Johnson County adopts $100M-plus budget, raises tax rate to 38.9276¢ per $100

Johnson County Commissioners on Monday adopted a $100 million–plus general fund budget for fiscal 2026 and set the county tax rate at 0.389276 per $100 of assessed valuation, a rate the court said reflects a voter-approved 1¢ bond increment and will produce roughly $7.35 million in new property-tax revenue.

The vote followed a presentation from the county judge outlining budget priorities and a public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate that drew no public comments. The court approved multiple orders to adopt the budget and ratify the property-tax increase by recorded votes that were unanimous.

The county judge and other court members said the bulk of the county budget funds public safety and the courts. The judge told the court the general fund is slightly over $100 million and that about $53.1 million — roughly half — is earmarked for public safety, with another roughly $20 million for judicial and court-related expenses, including indigent defense.

The county presented a taxpayer impact statement required by recently passed legislation that compares a median-value home’s county tax bill under the “no new revenue” rate and the proposed rate. The statement, prepared after a late-August effort to assemble disclosure numbers, cites a median-value…