County staff outline tax-rate options, explain banked increments and veteran exemption limits

Creole County Judge called a special budget workshop July 28 to review FY2026 tax-rate calculations and the county’s options for adopting a rate that would fund next year’s budget. County staff walked the commissioners through the truth-in-taxation worksheet and explained three key rates: the no-new-revenue rate (the rate that would produce the same tax revenue as the prior year), the voter-approval rate (the no-new-revenue rate plus the state-authorized 3.5% increase) and an adjusted voter-approval rate that includes unused increments banked from prior years. "Values go up, rates go down," staff member Mister Crothers told the court while explaining why the no-new-revenue rate can be slightly lower even if property values increase. The nut graf: The distinction matters because the commission can adopt any rate up to the calculated voter-approval rate without holding an election; amounts adopted below that voter-approval rate create "banked increments" (small fractions of a cent) that can be carried forward and used in future years, but unused increments expire on a three-year rolling basis. In detail: Crothers identified the no-new-revenue rate (the worksheet showed 0.43739) and the calculated voter-approval rate (0.53021). He explained that the voter-approval rate equals the no-new-revenue rate plus the 3.5% increase allowed by state law and any unused increments carried forward. Commissioners asked whether the comptroller’s worksheet always draws unused increments from the same prior years; the judge and staff agreed the comptroller updates the worksheet annually and that the banked increments reflect the most recent three-year window, so a year with no banked amount (in the transcript described as 'we didn't bank anything last year') reduces future carryover. Commissioners also asked whether the published tax-rate notice could include an estimate of revenue lost to disabled-veterans tax exemptions. The judge said that was a legal question and that staff knew the required disclosure language but could not confirm whether additional explanatory verbiage would be permitted without legal review. What happened next: No motion to set a tax rate was taken during the meeting. Staff presented the computations and answered questions; the court recessed for lunch to continue budget work later. Ending: Staff scheduled further review as part of the ongoing FY2026 budget workshops; commissioners indicated they would use the worksheets and staff projections when deciding whether to adopt the current tax rate or a different rate that would preserve or spend banked increments.