Grimes County commissioners weigh dipping into reserves as FY26 budget uses more fund balance

Grimes County's commissioners spent the bulk of an Aug. 5 budget session debating how much of the county's fund balance to spend in fiscal 2026 as they wrestled with one-time capital requests and recurring personnel costs. Jesse Ensign, the staff member presenting the packet, told the court the revised printout shows increased fund-balance use: “The grand total page on the front where you can see where you have $266,900,” and later that projected fund-balance usage would rise from $1,279,168 to about $1,364,168.

Judge (Speaker 1) and several commissioners said holding a six-month reserve remains the policy goal, but could be trimmed if commissioners chose to prioritize capital projects or pay raises. Staff warned that under the current proposals the county would be “$735,373 shy of the six-month reserve” using a 97.5% collection assumption. Commissioners discussed options including moving some capital work into fund balance, budgeting expected land-sale revenue conservatively, or formally amending the reserve policy (suggestions included 5.5 months as an alternative).

The court directed staff to prepare revised grand totals and return with final figures by Thursday so the county can meet the statutory deadline for the proposed budget filing on Aug. 15. Staff emphasized the long-term trade-offs: reducing the reserve could allow immediate projects to proceed but would limit flexibility for midyear emergencies or unplanned needs. The meeting concluded with staff confirming they would send a summarized recap of all operating and salary changes to commissioners ahead of the next meeting.