WASHINGTON CO. COMMISSIONERS ADOPT BUDGET, TAX RATE

  

Washington County Commissioners moved today (Tuesday) to adopt the budget and property tax rate for the next fiscal year.

No comments were raised during a public hearing on the $53,758,071 budget, and there was no discussion by commissioners before their unanimous vote.

The new budget consists of $42,334,847 in general fund expenditures, $8,408,464 for the road and bridge fund and $3,014,760 for debt service for the new judicial center project.  It is higher than the past adopted budget of $49,414,555. 

The county expects the new budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by $3,792,665, or 11 percent, including $744,670 from new property added to the tax roll this year.

In a release with additional information about the adopted budget, the county stated that it addresses findings from an employee compensation study, which indicated that all of the county’s elected officials were “below the established market benchmark for their respective positions.”  In response, for any elected position that was more than $10,000 below the applicable market benchmark, the new budget includes an adjustment equal to 50 percent of the amount needed to reach that market benchmark. 

The county said the budget also provides funding to bring employees whose salaries fall below the minimum of their established pay range up to that minimum.  It said additional benchmarking and market analysis will be conducted regularly so that salary structures can continue to be evaluated against changing market conditions.   

Two new full-time equivalent positions are accounted for in the budget: a bond clerk for the Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace office and an administrative position for the Human Resources department. 

The release also notes additional funding for the county’s volunteer fire departments.  The fire protection budget increased from $599,000 in the current fiscal year to $643,000 in the new fiscal year.  Each volunteer fire department is receiving an additional $4,000 annually, bringing the county’s annual contribution to $12,000 per department.  The fire departments are able to receive additional funding through a memorandum of understanding for eligible expenses like equipment testing, up to $26,000 in incentive pay, and pension benefits.  The county said it also covers workers’ compensation, the full cost of vehicle insurance for volunteer fire department vehicles, and state and federal grant matching requirements for apparatus.

While the vote on the budget itself was a unanimous 5-0, votes to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget and to approve levying the new property tax rate were 4-0, with recently-sworn-in Commissioner Chad Dismukes abstaining.

The new tax rate of $0.4367 per $100 valuation is up from the old rate of $0.3840 per $100.  It is made up of $0.3230 for maintenance and operations (M&O), an increase from the past M&O rate of $0.3040, and adds $0.0337 for interest and sinking (I&S), where there was previously no I&S payment.  The road and bridge allocation of $0.08 remains unchanged.

With the new rate, the tax on the average homestead is expected to increase by $246.19, or 16 percent, over 2025. 

Following the regular meeting, commissioners went into a public meeting for the Pecan Glen Road District and approved an order levying taxes for the road district for the 2026 tax year.  The approved Pecan Glen tax rate, paid for only by residents in the Pecan Glen subdivision, is $0.278321 per $100, below the previous tax rate of $0.284546.

In other business, the court:

• Approved the list of early voting and election day polling locations for the November 3, 2026 general election. 
• Appointed Dr. Robert Wright, Sheriff Trey Holleway and County Judge John Durrenberger to the Brazos Valley Council of Governments Board of Directors for three-year terms, beginning October 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2029.
• Took action to receive and record in the commissioners court minutes the order relating to the budget of the county auditor for Fiscal Year 2027, as entered by the 21^st and 335^th Judicial District Courts.
• Read a proclamation recognizing September 17 – 23 as Constitution Week in Washington County.
• Discussed a formal notice from Magnolia Oil and Gas Operating, LLC for a temporary lay-flat water line along the county right-of-way of McNelly Lane in Precinct 3.  No action was needed.
• Discussed formal notices from Industry Communications for new service line installation in the county right-of-way of Moye Road and Wildwood Road in Precinct 4.  No action was necessary.

Click here to view the agenda packet for Tuesday's meeting.