How has the city's workload grown in 10 years?

In short

• The city’s population about doubled from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2024, from 41,481 to 86,715.¹
• Water connections and fire emergency calls more than doubled over the same years (our math).²³
• Police calls for service rose only about 6% (our math).²³

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• Each year’s audit ends with a “statistical section.” Two of its tables count city work and city property for the last 10 years.²
• “Operating indicators” count work done, such as permits, calls and water connections. “Capital asset statistics” count things the city owns, such as miles of streets and parks.²
• The city reports these counts itself. The outside auditor does not check them the way it checks the money tables.

What the numbers show

What the city counts	2016	2024	Change (our math)
Population (city estimate)	41,481	86,715	+109%
Water connections	14,769	31,709	+115%
Fire emergency calls	2,562	5,441	+112%
Water line leaks and breaks	153	381	+149%
Paved streets (miles)	199	323	+62%
Building permits issued	2,952	4,382	+48%
Police calls for service	31,337	33,106	+6%
Library items checked out	132,128	357,311	+170%
Golf rounds played	23,409	57,072	+144%
Parks	7	10	+43%

Source: City of Leander 2024 annual financial report, Tables 16 and 17; population from the 2025 report.²¹³

• Water and fire work grew about as fast as the population. Fire stations went from 3 to 5.²
• Streets grew more slowly than people. Each mile of street now serves more residents (our math).³
• Police calls did not keep pace with growth. Calls per 1,000 residents fell from about 755 to about 382 (our math).³

The other side

• Counting rules can change. The table does not explain how calls are logged, so a drop in calls per resident does not by itself show less work.
• Some years were odd. 2020 was a pandemic year, and library checkouts fell, then rose.²
• The starting year matters for police calls. 2016 was a high year. From 2017 to 2024, calls rose about 18% (our math).²³
• More work is not the same as worse service. These counts do not show response times or quality.
• The population figure is the city’s own estimate. The Census Bureau’s number for 2025 is a bit lower. See city population growth.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Removed a guess about why police calls per resident changed.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We checked every figure against its source. We reworded the other-side points so they stick to what the sources show. We added police calls from a later starting year.

Questions to ask

• How does the city explain the gap between police call growth and population growth?
• How does the city explain the faster growth in water line leaks than in connections?

What we still don’t know

• Response times for police and fire. These tables do not include them.
• The 2025 counts in the same format. We used the 2024 report for these tables.

Footnotes

1. City of Leander, Annual Financial Report, fiscal year 2025, statistical section, population by year. ↩ ↩²

2. City of Leander, Annual Financial Report, fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2024, statistical section, Table 16 “Operating Indicators by Function/Program” and Table 17 “Capital Asset Statistics by Function/Program,” pages 120–121. Public copy: https://emma.msrb.org/P21900727.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. Our math. Change = 2024 ÷ 2016 − 1. Population 86,715 ÷ 41,481 = 2.09. Police calls per 1,000 residents: 31,337 ÷ 41.481 = 755; 33,106 ÷ 86.715 = 382. Residents per street mile: 41,481 ÷ 199 = 208; 86,715 ÷ 323 = 268. Police calls 2017 to 2024: 33,106 ÷ 28,051 = 1.18. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶