Hill County Judge Shane Brassell filed the proposed county budget for the fiscal year beginning in October recently.
The draft spending plan was filed in County Clerk Nicole Tanner’s office Thursday, August 14. The judge worked with Auditor Susan Swilling and Treasurer Rachel Parker on the document with input from commissioners and department heads.
While the final numbers and tax rate for the coming year will be approved by the commissioners court before the beginning of the fiscal year, the proposed budget is based off of a tax rate increase. The court was open to the idea of raising the rate after recent budget discussions.
The proposed tax rate of $0.452647 per $100 property valuation is just under the voter-approval rate, which generally triggers an election to allow voters to approve the increase.
The no-new-revenue rate, which is the rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed last year, was calculated at $0.400154.
Compared to last year’s tax rate of $0.405867, the proposed rate is an 11.52% increase.
The average taxable value of a homestead in the county increased about 6% to $194,947 this year.
On the average home, county taxes would increase over 18% under the proposal, from $746 to $882.
The judge’s draft of the overall budget includes estimated FY 2026 revenues of $34,611,919 and expenditures of $34,432,232. The projected beginning balance in the general fund is figured at approximately $9.5 million.
The proposed budget includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for county employees and a longevity pay policy of $200 per year.
Additional money is also expected to be put into road and bridge budgets to help commissioners complete more projects.
The court held another budget workshop Tuesday morning, August 19. A public hearing on the tax rate and budget were expected to be held during the court’s regular meeting Tuesday, August 26.
The Lakelander 