Guadalupe County adopts FY2026 budget, sets tax rate and adds $500,000 for volunteer fire departments

Guadalupe County Commissioners Court adopted the county's fiscal year 2025–26 budget and approved a property tax rate of 0.3304 per $100 of taxable value — described in the meeting as an effective 4% increase — after a public hearing and discussion during its Sept. 2 session.

The court approved the budget and accompanying amendments after brief discussion about several line-item changes. Commissioners moved $500,000 from a capital building-purchase line into a consolidated volunteer fire department fund to be administered by the commissioner's court. The court also approved adding $22,000 to a part-time line for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4, reallocated $10,000 from third-party development review (line 4023) to the engineering line (4022), and changed the budget title for a planned Precinct 1 constable vehicle from “Tahoe” to “SUV.” The court approved a title change for the fire chief position to “fire division chief.”

The court heard staff presentations and public comments during the required public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate. A representative of the San Antonio Food Bank thanked the court for continued funding of food distribution programs; the Small Business Administration public affairs officer told the court there was a Sept. 4 deadline to file physical-damage disaster loan applications for Guadalupe County following a presidential declaration; and other citizens spoke on local road…