GLENN HEIGHTS — Questions about Glenn Heights’ no-new-revenue tax rate surfaced during Saturday’s budget workshop after Mayor Sonja Brown expressed concern about how information concerning the rate would be presented publicly on social media.
Because the accuracy of reporting surrounding the rate has now been publicly raised, Glenn Heights Future reviewed its previous coverage, the city’s publicly available budget documents, the city’s completed tax-rate calculation worksheet and guidance published by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
The record is straightforward: Glenn Heights Future has never independently calculated the city’s no-new-revenue tax rate.
GHF has reported the no-new-revenue rate provided by the City of Glenn Heights in its own publicly available documents.
In a July 30 story, “Glenn Heights Proposes Property Tax Increase, Questions Remain,” GHF reported the city’s proposed tax rate and noted that the City Council was scheduled to receive the certified tax roll and review the no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rates.
That story did not independently calculate the city’s no-new-revenue rate.
In an Aug. 2 story, “Growth Pressures Glenn Heights’ Proposed Budget,” GHF reported the city’s no-new-revenue rate as $0.569032 per $100 valuation and briefly described the purpose of the rate.
Again, GHF did not independently calculate the rate.
The $0.569032 figure came from city documents, and the city’s proposed budget now provides the underlying calculation.
Beginning on Page 146, the budget contains the City of Glenn Heights’ completed 2026 Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet, Texas Comptroller Form 50-856. The worksheet calculates the city’s no-new-revenue rate at exactly $0.569032.
DOWNLOAD THE BUDGET BY CLICKING HERE: https://glennheightsfuture.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Fiscal-Year-2026-2027-Proposed-Budget-1.pdf
If any member of city leadership believes a figure previously reported by GHF is inaccurate, GHF welcomes a specific correction identifying the disputed number, the source document and the correct information.
When a number reported by this publication comes directly from publicly available city documents, and the city’s completed state tax-rate worksheet produces that same number, any assertion that the figure itself is inaccurate should identify specifically where the error exists.
What the State of Texas says
Understanding what the no-new-revenue rate means does not require GHF to create its own definition.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts publishes the state’s Truth-in-Taxation guidance and provides the tax-rate calculation worksheet used by Glenn Heights.
The Comptroller explains that the no-new-revenue rate allows the public to compare taxes between the prior and current years based on a rate that would produce the same taxes when applied to properties taxed in both years.
The Comptroller further explains the basic relationship between property values and the NNR rate: when values increase, the rate should decrease to produce the same revenue; when values decrease, the rate increases to produce the same revenue.
Texas Comptroller: Truth-in-Taxation Tax Rate Calculations
That distinction is important. The no-new-revenue rate does not mean that the tax rate itself remains unchanged. It also does not simply compare one year’s total citywide taxable value with the next.
The state’s calculation compares the appropriate tax levy with an adjusted current-year tax base, including the removal of new-property value and other adjustments required by law.
Glenn Heights’ own worksheet demonstrates that process.
The city’s worksheet shows exactly how $0.569032 was calculated
The city’s completed Comptroller worksheet begins with a prior-year taxable value of $1,894,721,807 and the prior-year adopted rate of $0.562795.
After the adjustments required on the state form, the worksheet arrives at an adjusted prior-year levy of $10,620,576.
For the current year, the worksheet lists total taxable value of $1,910,614,721.
It then identifies $44,186,360 in new improvements and new personal property. After the required adjustments, the current-year taxable value used for the NNR calculation is $1,866,428,361.
Line 27 then performs the calculation:
$10,620,576 ÷ $1,866,428,361 × 100 = $0.569032 per $100 valuation.
That is not a calculation produced by Glenn Heights Future.
It is the calculation contained in the City of Glenn Heights’ completed Texas Comptroller worksheet.
What happened to property values in Glenn Heights?
The city’s discussion about property values requires another important distinction.
According to information presented by the city Saturday, the average residential taxable value on the Dallas County side of Glenn Heights increased from $309,822 in 2025 to $313,936 in 2026, an increase of 1.33%.
You can download the City Manager’s presentation by clicking here: https://glennheightsfuture.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AUGUST-8-2026-FY2026-27-Budget-Presentation.pdf
On the Ellis County side, average residential taxable value declined from $320,555 to $311,042, a decrease of 2.97%.
Taken together, the city reports average residential taxable value declining from $315,189 to $312,489, a decrease of 0.86%.
That helps explain why discussions about a higher tax rate and declining residential values can occur at the same time. However, average residential taxable value is not the same as the city’s entire taxable tax base.
The city’s total taxable value used on Line 22 of its Comptroller worksheet is $1,910,614,721; and, critically, the state worksheet then removes $44,186,360 in new property before calculating the NNR rate.
That produces the adjusted $1.866 billion tax base used in the calculation.
These numbers are not contradictory. They measure different things.
What the city’s own documents say about revenue
The city’s completed state worksheet calculates an NNR rate of $0.569032.
It also calculates a voter-approval tax rate of $0.590821.
The city’s proposed tax rate is also $0.590821.
Separately, the proposed budget states that it would raise $668,048 more in property tax revenue than last year’s budget, which the city identifies as a 6.29% increase.
The city states that $261,062 of the property-tax revenue would come from new property added to the tax roll.
Those figures should not be confused with the NNR calculation itself. The state’s NNR worksheet contains adjustments that make simply subtracting one budget figure from another an incomplete substitute for the statutory calculation.
The statutory calculation is already available.
It is the worksheet beginning on Page 146 of the city’s proposed budget.
Why GHF is meeting with the city
Glenn Heights Future plans to meet with city staff to discuss the no-new-revenue rate and give staff an opportunity to provide additional context about the city’s calculation.
That meeting is being sought for transparency, not to verify the published rate.
There is nothing left for GHF to independently establish about whether the city’s published NNR rate is $0.569032. The city published that number, the city’s completed Texas Comptroller worksheet calculates that number, and GHF reported that number.
The purpose of meeting with staff is to allow the city to explain the calculation in greater detail, including how changes in property values, new property and the city’s two-county tax base affect the numbers residents are seeing.
Any additional context provided by the city will be reported. If that explanation identifies a factual error in GHF’s previous reporting, GHF will correct it.
The public record matters
Public officials have every right to question news coverage, challenge its framing or provide additional context.
News organizations have a corresponding responsibility to examine those challenges and show readers where their information came from.
GHF has done that here.
Its previous reporting did not independently calculate Glenn Heights’ no-new-revenue rate, as the figure reported was supplied by the city.
The city’s completed Texas Comptroller worksheet now provides the underlying calculation and reaches the same result: $0.569032.
If city leadership believes GHF has reported a factual error, it should identify the specific error so it can be examined against the underlying public record.
Additional context is always welcome. Factual corrections are always welcome, but the distinction between disagreement over framing and an error of fact matters.
On the statewide question of what the no-new-revenue rate means, GHF is relying on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
On Glenn Heights’ specific calculation, GHF is relying on the City of Glenn Heights’ completed Texas Comptroller worksheet.
Those sources agree. Residents do not have to take GHF’s word for it, they can read the records themselves.
