Celina's City Council will sit down Monday to hash out how to pay for roads, fire crews, and water capacity in a city that has added roughly 13,000 residents in the past year alone.

The annual budget workshop begins at 5 p.m. Monday, August 3, at City Council Chambers, 112 N. Colorado St. The session kicks off weeks of deliberation before the council formally adopts a fiscal year 2027 spending plan, which Texas cities must approve by the end of September.

No draft budget figures or proposed tax rate had been released publicly as of July 28, according to the city. The full agenda is posted on the city's CivicClerk portal.

What's driving the numbers

Census Bureau estimates released in May pegged Celina's population at 64,427, a 24.6% jump from mid-2024 to mid-2025. That made Celina the fastest-growing city in the nation among those with more than 20,000 people. The city has ballooned from about 6,000 residents in 2010.

The growth shows no sign of slowing.

Celina issued 287 single-family home permits in June and 218 in May, according to Star Local Media. June's average home valuation topped $608,000.

That pace puts enormous pressure on city services. In a June 1 interview with Fox 4 News about Celina's Census ranking, Mayor Ryan Tubbs said, "We have a lot of road construction going on, a lot of new sewer and water lines, just all different infrastructure projects getting ready to service our residents of the future."

Big-ticket spending already in motion

Several major capital commitments will shape the FY2027 budget discussion:

  • Roads: Council approved $8.1 million for the 2026 Annual Street Maintenance Project on July 14, with full-depth reclamation work focused on downtown streets. Separately, officials have outlined a roughly $131 million plan to convert all downtown streets from asphalt to concrete over the next 10 to 12 years, Community Impact reported.
  • Water: A $70.3 million contract with Drake General Contractors to expand the Downtown Water Reclamation Facility, also approved July 14, will more than triple the plant's capacity from 0.95 million gallons per day to 3 million gallons per day. Construction is scheduled to begin in fall 2026 and wrap up in the second quarter of 2029.
  • Fire: The department plans to hire nine additional firefighters in FY2027 to move all engine crews from three-person to four-person staffing. Fire Chief Shawn White told council the change aligns with NFPA and OSHA standards. Meanwhile, the 16,000-square-foot Fire Station No. 4 on Punk Carter Parkway, which broke ground in November 2025, continues construction on the city's east side.
  • Downtown Center: The $59 million facility housing city offices and the Celina Public Library is expected to open in February 2027, City Manager Robert Ranc said. An adjacent parking garage with nearly 400 free spaces cost $19.3 million.

How to weigh in

As we reported July 28, the budget workshop is one of three council sessions scheduled in the first half of August. The next regular meeting is Tuesday, August 11, at 5 p.m., followed by a special called meeting Saturday, August 15, at 9 a.m. All three are at City Council Chambers.

Residents with questions about the agenda or meeting schedule can reach City Secretary Ashley Owens at (972) 382-2682.