By Edmond Ortiz
Taking a queue from many city governments and school districts, officials in Bexar County and neighboring counties say they want to follow a stick-to-the-basics approach in developing their respective Fiscal Year 2027 budgets.
In most instances, leaders in Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Kendall counties are striving to stave off a property tax increase while eyeing challenging spending cuts, and maintaining adequate funding for essential services for their growing communities.
Leaders of multiple counties say their ability to keep down taxes and generate revenue is undercut by the rising number of property owners protesting their valuations, and newer taxpayer exemptions adopted by the Texas Legislature.
Bexar County
Facing a projected $145 million budget deficit, Bexar County officials are pondering such steps as no cost-of-living pay raises, and using reserve funds to soften the impact of a shortfall caused mostly by declining property tax revenues.
“This property tax revenue decline presents a very different financial environment for the county than we have experienced in many years,” County Manager David Smith said in a statement while unveiling the proposed FY 2027 budget Aug. 18 to Commissioners Court.
Smith said it is possible to improve the county’s budget situation without increasing its property tax rate, which currently stands at 29.9 cents per $100 valuation.
Smith said while there may not be salary hikes for the county’s entire workforce, the new budget could support scheduled step pay increases for employees on a step pay plan, such as court coordinators, deputy constables, and deputy fire marshals.
Even though county commissioners pushed pause on the issuance of new certificates of obligations (COs), the proposed FY 27 Bexar County budget supports proceeding with the scheduled use of COs to fund capital projects that Smith called “essential for public safety or asset preservation.”
Those projects include initiatives affecting the county’s financial management system, information technology security, and the replacement of vehicles and body-worn and in-car cameras for law enforcement. Otherwise, Smith is recommending no new additional capital projects for the time being.
Elsewhere, local governments such as Bexar County that were provided federal COVID-19 relief funds – known as American Rescue Plan Act – will have reached the conclusion of that program at the end of 2026.
As a result, Smith is proposing finding ways to continue funding some originally ARPA-supported programs, and placing funds for other ARPA-related initiatives in contingency and await further direction from Commissioners Court.
Still, some stakeholders are concerned about potential budget cuts. Smith proposed placing $1.86 million in contingency for the managed assigned counsel office, which extends legal representation for low-income defendants facing criminal charges.
The MAC office recently received $3.5 million in funding from a state grant that is due to expire at the end of this year. Advocates for the MAC office are pushing Bexar County to budget at least $2.1 million to adequately cover the costs of contracting with 200-plus attorneys who represent low-income individuals in court.
Ananda Tomas, executive director for Act 4 SA, a criminal justice reform group, told commissioners in an Aug. 25 budget worksession that putting the MAC office funds in contingency will adversely affect operations, and the clients that the office is designed to serve.
“Voucher processing will slow, attorney support will erode, and court efficiency will be strained. Community members waiting for fair representation will pay the price,” Tomas said.
Comal County
Comal County Judge Kristen Hoyt’s proposed FY 27 budget includes a $150.5 million general fund budget for daily operations, a rise from the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which contained a $123.6 million general fund budget.
Hoyt proposed $37.2 million for capital and non-capital items, including $25.3 million for improvements to existing county facilities, $6.5 million for future land acquisition, and $2.65 million for new or replacement fleet vehicles, mainly for law enforcement.
The proposed 2027-2028 budget adds 33 new positions to support law enforcement, judicial and administrative functions.
The county judge is also recommending a 4% cost of living adjustment for all county employees, an extra 2% pay adjustment for law enforcement positions, and a 3% cost of living adjustment for retired county employees, the latter being an effort to help maintain current employee retention and recruit new staffers.
Hoyt recommended reallocating $21.3 million in reserve funds to help support the county tax office remodel, and the designs of the Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace building, and for an expanded jail facility.
Comal County on July 30 published a notice of intent to issue $180 million in certificates of obligation to finance improvements to the county jail, a 583-bed, 6-year-old facility that is already at capacity. Commissioners plan to meet Sept. 17 to approve issuing the COs.
County officials are also mulling keeping the property tax rate at 30.5 cents per $100 valuation.
Guadalupe County
Guadalupe County’s proposed FY 27 budget features $110 million in general fund expenditures for daily basic operations, and $101.2 million in revenues.
This budget, County Judge Kyle Kutscher said “reflects one of the most challenging financial environments the county has faced in recent years. Slowing revenue growth, declining taxable values, additional state allowed exemptions and increasing costs for mandated services have required difficult decisions throughout the budget process.”
While the proposed budget contains a 3% cost of living adjustment, it permits no other pay adjustments or additional personnel, the latter of which has prompted some department heads such as Sheriff Joshua Ray to voice worries about their ability to adequately serve an expanding population.
In an attempt to offset some of the declining income, Guadalupe County officials are weighing a proposal to raise the property tax rate from 33.0 cents per $100 valuation to 35.4 cents.
According to county officials, newer property tax exemptions are taking $400 million in taxable value revenue off the table in the last year. Whereas the county’s total taxable value stood at $21.9 billion in 2025, the figure is dropping to $20.8 billion this year.
Commissioners Court is expected to adopt a final tax rate and budget Sept. 1.
Kendall County
Kendall County’s proposed FY 27 budget includes $58 million for general fund expenses, a slight increase over the $57.9 million contained in the county’s amended FY 26 general fund budget.
The 2027 budget features proposed increases in the road and bridge fund from $6.8 million to $7 million, and for capital projects – from $6.58 million to $6.63 million.
Kendall County officials are pondering a 4% increase for all county employees plus a step increase for eligible staffers.
Although county leaders are striving to balance the budget, they say future funding deferments, hiring delays, and spending cuts must be considered while they try to account for growth through additional hires.
“We’ve more than taken care of Kendall County staff, but this is where it gets tough,” Commissioner Chad Carpenter said at an Aug. 10 Commissioners Court meeting. “With these additional staff members, it goes into next year’s planning as well. Every time we add someone, it’s another $80,000-$84,000 per year minimum added to the future budget.”
As a result of such consideration, Kendall County leaders are looking at pushing back the filling of some positions, such as in the sheriff’s office, for a few months, but that could affect preparations on the Fiscal Year 2028 budget and beyond.
Some county officials have suggested tapping the commissioners court contingency fund to support at least five new hires in FY 2027, across different departments, for six months and then reassessing the fiscal situation.
Additionally, Kendall County officials are mulling a slight drop in the property tax rate from 37.7 cents per $100 valuation to 37.3 cents.
Counties are due to finalize their budgets and tax rates before the start of the new fiscal year Oct. 1.
