The County Commissioners Court adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget and ratified a property tax increase during its Aug. 26 meeting, setting a property tax rate of 0.334805 — a 7.11% increase over the prior rate. The court voted unanimously to approve the budget as presented by the county auditor.

The budget vote followed a public hearing on the proposed FY‑26 budget that produced no public speakers. Judge Felton moved to adopt the budget “as presented, by the county auditor,” and the motion carried on a recorded unanimous vote of the court.

The budget package that the court approved contains several changes made after the proposed budget was filed in July. County Auditor Frances explained an increase of $181,230 in the Tyler Tech hosted software line under information technology, saying the number was different than originally budgeted because the correct figures for the next year were not available at the time the proposed budget was prepared. "We were informed yesterday that number is a little different than we had placed in the budget originally," Frances said.

IT staff member John said the amount had been underestimated in the current year's budget as well and noted the Tyler contract allows for up to a 5% increase each year. "The contract reads the, total 300 and 300,409, I think, for the current year," John said, adding that the 5% clause explains the change and that the new number represents the enterprise public safety portion.

The court approved a specific motion to correct the Tyler Technologies hosted software line by $181,230. The judge moved the correction; a second was received, and the court voted to approve the change without further discussion.

In addition to the software correction, the court approved motions to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the FY‑26 budget and to set and adopt the 2025 tax rate at 0.334805. The adopted rate is broken down as 0.305956 for maintenance and operations and 0.028849 for interest and sinking, according to the motion text offered by the judge. The court recorded unanimous aye votes for both motions.

County staff summarized the drivers behind the budget increases: a roughly $7.9 million rise in certain revenue lines compared with the current year’s projections, and an increase in expenditures of slightly more than $3 million. Staff attributed most of the expenditure growth to market adjustments for law enforcement and corrections base salary amounts, an across‑the‑board 1.7% cost‑of‑living adjustment for other positions, and the addition of five new full‑time positions. Debt‑service obligations were described as largely unchanged and already planned.

Court discussion included a suggestion to publish visual pie charts (similar to one seen used by the City of Waco) to help the public understand revenue and expense allocations after the budget and tax rate are adopted. One commissioner also asked that IT staff provide additional explanation about why the Tyler Tech increase was identified late; the judge or staff indicated that a fuller explanation could be provided at a future regular meeting.

The court directed staff to process the budget and tax‑rate paperwork as required; no further formal tasks or additional conditions were included in the motions.

Less central details discussed during the budget presentation included the auditor’s offer to host retreats or planning sessions this fall and before next year’s budget process to review compensation methodologies used by departments.

The budget adoption and tax‑rate votes concluded the court’s fiscal‑items business for the morning meeting.