County proposes budget; public hearings Monday

The Young County Commissioners Court released their fiscal year 2026 proposed budget and presented it to the public at their weekly meeting. 

The commissioners court meeting where the proposed budget was discussed took place Monday, Aug. 18. The proposed budget has an opening statement from the commissioners court about raises. 

“This budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $399,013, which is a 4.6% increase from last year’s budget,” The statement said. “The property tax revenue raised from new property added to the tax roll this year is $195,038. This tax rate will raise taxes for maintenance and operations on a $100,000 home by approximately $26.04.”

The proposed budget has a proposed tax rate of $0.624 per $100 valuation, however, in the draft for the budget and according to Young County Judge Win Graham in budget workshops, the court plans to lower this initial rate to $0.586350 per $100. This would be a slight decrease from the 2025 budget which was set at $0.586353 per $100.

The voter approval tax rate set at $0.630673 per $100 valuation. The voter approval rate is the highest tax rate the county may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the rate. 

Lowering the tax rate was the last major piece of discussion going into the final leg of budget season. In order to accomplish this, Graham and the court said they would be looking towards their fund balance revenue to insert into the budget. 

“The fund balance is money that we have had in our reserves that we are using to help with the tax rate,” County auditor Cheryl Roberts said. 

Graham said at the commissioners courts budget workshop Monday, Aug. 11, that the court was actually going to use less fund balance money than initially anticipated in order to get the tax rate to that final decrease. Graham attributed this to slight increases calculated in the voter approved tax rate as well as the “no new revenue” and “de minimis” rates.

“In the general fund we’re inserting $303,000, $200,000 out of the road and bridge fund and then it’s going to be out of the commissioners checking accounts,” Graham said. 

The approximate general fund number as listed in the budget was $302,511. As for the commissioners, three of the four precincts would be inserting funding into the budget to help with the tax rate. 

Those precincts were precinct one, precinct three and precinct four. Precinct one contributed $70,000 of reserve funds, precinct three contributed $125,000 and precinct four contributed $200,000. These will go towards the road and bridge funds of the commissioners to use for management and improvement of roadways in their precincts. 

The total amount of fund balance money put towards the budget totaled $897,511, which was lower than what Graham initially anticipated. The county judge originally thought that the county was going to need to use north of $1 million in order to lower the tax rate to the desired number. 

Other major components of the budget include the official salaries of elected officials in the county. The commissioners court worked on 3% raises for all employees in the county during budget season, however the finalized salaries of elected officials were distributed publicly. 

A total of $39,205 dollars were used towards salary increases of elected officials. The total amount going towards salaries of elected officials in the budget equals $1,005,858. 

This is including their official salaries along with longevity bonuses which were given to nine elected officials. Every elected official outside of county clerk Tina Gilliam and county treasurer Kyle Milam received auto and cell phone allowances. 

Graham received a juvenile board service fee and a state funded salary supplement. County attorney Chris Baran also received this supplement. 

Additionally, the overall general fund for the county increased to $13,714,991. This is a slight uptick from last year’s general fund value which was calculated out to be $13,550,603. The 3% increase and insurance fees of employee salaries plays a factor in this, but the county is also using its funds toward major renovations and projects. 

One of the bigger allocations of funding is going towards the Young County Courthouse grounds maintenance. That line item in the budget jumped from $5,000 in 2025 to $155,000 in 2026. This is due to the commissioners courts ongoing efforts to remove and replace the courthouse gazebo. 

The plan is to build a new gazebo in its place with a sturdier foundation to better combat the elements outdoors. 

Other notable increases were marked towards the Olney courthouse annex renovations as well as funding for utilities in the Young County Jail. 

A public hearing regarding the proposed budget and tax rate will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25. The hearings will be held at the Young County Courthouse.