September 9 sits in the middle of municipal budget season. For many Texas cities that begin a new fiscal year on October 1, the next council packets can change the cost assumptions behind projects that will not reach the permit counter for months.
Fort Worth's FY2026 budget page shows the pattern from a prior cycle. The city manager presented a recommended budget on August 12, public meetings continued into September, and the council approved the budget and tax rate on September 16. The same page linked an adopted budget ordinance and a separate response on proposed fee adjustments.
That separation matters. A tax-rate vote, a budget vote, a fee ordinance, and a Chapter 395 impact-fee action can appear near one another without doing the same legal work.
Budget and tax-rate votes are related, not interchangeable
Texas Local Government Code Chapter 102 requires a municipal budget every year. It calls for an itemized proposed budget, public access, a public hearing, and a record vote on adoption. The budget also reports estimated revenue and the estimated tax rate needed to cover proposed spending.
The property-tax process has its own notices and calculations. The Texas Comptroller's Truth-in-Taxation guide explains the no-new-revenue and voter-approval tax rates, the public notice process, hearings, and tax-rate adoption. For most taxing units other than water districts, the guide says the tax rate must be adopted before September 30 or by the 60th day after receipt of the certified appraisal roll.
For a project team, those documents explain the city's revenue plan and timing. They do not by themselves establish that a building permit, inspection, utility, or impact fee changed. Find the action that names the charge.
The direct cost event may be a fee ordinance
A fee proposal can travel with the budget but still require its own council action. Fort Worth's official FY2026 recommended fee adjustments said the adjustments would appear on the September 16, 2025 council agenda and could take effect as soon as October 1. The memo included Development Services among the departments proposing changes. It also said some rates, including stormwater and water and wastewater utility rates, would move through separate council communications.
That is the agenda-reading lesson: do not stop at the budget book. Look for "fee schedule," "cost recovery," "rate study," "ordinance," "effective date," and the name of the department that will invoice the project. Open the attachment. Compare the current and proposed amounts, then check whether the council item adopts the change or only receives a briefing.
Published customer-facing pages are a second check. Dallas Planning and Development maintains an official permit fees page with a fee guide, an effective date, and collection-process information. That page is a useful reminder to verify both the adopted amount and when the city will collect it. An ordinance can set a new number while an implementation notice changes the payment point.
Chapter 395 impact fees have a separate hearing sequence
Do not use "impact fee" as shorthand for every development charge. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395 sets a specific process for the impact fees it governs.
The chapter requires compliance with its procedures before a political subdivision levies an impact fee. The sequence includes land-use assumptions and a capital improvements plan. Section 395.042 requires an order, ordinance, or resolution setting a public hearing on those materials. Sections 395.043 and 395.044 establish public-availability and notice steps. After adoption of the land-use assumptions and capital plan, Section 395.047 calls for a hearing on the proposed impact fee itself, and Section 395.049 requires notice that states the proposed amount per service unit. Section 395.051 requires approval within 30 days after that hearing and a two-thirds vote of the governing body.
A September budget agenda can overlap with that sequence, but the budget vote does not replace it. Search the packet for the land-use assumptions, capital improvements plan, service area, fee per service unit, advisory committee comments, and hearing notice. Those records tell you whether the item is an early study step, a hearing date, or the final fee action.
Run four checks against every active project
- Budget and tax calendar: Record the proposed-budget hearing, tax-rate hearing, and adoption dates. Use the Fort Worth FY2026 budget page as an example of how a city may publish those records together.
- Fee-specific action: Capture the ordinance or council item, staff memo, proposed and current amounts, responsible department, vote status, and effective date.
- Chapter 395 record: For a charge identified by the city as an impact fee, track the land-use assumptions, capital plan, notices, hearings, service-unit calculation, and final vote.
- Project trigger: Confirm which date or milestone controls the amount for each city and permit type. Ask the city whether filing, completeness, permit issuance, utility connection, or another event determines the charge.
Keep the source link beside each number in the estimate. If a lender, owner, or subcontractor asks why the allowance moved, the team can point to the adopted record instead of a screenshot or an old spreadsheet.
AgendaWire monitors municipal agenda records and surfaces source-linked topic matches. If September fee actions could affect your permit pipeline, start a free 14-day trial and build that watchlist first.
AgendaWire provides source monitoring, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the city and your advisers before acting.
The useful output is a dated project cost sheet tied to the adopted ordinance and its effective date.
Official sources
- Texas Comptroller: Truth-in-Taxation, Tax Rate Adoption
- Texas Local Government Code Chapter 102: Municipal Budget
- Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395: Financing Capital Improvements Required by New Development
- City of Fort Worth: FY2026 Budget
- City of Fort Worth: FY2026 Recommended Fee Adjustments
- City of Dallas Planning and Development: Permit Fees