Parker County commissioners on Monday, Sept. 28, adopted a $106 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27 and set a property tax rate of about 28.47 cents per $100 of valuation, which is less than the no-new-revenue rate, which county officials said makes this the seventh year in a row the county has lowered its rate.
The Commissioners Court approved the $106,016,295 budget 5-0.
After adopting the budget, commissioners set the total tax rate of $0.284719 per $100 of valuation in three separate unanimous votes:
The maintenance and operations rate, which pays for day-to-day county operations, was set at $0.185698. The debt service rate, which pays off county bonds, was set at $0.049859. The lateral road rate was set at $0.049162.
Although the total rate does not exceed the no-new-revenue rate, the county will collect more in maintenance and operations taxes than it did last year. Under that required language, the tax rate will effectively rise by 1.64% and will raise maintenance and operations taxes on a $100,000 home by about $6.25.
Commissioners also reaffirmed salaries for elected officials in the 2027 budget, after two residents spoke on the item.
Resident Lynn Baber criticized the tiered pay scale for commissioners, which she said is based only on time in office and leaves Precincts 2 and 4 with, in effect, “junior commissioners” who are paid less. She said commissioners who earned just under $100,000 several years ago are now close to $200,000 before longevity pay, and that only two Texas counties pay commissioners more. She asked the court to reconsider the tiered system.
Resident Chris Wood said he supported salaries that match the county’s accomplishments, such as managing rapid growth, but that he would support them more strongly if the court allowed public comment on topics not on the agenda.
In response, a commissioner said some commissioners in other counties oversee fewer than 20 miles of road, compared with roughly 400 miles or more in Parker County precincts. He said he made the original motion for tiered salaries to draw attention to salaries the court doesn’t control, such as those set by district judges for the county auditor. Deen said commissioners in larger counties have professional staff that Parker County cannot afford, and that commissioners here wear more hats as a result.
With the budget adopted, commissioners approved three vehicle purchases through cooperative purchasing contracts with Caldwell Country Chevrolet, each by a 5-0 vote: a 2027 Chevrolet 2500 two-wheel-drive crew cab truck for the Sheriff’s Office animal control unit for $47,950; a 2027 Chevrolet Tahoe four-wheel drive for a County Attorney’s Office investigator paid for with 287(g) funds for $68,895; and a 2027 Chevrolet Trax for the IT department for $23,050.
When commissioners reconvened after executive session they voted to accept the “final settlement and agreement” regarding the City of Aledo and City of Fort Worth lawsuit against Willow Park and Parker County, regarding the Beall-Dean Ranch annexation.
No terms of the agreement have been released, pending all entities’ acceptance.
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