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Coryell County commissioners debate whether to count $1M in FEMA reimbursements as revenue, keeping proposed 53¢ tax rate
Summary
Commissioners split over including about $1 million in FEMA reimbursements in the proposed budget. Supporters say the money is likely and avoids larger tax hikes; opponents warned it artificially lowers the tax rate and risks next-year shortfalls if FEMA delays payments. The court kept the proposed 53¢ rate and scheduled another public hearing.
Coryell County commissioners spent the bulk of a marathon budget workshop Thursday debating whether to count roughly $1 million in FEMA reimbursements as revenue in the proposed fiscal-year budget — a choice that would lower the county’s proposed tax rate by roughly two cents.
Supporters of including the FEMA money argued that a significant portion of projects are already packaged with the federal agency and that excluding the proceeds would force steeper cuts or leave the county to draw down reserves. “If we get that money this year and it’s a windfall, that money doesn’t just get spent wildly — it goes back into the fund,” said Speaker 3 during the meeting.
Opponents cautioned that FEMA reimbursements have been slow or uncertain in past cycles and that budgeting the full million could create an artificial reduction in the tax rate that must be corrected later. “It’s the same thing as grandma saying she’ll give you money and then saying never mind — you already bought it,” one commissioner said, urging a conservative approach.
After extended discussion of project packaging, timelines and contingency plans, the court left the FEMA reimbursement amount in the proposed budget for now but agreed to re-run budget numbers with smaller recognized revenues and to publish an amended proposed budget before the next public hearing. County leaders directed staff to publish notice for another tax-rate hearing with the proposed 53¢ rate unchanged and to reconvene for a follow-up session.
What’s next: The court recessed and scheduled continuation of the budget discussion for the next public meeting. Commissioners said they will attempt to identify additional cuts and re-run revenue scenarios before final adoption.
