County to present proposed budget, tax rate Monday

Jack County commissioners will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25 at the courthouse to present the fiscal year 2025-2026 proposed budget and tax rate.

Commissioners proposed a rate of $0.442043 per $100 valuation. The proposed rate was more than the no new revenue rate, which would have raised the same amount of property tax revenue from the existing properties in both the 2024 and 2025 taxing years. 

The new rate would raise total property taxes by 3.49%, adding a total of $242,170.72 more to last year’s budget, and a total $24,127 in new property tax revenue will be added to the tax roll.

The proposed rate was lower than the current rate of $0.454172 per $100 valuation.

General expenditures were budgeted at just over $9 million with incoming revenue expected to cover those costs and not much else. County Judge Keith Umphress told commissioners they would need to rely a little more on unknown income to make the budget work.

Under the proposed budget elected officials would see a 5% increase in pay. Quotes for employee medical insurance came in lower than expected with added benefits to the new plan.

The county reduced its budget for community support organizations from $78,300 to $73,000. Commissioners considered cutting more funding but decided it was a conversation the court should have had with those organizations and entities before this point.

“I don’t have anything in the budget for increases and this is the first time I’ve even considered cutting anything as far as support for the city of Jacksboro,” Umphress said.

County support to the Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library in Jacksboro was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000, with Commissioner Henry Birdwell, Jr. saying the county should remove all support from the library.

“But if I’m going to make that decision I need to make it mid-year so I can say you need to be prepared, and I haven’t done that,” Birdwell said.

Commissioners were confident with the proposed budget heading into the new fiscal year, starting on Oct. 1.

“I try to look at it–and commissioners are this way, too–from a very high level and we’ve got to be taking those steps forward in the best interest of the whole county,” Umpress said. “We’re not real big at taking big jumps. We like to make very strategic, calculated steps. I think that’s the way to make good decisions.”

The 2025-2026 proposed budget is available online at jackcounty.texas.gov. Under the 'Government' tab, navigate to the 'County Auditor' page and select 'Proposed Budgets' from the menu on the left.