LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Two Lubbock County commissioners say a recent audit validates their decisions to approve back-to-back no-new-revenue tax rates, while County Judge Curtis Parrish says departments and employees are suffering the consequences.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler is standing by his and Commissioner Jason Corley’s decision to skip court meetings in 2024 to put the county at a no-new-revenue tax rate. He says a recent report on the 2025 budget from an outside auditor proves that approach worked.
“Let me be clear, adopting this rate did not require using reserves. We balanced this budget responsibly without raising the tax rate while maintaining the services our residents depend on,” Rackler said.
The presentation Rackler and Precinct 3 Commissioner Cary Shaw showed reports the general fund is up more than $4 million over last year, driven by property taxes.
“The debt was down $25 million,” Rackler said.
“And the assets were increased nearly $34 million,” Shaw said. “Property taxes rode up $4.8 million, almost $4.9 million,” Shaw said.
The commissioners and Parrish disagree on what no-new-revenue truly means.
“So, the judge tells you that you don’t get new construction on a no-new-revenue. That is false,” Shaw said. “That’s what he continues to say, and that is false.”
“We talked about growth is important, but we’ve had to leave the growth on the table for the last two years because we have commissioners that want to pass the no-new-revenue rate. So, we get no new revenue,” Parrish said.
The report the commissioners presented shows public safety spending rose from 2024 to 2025, but Parrish says that funding still hasn’t met the sheriff’s office’s needs the past two years.
“The sheriff needs eight new boots on the ground to take care of this growing county. And this commissioner’s court did not fund any of them,” Parrish said.
After taking their own cost-of-living adjustments in 2024, commissioners couldn’t fund them for other county employees. Rackler says that’s the only negative he’s heard.
“Other than that, I mean, I’ve had people within departments that are like, man, I think y’all are doing a great job. Keep it up. And then you have people that they just want to build and build and build. And so, it’s mixed. But the employees, we need to take care of our employees. Our employees are our largest asset,” Rackler said.
When asked how supporting employees aligns with voting against raises, Rackler said the county budget officer didn’t offer raises as an option.
“Because our auditor is our county budget officer. And when she said, this is what you’re going to do, and she gives you options of what to approve and what not to approve, there were no raises offered,” Rackler said.
Parrish claims keeping the tax rate the same as the year before could have fully funded the sheriff’s department, fire department and provided raises for employees. He says the county needs to stay competitive.
“Also by not giving our employees a COLA adjustment, they started looking elsewhere,” Parrish said.
The commissioners claim the audit also backs up their push last year to pass the no-new-revenue rate again.
“The people that I worked for on a daily basis that voted for me to be here, outstanding support to stay with the no new revenue,” Rackler said.
The Lubbock County auditor says this report is a draft and hasn’t been officially approved. It’s not expected to show up on the commissioners’ court agenda until March 23.
Commissioner Rackler and Judge Parrish are both in the middle of campaigning to keep their seats in the upcoming primary election.
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