Commissioners set 16.5¢ ceiling on JPS hospital district tax after budget briefing

At its Sept. 3, 2025 meeting, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted 3–2 to set a tax‑rate ceiling for the John Peter Smith (JPS) Health Network hospital district at 16.5 cents. The action followed a budget briefing from JPS leadership and questions from court members about revenue, investment income and how the system is planning to pay for a multi‑year capital program.

The nut of the meeting was JPS’s FY2026 operating picture: JPS presented a budget that anticipates an operating margin of about 2.9 percent and a projected net income (what JPS called excess operating funds available for capital and the “future fund”) of roughly $151 million. Kim Hodgkinson, JPS chief financial officer, told the court that “we are at what’s called a surge level 4 today, and we are busy. We do not close our doors. We don’t divert patients away because we’re busy.” Dr. Duncan, a JPS leader who introduced Hodgkinson, said the system “remains financially strong.”

Court members pressed JPS on how those net revenues are calculated and how long the hospital district can sustain lower tax support. Commissioners and JPS officials described a complex revenue mix: patient billing (private and government payers) has grown to nearly half of JPS revenue, while the district’s ad valorem share has fallen as a percentage of JPS revenue. JPS officials also warned that some state and federal supplemental payments are volatile and that planned construction of the new hospital, medical office building and central utility plant will draw from the system’s cash and investment returns in the coming years.

Several commissioners argued for a lower effective tax take based on historic JPS results. Budget staff showed that JPS has repeatedly received more net income than it budgeted in prior years; some commissioners said that historical outperformance meant the county could safely set a lower ceiling without jeopardizing JPS’s plans. Others, including members who said they were concerned about future federal and state changes, urged caution so the health network would not be forced back to the county later to raise rates.

The court first received and filed the proposed JPS no-new-revenue and voter‑approval tax‑rate documents and approved posting the required notices for a future court vote. The later vote to set the ceiling at 16.5 cents passed 3–2. The court also voted unanimously to accept the JPS presentation and to post required public notices. No changes to JPS’s FY2026 budget were made by the court at this meeting; the hospital system said it will continue to refine multi‑year projections and share more detailed capital-plan documentation with the county.

What’s next: The commissioners will take a final formal vote on the hospital district tax rate at a later noticed meeting; JPS said it will provide updated five‑year projections and a refined master facility plan this fall. The court’s action sets a legal ceiling for the rate the district can ask the county to collect but does not itself change JPS’s internal capital spending plan.

Speakers quoted in this report are identified in the court transcript and include JPS presenters and county officials. Quotations are verbatim from the transcript.