McKinney opens budget survey, seeks resident input for 2026-27 spending priorities

McKinney has opened the door on a budget fight that will shape daily life across the city, from road projects and park upkeep to public safety staffing and city fees, and residents have until June 12 to weigh in before the numbers harden.

The survey launched April 21 as the City of McKinney began building its fiscal year 2026-27 budget, which will run from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. City leaders paired the online survey with in-person public comment at a McKinney City Council meeting the same day, giving residents two ways to press their priorities into the process while decisions are still being formed.

Officials are steering residents to Engage McKinney, the city’s official online citizen engagement platform, as the main place to submit feedback. City staff have described the survey as the first annual chance to hear directly from residents about budget priorities, a sign McKinney is trying to make public input a more routine part of how it builds its spending plan.

The calendar shows why the next several weeks matter. On July 25, the city expects to receive the certified tax roll. On Aug. 5, council members are scheduled to hold the tax-rate record vote that sets the tax-rate ceiling. A budget work session follows on Aug. 8, with another round of citizen input set for Aug. 19. Sept. 2 is scheduled for public hearings on the tax rate and budget, along with final budget adoption, ratification of the property tax revenue increase, tax-rate adoption and fee and rate changes.

That timeline gives residents a window to shape the discussion before the city locks in its direction. McKinney’s FY 2025-26 adopted budget totaled $942,459,929, showing the scale of the spending plan now being assembled for the next fiscal year. In the city’s FY 2026 budget work-session presentation, officials said the FY26 survey was completed by 293 citizens, giving council members a measurable read on what people said mattered most.

The city’s budget materials also show that public input is not an afterthought. They list citizen-input items in April and August, along with tax-rate discussion, a proposed-rate item and public hearing notices, suggesting McKinney is building resident feedback into the annual cycle rather than saving it for the end. For a fast-growing Collin County city, the choices made over the next few months will determine which services are strengthened, which projects wait and which costs fall to taxpayers and utility customers.