Murphy's City Council approved a Specific Use Permit on Tuesday, Aug. 4, clearing the way for Fifth Third Bank to move into the vacant former Wendy's building at 205 W. FM 544. The council also opened its property tax rate discussion for the coming budget year in a work session that followed the regular meeting.

SUP approved with two conditions

Planning Manager Stephanie Scott-Sims presented the SUP request for the roughly 1-acre site near the Walmart shopping center. The building was constructed in 2013. It has been vacant since February 2026.

The council's approval carries two conditions: Fifth Third must build a cross-access fire lane connecting to the Kwik Car property at 211 W. FM 544 to the west, and the bank must submit a site plan, landscape plan and elevation plan that meet city code.

The SUP covers only the appropriateness of a bank use on the site. Fifth Third still needs to return for a separate Planned Development amendment, with both Planning and Zoning Commission review and another council vote, before any renovation work can begin. As we reported Aug. 3, proposed changes are mostly cosmetic: new siding to match Fifth Third's branding and a reconfigured parking lot and drive-through lane.

City staff flagged a financial trade-off in the staff report: the former Wendy's generated sales tax revenue for Murphy, but a bank does not, meaning the city loses that revenue stream from the site.

The P&Z Commission had recommended approval at its July 14 meeting. Under the Planned Development ordinance governing the Walmart Addition, only one free-standing bank or credit union is permitted on the entire PD site, and none currently exists there.

Tax rate talk kicks off budget season

After the regular meeting in the Council Chambers, the council moved to the Community Room for a work session on the property tax rate. City Manager Aretha Adams had announced the combined format at the July 21 council meeting.

Murphy's current tax rate is $0.3575 per $100 of assessed valuation, adopted in September 2025 as part of a $63.1 million budget that represented a 10% increase over the prior year. Certified taxable property values in Murphy rose 3.25% this year, from $3.95 billion to $4.08 billion, with $32.1 million in new construction. The average Murphy home value ticked up from $611,297 to $615,856, according to Wylie News.

No proposed FY2027 rate has been made public. The work session signals the start of budget deliberations that will stretch into September, when the council must formally adopt a rate.

Residents can monitor upcoming agendas and meeting documents on the city's CivicWeb portal. The next regular council meeting date had not been posted as of Wednesday, Aug. 5.