Guadalupe County adopts FY2025 budget, sets 0.3167 tax rate and reinstates assistant county engineer

The Guadalupe County Commissioner’s Court on Sept. 3 adopted the county’s fiscal year 2024–25 budget and set a tax rate of 0.3167 per $100 of taxable value, a figure the court said is slightly above the state-calculated no-new-revenue rate and therefore represents about a 1.99% increase for taxpayers whose appraisals rose.

The judge, summarizing the administration’s budget approach, said the court sought to prioritize essential services and take “a very, very conservative approach” to spending while noting the county’s strong fund balance and low debt. The court ratified the property-tax increase reflected in the budget “pursuant to local government code section 111.008(c),” then separately set the maintenance & operations component at 0.2514, the lateral-roads component at 0.0540 and the debt-service component at 0.0113.

Commissioners debated the increase and context for the county’s tax position. One commissioner noted Guadalupe County is “the 28th largest county in the state of Texas” and said the county’s overall tax rate was among the lower third of Texas counties, a comparison offered as background to justify the adopted rate.

As part of the final budget vote, the court approved an amendment to reinstate the assistant county engineer position until 30 days after the county fills a director-of-engineering appointment, and directed that the reinstated assistant position receive the same 4% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) granted countywide. The court’s motion to adopt the budget with that amendment passed by voice vote.

The judge said the tax-rate decision reflects efforts to fund public safety, road improvements and other services while trying to limit the burden on taxpayers; the court scheduled no further steps on the adopted budget at the meeting.