Tarrant County's proposed FY2026 budget includes an HR reorganization that county staff said would eliminate 22 existing positions and create 17 new ones in the department, a change county leaders presented as a realignment to add a dedicated talent-acquisition team, expand learning and development and consolidate compensation and benefits functions.

The proposal attracted sustained questioning from commissioners at the court's Aug. 14 budget workshop over employee impacts, reclassification decisions and the use of contractors. County officials said employees in affected positions will be encouraged to apply for the new roles; the changes were described as a reorganization rather than a layoff-based reduction in force.

Rochelle, a human-resources representative who answered questions during the meeting, described the proposed functions of the new unit: "they will go out and actively recruit. Currently, the staff that does the recruiting for us at this point, really kinda screen applications. They don't actively go out and seek candidates for these positions." She and other staff said the new talent-acquisition positions would proactively recruit rather than passively process applications.

County staff told commissioners the reorganization is intended to create operational efficiencies and better align HR functions: a new "total rewards" structure to group compensation and benefits, a focused talent-acquisition team, and an expanded learning-and-development function to deliver in-house training.

Commissioners pressed staff on whether existing employees would be reclassified into the new roles or required to reapply. Rochelle said the change involves new job descriptions and duties that differ substantially from current roles, and the administration's approach was to create new positions rather than reclassify. Staff acknowledged they had not yet calculated how many current employees might not meet new job requirements; one commissioner said staff would need to provide more information about placements and supports.

The record shows the administration projects net cost savings from the HR redesign: "it's a $2,231,000 cost savings," a budget presenter said when summarizing offsets and eliminations. Commissioners disputed some of the arithmetic and asked for line-item detail.

Commissioners also asked about two out-of-state contractors described in an earlier meeting. County staff clarified that those individuals are contractors, not county employees, and that if they continue to work for the county they will remain contractors rather than county employees. The court discussed whether those contractors receive county benefits; staff said they do not believe the contractors receive benefits and that multistate payroll for contractors is processed by the contractor agency rather than the county.

Public and elected officials asked how the county will assist employees who do not obtain new roles. Rochelle said affected staff will be encouraged to apply for the new positions and that standard county policies for impacted employees would apply; she said staff would be assisted as is typical for employees impacted by organizational changes.

Several commissioners urged patience and follow-up reporting after implementation. One commissioner said the HR director "is bringing HR into the 21st century" and asked the court to give the reorganization room to operate while others expressed concern about speed, transparency and impacts on long-tenured employees.

Sources: Tarrant County Commissioners Court budget workshop (Aug. 14); remarks from Rochelle and budget-office staff during the meeting.