KERR COUNTY, Texas – Property tax rates were just one of the topics discussed at the Kerr County Commissioners Court meeting on Monday morning, which happened to fall one month after the devastating Hill Country floods.
At 9 a.m., the commissioners met to discuss a potential increase in property taxes, as well as the proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to the agenda.
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The meeting went into a recess due to a change in how the commissioners wished to approach the wage adjustment. The commissioners agreed to meet again on Friday morning to approve this and other related items.
Kerr County Tax Assessor-Collector Bob Reeves was called on to discuss his calculations for the 2025 property tax rate.
The commissioners’ court had previously approved Reeves to begin calculations on July 14, starting with the voter approval rate. Because Kerr County was declared a disaster area following the Fourth of July flooding, this rate was allowed to go up to 8% in his calculations.
This raised concern from Kerr County flood victims and also sparked at least one protest.
During the meeting on Monday, Reeves said that he used a “No New Revenue Tax Rate.”
According to the Texas Comptroller’s website, this tax rate allows the public to see a relationship between last year’s taxes and this year’s taxes.
The figure is based on a tax rate that is supposed to produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both years.
Reeves clarified when showing his numbers that while he did not use the 8% he was given by the Emergency Tax Rate provision in the Texas Property Tax Code, there would still be an increase in property taxes.
“It’s an increase,” Reeves said. “I’m not saying it’s not.”
Reeves went on to say that every penny spent above the “No New Revenue Tax Rate” would mean a $39 increase in taxes for the average homeowner.
If the commissioners adopted the same Property Tax Rate as last year, this would cause a $155 increase for the average homeowner.
After this assessment, Reeves was asked by the commissioners what Property Tax Rate would keep homeowners “whole.” He said that that had not been calculated yet.
The commissioners asked Reeves to come back to the court with a new figure.
Two public comments were made during the meeting. Both called upon the commissioners to not adopt a tax rate that would have Kerr County residents experience a tax hike and to keep things “neutral.”
The commissioners responded by questioning why residents thought they were going to increase taxes in the first place. They said keeping taxes neutral was their goal.
“We have a process to do, and we have a long way to go,” Rich Paces, Kerr County Precinct 2 Commissioner, said.
When discussing the proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly discussed what went into his initial proposal.
His proposal included:
- $10 million for road improvements, according to estimates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- $500,000 in contingency funds for autopsies. Kelly said $400,000 has been spent over the last week
- Recovery warehouse expenses
- Approved new hires, such as various roles for the Animal Control Facility in Kerr County, a payroll specialist, a KCSO administrative assistant, among others
The proposal used the same tax rate as last year, according to Kelly.
Certain things were not included in the budget, namely, what Kelly voted against.
“That’s not going to be the budget,” Kelly said. “That’s what I proposed.”
This budget would have an expenditure of at least $71 million, resulting in a deficit budget of $12.5 million.
Kelly also said that the commissioners had worked together to come up with a budget of their own, which put $1.4 million worth of road and bridge projects on hold.
They also hoped to reduce FEMA improvement projects by $6 million.
Using the same tax rate as the previous year, this budget would have a total expenditure of approximately $70 million. The projected deficit would fall under $11 million.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done since I’ve sat up here and what we’ve done to keep the tax rate low,” Kerr County Precinct 4 Commissioner Don Harris said. “It’s public record. Look at it. We’ve done a good job of it.”
Kerr County human resources director Sylvia Zapata was called to the court to discuss wage adjustment for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Zapata said she kept the wage adjustment at 2% for them to look at, though they have discussed several scenarios.
Kelly and the commissioners could not come to an agreement on a set wage adjustment.
Paces said he wanted more budget workshops to discuss this adjustment and what would work best for both Kerr County employees and residents.
The commissioners asked Zapata to run wage adjustment scenarios at 1% and 1.5%, which are lower numbers than the ones previously considered.
As this item and the next two were closely related, the commissioners decided to pass on all three and go to recess. Kelly said the court would reconvene at 9 a.m. on Friday to discuss the new scenarios and take action.
During this time, one public comment was heard. Terri Hall, a co-founder and spokesperson for a local organization called Liberty In Action, shared thoughts on the wage adjustment for Kerr County employees.
She said this has been going on for the past three years.
“The hours I’ve been putting in aren’t to give county employees a raise,” Hall said. “They’re to help my neighbors.”
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