reduced it enough to keep the average homeowner's payment essentially unchanged while preserving spending on firefighters, police and other city employees.
Using one-time property-sale proceeds to cover an ongoing budget shortfall cannot become a permanent strategy. Once that money is spent, it is gone. If the same deficit reappears next year, commissioners will have to find recurring savings, additional revenue or some combination of the two.
For one budget year, though, using available funds to provide taxpayers some breathing room while maintaining core services is a defensible tradeoff.
Local governments frequently talk about balancing the needs of taxpayers with the cost of providing services.
