Sales tax: what Leander gets when you shop (DRAFT – not published)
In short
When you buy most things in Leander, you pay 8.25% sales tax. The state keeps 6.25 cents of each dollar. The city gets 1 cent, and the CapMetro transit system gets 1 cent.12 The city got about $12.3 million from sales tax in 2024-25. That is about three times what it got in 2015-16.1 It plans on about $13.8 million in 2026-27.3
Layer 1: The 30-second version
- Your rate: 8.25 cents on each taxable dollar you spend.12
- City share: 1 cent of that. It goes to the city’s main fund, which pays for police, fire, streets and parks.1
- Transit share: 1 cent goes to CapMetro, which voters approved.31
- Groceries and medicine: Most food you cook at home and most medicine are not taxed under state law. City sales tax generally follows the same list.2
Layer 2: The numbers
| Year (ends Sept. 30) | City sales tax |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $4.2 million |
| 2018 | $5.2 million |
| 2020 | $7.8 million |
| 2022 | $10.9 million |
| 2024 | $11.5 million |
| 2025 | $12.3 million |
| 2026 (estimate) | $13.3 million |
| 2027 (budget) | $13.8 million |
Sources: audited report for 2016–2025;1 city budget for 2026 and 2027.3
- Growth: From 2016 to 2025, city sales tax rose about 196%. (Our math.)14
- Next to property tax: In 2024-25 the city’s funds got $68.3 million in property tax and $12.3 million in sales tax. So sales tax was about one dollar for every five and a half dollars of property tax. (Our math.)14
- This year: For the first 11 months of 2025-26, sales tax was up 11.2% from the year before, the city says.3
Layer 3: How to read it (the other side)
- Who pays: Sales tax is paid by everyone who buys taxable items here, including visitors.2 This page does not measure how much it lowers property tax.
- But it can swing: The city’s own report says sales tax goes up and down with the economy.1 A bad year can leave a hole in the budget.
- Some of it is shared back: The city has deals that give some businesses part of the sales tax they bring in, for a set number of years. The report says the city paid $0 on several of these in 2024-25.1 See growth deals explained.
What you can do or watch next
- Watch the city’s sales tax line when the 2026-27 budget is reviewed next summer.
- Shopping in Leander keeps the 1 cent here. Shopping in a nearby city sends it there.
Questions to ask
- How much of the city’s sales tax comes from online sales, by the state’s reports?
- How much will the sales tax sharing deals cost in later years?
Changes to this page
- Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
- Nov. 2, 2026: Added a note that shows how we worked out the figures.
- Nov. 2, 2026: We replaced an unsourced other-side claim and cut another.
What we still don’t know
- How much of the city’s sales tax comes from online sales and how much from stores in town.
- How much the sharing deals will cost in later years.
Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.
Footnotes
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City of Leander FY2025 audited annual financial report: Table 5 (sales taxes by year, governmental funds), direct and overlapping sales tax rates table, notes on sales tax and on sales-tax sharing agreements. Saved copy. https://emma.msrb.org/P11938164.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10
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Texas Tax Code §151.051 (state sales tax rate, 6.25%); §151.313 (medicine) and §151.314 (food). https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.151.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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City of Leander FY2027 adopted budget, revenue section (sales tax) and general fund revenue detail, account 4880. Saved copy. https://www.leandertx.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/397 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Our math from Table 5 of the audited report (governmental funds). Sales tax: $12,325,778 in 2025 and $4,167,271 in 2016. $12,325,778 ÷ $4,167,271 = 2.96, a rise of about 196%. Property tax in 2025: $68,301,302. $68,301,302 ÷ $12,325,778 = 5.54. ↩ ↩2