Waller County judges and commissioners tell departments to cut FY2026 spending after review finds $6 million gap

At a Waller County Commissioners Court budget workshop, the County Judge told department heads the county must sharply reduce proposed new spending for fiscal year 2026 after staff requests totaled requests for 70 new positions and about $12 million in increased expense.

The Judge said county staff currently expect about $4 million in new revenue from new value plus roughly $2 million tied to a 3.5 percent revenue increase — "so a total we'll see about $6,000,000 in, in new revenue overall," he said. The Judge added that "insurance alone would be well over a million dollars in additional costs" if all requested positions were funded.

Why it matters: the gap between requests and projected revenue would force the court either to scale back department plans, use fund balance, or seek voter approval. The Judge warned that any budget that exceeds the 3.5 percent threshold would require voter approval in November and said certified appraisal values due from the appraisal district on July 25 will clarify the revenue picture.

Most important facts - Departments requested roughly 70 new positions and about $12 million in new spending, according to the Judge's summary of department budget submissions. - County staff currently project about $6 million in additional revenue overall, leaving roughly a $6 million shortfall against the submitted requests. - The Judge instructed department heads to plan for cuts of about 40–50 percent in requested new spending and scheduled another budget committee meeting next week to continue negotiations.

Discussion highlights The Judge said department heads already have the proposed budgets to review and must be "prepared" to cut requests so the court can present a draft budget by the regular July court meeting. "We need you to cut half of it, because at the end of the day, if we do a max budget, that's what we have to work with," he said.

On property-tax-related revenue, the Judge cautioned that a state change to the homestead exemption could affect county receipts and that the appraisal district will provide numbers both with and without the change. "We just need to make sure that those numbers are with the increased homestead," he said.

Public safety and contracts Sheriff [listed as Sheriff in the record] described ongoing negotiations and existing contracts with developers that provide partial funding for patrol in new neighborhoods. He said one contract (Grange) is expected to begin Jan. 1 and described it as a shared-cost arrangement: "that '26 contract's gonna be a $50.50 contract, and then move forward to a $90.10 contract afterwards," and noted that many neighborhood contracts are structured so the neighborhood pays most of the deputy cost.

The Sheriff urged caution about assuming contracted deputies reduce county patrol needs: "That deputy's stuck there. He may be able to come out 1 mile control, but he is taking the call and drops in there," the Sheriff said, noting that contracted coverage often does not provide 24/7 county patrol relief.

Dispatch and communications County and sheriff's staff described strain in dispatch staffing and the need for a fourth console the Emergency Services District (ESD) has funded. The Sheriff said the communications center needs six dispatchers to maintain coverage and discussed options including paid overtime and managing accumulated comp time. "If we're gonna keep this communication center in Waller, we're gonna have to have 6. There's no other option," he said.

Roads, growth and tax dollars The Judge and other commissioners stressed that most property-tax payments do not flow to the county. "When you write your tax bill, the county only gets to keep about 15% of that," the Judge said, explaining why rapid population growth does not immediately translate into proportional county revenue for roads and services. He gave a simplified example showing that paving long rural roads remains costly even with new development and said the county will rely on a combination of the maximum 3.5 percent rate, new value, fund balance and possibly voter action.

Next steps The court scheduled another multi-hour budget committee meeting next week to further trim requests and asked departments to present reduced budgets before the last court meeting in July, after the appraisal district finalizes certified values on July 25.

Ending County officials emphasized the need to balance growing demand for roads and patrol with constrained revenue and told department heads the court will continue negotiating allocations over the next several weeks.