Judge previews FY2027 priorities after healthier-than-expected close to FY2025

The Van Zandt County judge opened the FY2027 budget workshop by reviewing the county’s recent spending and laying out the court’s top budget priorities. After last year’s budgeting process — conducted without a full auditor reconciliation — the judge said departments trimmed requests to reflect likely needs, and preliminary reconciliations suggest the county finished FY2025 with a surplus rather than the anticipated $3.3 million shortfall.

Why it matters: the court must balance service needs, rising health‑insurance costs and employee pay demands while contending with uncertain property‑value and new‑construction revenue. The judge listed the court’s immediate priorities as restoring the road and bridge allocation to 25% of property‑tax revenue, increasing the annual stipend for volunteer fire departments (proposed from $90,000 to $180,000), and providing at least a 3% cost‑of‑living increase for county employees. He also said the court will budget conservatively and set the tax rate after the formal appraisal and rate notices arrive in July.

County finances and near‑term choices: the judge showed operating account categories where about $4.128 million of budgeted spending for certain operations categories was not spent in 2025 (roughly 12%). He emphasized that a larger contingency line (proposed to be increased to $3–$4 million) is a buffer, not an intended expenditure, and that rising health‑insurance costs could add about $200,000 to payroll expenses if the court proceeds with the plan under discussion.

Next steps: workshop sessions will continue; the county will wait for final audited FY2025 numbers and the appraisal district’s certified values before finalizing tax‑rate and appropriation decisions. The judge asked commissioners to provide input on additional priorities and to be prepared to negotiate internal allocations such as the special road tax split between precincts.