What to watch: Midland City Council will meet Tuesday, Sept. 8, for its first public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2026-2027 budget and property tax rate. Council will also do its first of two votes on the tax rate, consider a $3 million road agreement with Midland County, a 468-unit housing development in southwest Midland, new slides at Dennis the Menace Park splash pad, and downtown wayfinding signs.

Key points:

  • Tax rate, budget hearing: Council will hold its first public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 budget and a proposed no-new-revenue property tax rate, which is about 10% higher than the current rate. A second public hearing is scheduled for September 15.

The no-new-revenue rate is calculated to generate roughly the same amount of property tax revenue from properties taxed in both years, while also accounting for revenue from new construction. Because Midland’s existing taxable property base fell by about $1.5 billion, a higher tax rate would be required to maintain last year’s revenue level.

Whether your tax bill increases or decreases depends on how your taxable value changed. If your property’s taxable value stayed the same, your city tax bill would increase about 10%. On a $300,000 taxable value, that’s roughly $105 more than last year.

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If your taxable value fell about 6%, roughly in line with the overall decline in Midland’s existing tax base, your bill would stay about the same. A larger decline would generally result in a lower city tax bill.

  • Sinclair Avenue extension: Council will consider an agreement with Midland County under which the city would construct about one mile of Sinclair Avenue from State Highway 158 to a County Road 1250 extension, a portion of CR 1250 from Sinclair to State Highway 191, and improvements to the Sinclair and CR 1250 intersection. The county would contribute $3 million toward the work.

The project follows council’s Aug. 11 approval of $7.5 million in certificates of obligation, new debt issued in 2025, to extend Sinclair west from Kirkland Drive to CR 1250. City staff said the new roadway will support residential and commercial development in District 4 and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 3.

In a related item, council will consider renaming Sinclair west of Mosswood Drive “Diane & Jose Cuevas Boulevard.”

  • Arlington/Deauville apartments: Council will consider rezoning a 20-acre tract at the southwest corner of Arlington Road and Deauville Boulevard as a planned development for a roughly 468-unit apartment project. The property’s current zoning only allows about 300 units.

The developer told the Planning and Zoning Commission it has owned the property for eight years but has been unable to make development financially viable under the existing zoning. The proposed development would occupy about two-thirds of the property, with the remainder left as open green space.

Council will separately consider a voluntary public improvement development agreement tied to the project. The developer would construct its portion of Deauville west of Arlington and a roundabout at Deauville and Arlington, while the city could acquire necessary right-of-way. The developer previously said the additional density allowed by the planned development would make it financially feasible to pay for those improvements.

  • Dennis the Menace splash pad: Council will consider spending $350,538 to replace the slides at the Dennis the Menace Park splash pad. The meeting’s agenda packet notes that the existing slides empty into a water trough where children sometimes sit after sliding, requiring the city to staff two workers during the summer to keep children moving out of the area.

Funding would come from the Oil and Gas fund, which is commonly used for parks projects.

  • Utility extension: Council will consider spending up to $2 million on the seventh phase of the city’s Utility Extension Program to extend water and sewer lines throughout Midland.
  • Downtown wayfinding signs: Council will consider a $718,805 first phase of a downtown wayfinding sign system. The city would contribute $418,000 from its Hotel and Motel Fund, with another $238,000 from the Midland Chamber of Commerce and $62,805 from the Downtown Midland Management District.
  • Airport grants: Council will consider accepting more than $12.6 million through three Federal Aviation Administration grants for master planning at Midland International Air and Space Port and Midland Airpark, runway rehabilitation at Midland International, and vehicle-movement-area transmitters at Midland International.