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Hunt County judge urges caution on FY 2025'26 budget as revenues and new requirements shift costs
Summary
Judge Stovall opened budget discussions June 16, presenting scenarios for across-the-board raises, noting growth in taxable values, redistricting needs and jail capacity concerns, and urging the court to aim for a balanced budget amid revenue uncertainty.
Judge Stovall began a broad preview of the Hunt County fiscal year 2025'26 budget at the June 16 special session, urging commissioners to consider proposed raises, staffing needs prompted by growth and one-time costs tied to redistricting and capital projects.
Stovall presented an illustrative across-the-board raise of 3% for employees and said that, at that rate, the additional payroll cost in the county's estimates would be about $544,006.66 before benefits; he warned the true cost to the budget could be higher once benefits and payroll taxes are included. He recommended commissioners begin thinking about raise scenarios between 3% and 5% and noted the court may need to add roughly 20% to salary totals to estimate full budgetary impact when benefits are included.
The judge reviewed preliminary taxable-value estimates supplied to the county, telling the court the appraised roll had increased from roughly $14 billion in the prior estimate to roughly $16 billion in the preliminary estimate, a rise he said could produce several million dollars in new revenue at the county's current rate. He cautioned those figures can change between preliminary and final rolls and that final revenue figures are not certain until later in the summer.
Stovall and staff highlighted two major near-term cost pressures: redistricting voting precincts to meet a statutory population limit (the court cited a precinct with about 9,116 registered voters versus a statutory guideline of about 5,000 per precinct) and jail capacity and staffing needs. Sheriff Terry reported the jail routinely houses more than 300 inmates (counts discussed ranged near 328 to 335), that some beds are out of service for maintenance, and that additional deputies or staff would be required to maintain safety as population and bookings grow. Stovall noted the county is pursuing a planned facility/space project ("Putting Hill") to address space needs and said capital planning should be part of this budget cycle.
Other department requests mentioned included two additional assistant district attorneys requested by the district attorney and multi-year staffing requests from the constable's office. Stovall urged the court to consider a capital improvement plan to prioritize big-ticket items such as jail expansion and building space so the county can budget more deliberately. He set a timeline reminder that some redistricting tasks must be completed by roughly Aug. 1 and asked commissioners to prepare for follow-up budget workshops in late June and July.
No budget decisions were adopted on June 16; commissioners agreed to continue discussions at follow-up workshops and to have department heads present specific requests so the court can prioritize within limited expected revenues.
