Walker County Commissioners Court on Aug. 25 adopted the county'wide budget for fiscal year 2025–26 and approved a tax rate of 0.4571 per $100 of assessed taxable value. The adopted rate consists of an operations rate of 0.4387 and a debt rate of 0.0184 per $100.

The court opened and closed public hearings required for the budget and tax-rate adoption earlier in the meeting before taking the formal record votes to ratify the property-tax revenue increase and adopt the budget and tax rate. The record vote to ratify the property tax revenue increase was taken as required by Local Government Code 111.008(c). The court then approved Order 2025-92 adopting the budget and Order 2025-93 adopting the tax rate.

County staff explained that the adopted tax rate reflects revenue needed for the 2025–26 budget; during the second reading the court stated the adoption resulted in an effective increase compared with the prior year. At one point the court described the change as effectively a 4.6% increase when the final tax-rate language was read into the record.

The actions on Aug. 25 were taken by motion and recorded vote; commissioners indicated support by a majority in the roll calls and the court announced the motions carried. The public hearings on both the budget and the tax rate were held at 9:01 a.m. and 9:05 a.m., respectively, and were announced as closed before the votes occurred.

The budget and tax-rate orders adopted by the court set the county'level operating plan and levy for the coming fiscal year, and will be used to calculate property tax bills mailed to property owners later in the fiscal cycle. The court and staff did not provide an itemized estimate in the hearing of how the new rate will change a typical residential bill; that level of taxpayer impact was not specified in the hearing record.

The court cited Local Government Code 111.008(c) as the statutory basis for the record vote required when a budget includes a property-tax revenue increase. The orders adopted on Aug. 25 are filed with the county clerk and will appear in the official minutes and the county's budget documents.