Bell County adopts $160M FY2025 budget and approves 0.3445 tax rate; vote 4–1

Bell County Commissioners Court voted to adopt the FY2025 county budget and to set a property tax rate of 0.3445 per $100 of assessed value, decisions the court said are needed to fund staffing and capital projects including the new jail.

County Judge David Wycher presented the financial highlights and said the proposed budget balances roughly $160,000,000 in revenues and $160,000,000 in expenditures and that public safety and staffing needs drove many requests. He described five factors affecting the tax rate—assessed values, exemptions, sales tax revenue, state-imposed services and operating costs—and noted the budget proposal includes 69 new positions, about 67 of which are for public-safety functions tied to the jail expansion.

"This budget that is proposed does balance the budget revenues with a little over $160,000,000 and expenditures also of $160,000,000," Wycher said during the presentation.

Commissioner Schuman delivered a lengthy dissent before the vote, saying the tax increase would raise about $18.4 million and criticizing the court’s allocation of funds to the jail project. "To support this budget, we're raising your taxes by 3.2¢ or over $18,000,000," Schuman said, and he accused the court of prioritizing the jail expansion in ways he described as fiscally unsound. Schuman said he would not vote for the budget or the tax rate.

Supporters on the court emphasized that some spending addresses ongoing obligations and that housing more inmates locally could reduce amounts the county pays to house prisoners elsewhere. Commissioners also pointed to investments already made in diversion services and mental-health resources as evidence of efforts to reduce incarceration where appropriate.

On roll calls the court adopted the budget and separately ratified the tax rate. Commissioners approved the tax rate of 0.3445 per $100 (composed of a county maintenance & operations rate of 0.2742 and a debt service component of 0.0455 plus a road-district component), and each vote carried 4–1. The court also took the procedural, separate vote required by Texas Local Government Code §111.039(c) to ratify a budget that raises more revenue from property taxes than the prior year; that motion also passed 4–1.

The court and staff said the full budget document and supporting schedules are posted on the county website. The most recent procedural step is the formal adoption recorded at the meeting; implementation and departmental hiring will follow internal processes and future agenda items where required.

What’s next: The tax rate and budget are effective for FY2025; the county will proceed with hiring and capital projects outlined in the adopted CIP. Public requests for further detail were directed to the auditor’s office and departmental budget hearings.