Hutchinson County adopts FY2026 budget; sets tax rate at 0.5 and hears judges' plea over supplement

HUTCHINSON COUNTY, Texas — The Hutchinson County Commissioners Court adopted the fiscal year 2025–26 budget at its Sept. 9 meeting and set the county’s tax rate at 0.5 following a recorded unanimous vote.

The court heard a detailed statement from a district judge explaining why judges and the district attorney should receive the same $125 monthly supplement other county officials are receiving. The judge said the recent state base-pay increase does not fully offset years of low judicial salary adjustments and reminded the court that judges perform a range of extra duties — from appointing and overseeing auditors to participating in juvenile probation governance — that the supplement is meant to recognize.

"I did want to discuss the fact that you all … had made a decision … to not receive an increase in the compensation of the $125 a month," the judge said, noting the state pay increase addressed only part of the compensation gap. The judge asked the court to reconsider the earlier decision to exclude certain elected officials from the supplement and said he would welcome clear direction if the court believed he or others were not performing assigned duties.

Commissioners debated several technical budget adjustments during the meeting, including payroll-related changes tied to open enrollment, court reporter compensation and special fund use. The court approved amendments and directed staff to refine a handful of line items before final posting. After discussion the court moved, seconded and adopted the proposed budget with the changes considered that day. A record vote then set the tax rate at 0.5 for the coming year.

The county clerk will post the adopted budget with the statutory cover page that explains whether the adopted rate will raise more or less revenue than the no-new-revenue rate and other statutorily required language. Commissioners also discussed court reporter salaries and agreed to equalize certain court-reporter supplement payments to maintain parity across judicial offices.

The budget adoption and tax-rate decisions are final actions of the Sept. 9 meeting; any changes to compensation supplements or future allocations will require additional action or directives to staff.