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Newton County adopts $10.46 million fiscal 2026 budget, citing rollover and payroll increases
Summary
The Newton County Commissioners Court adopted a $10,462,870.70 fiscal 2026 budget after discussion about carryover funds, salary increases and outstanding tax collections; the motion passed on a recorded vote with all precincts voting yes.
Newton County Commissioners Court voted to adopt a fiscal year 2026 budget of $10,462,870.70 during a county meeting, the court announced. County staff told the court the county’s projected revenue for 2026 was $10,464,538.05, leaving a small projected surplus in the proposed plan.
Officials said the budget incorporates contingency funding and an estimated carryover that staff described roughly as about $700,000 in accumulated rollover funds. Commissioners and staff discussed how an unresolved $103,926.69 in July tax collections would reduce that carryover until recovered; legal counsel advised there was no immediate court action required and staff were pursuing collection with the tax office and related entities.
Commissioners stressed that a portion of recent rollovers had been used for employee pay increases and essential capital work. One commissioner told the court that rollover and one-time funds were applied to raise hourly pay for long-serving employees, and staff described a large communications-tower expense and other project-related outlays that contributed to the carryover accounting.
The court conducted a formal, recorded roll-call vote on the budget. The clerk recorded affirmative votes by Precinct 1, Precinct 2, the County Judge, Precinct 3 and Precinct 4; the motion passed and the fiscal 2026 budget was adopted as presented.
The court also discussed next administrative steps: publishing the adopted budget on the Newton County website and reconciling carryover estimates when outstanding receipts are collected. The court did not set a new collection or recovery deadline in the meeting; legal counsel told commissioners no immediate legal filing was necessary based on the information presented.
The meeting record shows the county will proceed with the adopted spending plan while staff continue to pursue the outstanding July receipts; the budget adoption was followed immediately by the recorded tax-rate vote for the year.
