Aransas County outlines proposed 2026 budget that would draw on library and training reserves

At a Sept. 8 public hearing, Aransas County staff outlined the county’s proposed 2026 budget and said it would reduce transfers from the general fund to two restricted accounts by using reserve balances. The court left the budget hearing open and repeated that the proposed budget will be considered for adoption on Sept. 22, 2025.

Staff told the court they plan to draw $150,000 from reserves in the library fund this year and to reduce the transfer from the general fund accordingly. Staff also said the training fund (administered through the sheriff’s office in the county’s accounting) has sufficient reserves to allow a $3,000 reduction in the transfer from the general fund. The changes were described as using designated reserves rather than new revenue.

County staff said the proposed budget would reduce the general fund unreserved fund balance compared with the prior projection; staff provided figures during the hearing but the transcript reflects inconsistent phrasing about the amounts. Staff said the proposal “proposes to reduce the general fund unreserved fund balance by $1,000,031 and $10,131,184 dollars” in the oral presentation, and a commissioner later referenced a prior figure of $1,183,000. The court did not adopt final budget figures at the Sept. 8 hearing; staff told commissioners they expected the outside audit to be completed in time to finalize numbers before adoption.

Staff also said the proposed budget is based on using the posted tax rate of 0.3785 for levy calculations. The court and staff discussed the timing of the outside audit and noted that final audit completion is needed to confirm budgeted fund-balance changes.

No formal vote to adopt the budget occurred at the hearing; the court scheduled final consideration and adoption for Sept. 22, 2025.