{"id":415497,"date":"2026-08-24T17:58:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/415497\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T17:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T17:58:40","slug":"proposed-property-tax-reduction-fuels-county-budget-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/415497\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed property tax reduction fuels county budget battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lubbock County\u2019s tax rate is highly contentious for at least the third year in a row.<\/p>\n

Commissioners held a public hearing on the tax rate Monday morning \u2013 but will not vote on it until September. No one spoke during the hearing.<\/p>\n

Commissioners have a consensus in budget talks to use the no-new-revenue tax rate for the coming budget cycle, but the decision is highly contentious.<\/p>\n

County Auditor Kathy Williams, in a tense meeting with commissioners this month, said the proposed rate fails to meet ongoing expenses.<\/p>\n

The proposed rate would generate less property tax revenue than last year, according to official records. And officials have clashed over proposed employee raises. To meet spending priorities discussed two weeks ago, Williams estimated the shortfall was at least $4 million \u2013 maybe $5 million.<\/p>\n

New spending priorities<\/p>\n

Cost of living adjustments (3 percent) for employees<\/p>\n

Repair a section of roof at the detention center<\/p>\n

Hire six new deputies for transporting inmates<\/p>\n

Hire two new deputy constables<\/p>\n

Restore \u201ccritical needs\u201d funding for local volunteer fire departments<\/p>\n

Higher health insurance costs<\/p>\n

IT Department capital costs and maintenance<\/p>\n

Sources: Conversation with Jordan Rackler and August 11 budget workshop meetings.<\/p>\n

County Judge Curtis Parrish asked a commissioner if he\u2019d like to cut COLAs (cost of living adjustments) during a budget workshop for the sheriff\u2019s office on August 11.<\/p>\n

Jordan Rackler, commissioner for Precinct 4, said, \u201cI\u2019m not cutting COLAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parrish responded, \u201cYou said cut COLAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams interrupted, \u201cI did!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Jason Corley, commissioner for Precinct 2, interjected, \u201cNo, you\u2019re not cutting COLAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams openly contradicted him, saying, \u201cI am cutting COLAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corley said departments can get the same budget as last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cFigure out how you want to spend it, and then we\u2019ll pull from reserve if we absolutely have to cover the COLAs,\u201d Corley said.<\/p>\n

There was pushback to Corley\u2019s statement including Michael Dalby, commissioner for Precinct 1, saying, \u201cTake into account also that funding the COLA is a reoccurring expense.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Dalby meant is that higher salaries hit the budget year after year, but reserve money does not automatically recur.<\/p>\n

The proposed tax rate this year<\/p>\n

The proposed rate is the same as the no-new-revenue rate: $0.322782 per $100 of taxable value.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s rate was $0.327425. This year\u2019s NNR is lower by $0.004643 (1.4 percent).<\/p>\n

The average homestead value in Lubbock County will decrease a little more than $5,000 from $233,528 this year to $228,404 in the coming tax cycle.<\/p>\n

The average Lubbock County tax will go down more than $27 from $764.63 to $737.25<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s tax levy will go down more than $1.55 million from $108.75 million to $107.2 million <\/p>\n

Lubbock Lights reached out<\/p>\n

LubbockLights.com successfully reached Judge Parrish and all four commissioners.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Rackler said there\u2019s a trust issue on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the numbers have not matched up, year after year after year, it\u2019s real hard to have faith,\u201d Rackler said.<\/p>\n

Rackler referenced last year\u2019s outside audit<\/a> that showed Lubbock County had extra money left over when commissioners were told the no-new-revenue rate would put the county in a deficit.<\/p>\n

Williams, the county auditor, did not respond to our request for comment, but she defended herself to the commissioners in a recent public meeting \u2013 saying, \u201cYou\u2019re telling me my numbers are wrong because we did better than what we budgeted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corley told LubbockLights.com there was a big fuss when commissioners started adopting the no-new-revenue rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cLubbock County didn\u2019t go broke. Nothing collapsed. Nothing fell apart,\u201d Corley said.<\/p>\n

Parrish saw it differently, saying, \u201cI believe that public safety and the safety of our citizens is our top priority. \u2026 This commissioner\u2019s court has shirked that duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parrish said the proof of that is deputies leaving for other agencies that pay better. The same is true of prosecutors at Lubbock County, he said. Parrish did not think a COLA was enough to fix the problem.<\/p>\n

Rackler said, \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a couple years to get it to where the pay is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cary Shaw, commissioner for Precinct 3, said, \u201cIt\u2019s going to take more than one year. \u2026 In order for us to fix the sheriff\u2019s [department] salary, we would have to increase the average taxpayer\u2019s taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dalby was more circumspect about the risk of spending reserve money for pay raises \u2013 be it COLA or for the sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still going to have to pull from reserves and contingency to balance this budget. I don\u2019t believe we\u2019re in quite as bad a shape as we were last year. But it still goes against a basic principle that I have not to balance from reserves,\u201d Dalby said.<\/p>\n

Dalby said he completely trusts Williams. Parrish said the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust Kathy Williams. She is a very well recognized and a very competent auditor. We\u2019ve received numerous statewide and nationwide awards for our budgeting,\u201d Parrish said.<\/p>\n

The August 11 kerfuffle<\/p>\n

During the August 11 budget workshop, Williams said she was asked by the commissioners to prepare a budget that does not meet professional standards \u2013 specifically the GFOA, or Government Finance Officers Association.<\/p>\n

Williams asked Corley, \u201cSo you don\u2019t want to follow the GFOA\u2019s recommendation on how to do a balanced budget. That\u2019s what you\u2019re telling me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Corley retorted, \u201cYeah, 100 percent!\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams addressed the entire Commissioners Court, saying, \u201cYour job is to cut what you decided not to fund to balance this budget. \u2026 You had all day to do it. You did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she would not present a budget that went above anticipated revenues but instead she would force the commissioners to publicly \u201camend\u201d the budget she will present.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Kelly Rowe was also unhappy \u2013 saying his department has 18 vacancies because it\u2019s easy for his deputies and detention officers to find other nearby jobs at higher pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we not doing a needs-based budget? We\u2019re doing a no-new-revenue-rate budget. How long can you guys sustain that? Just every year it\u2019s the same,\u201d Rowe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to not address the issues that are longstanding \u2013 whether it\u2019s facilities, whether it\u2019s personnel, whether it\u2019s whatever,\u201d Rowe said.<\/p>\n

He then added he\u2019s the one who gets stuck with the ramifications.<\/p>\n

Shaw pushed back, saying, \u201c2021, 22 and 23 the county budget went up $119 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe said a portion of that was voter-approved.<\/p>\n

But Shaw believes the budget has increased faster than population growth in recent years.<\/p>\n

Rackler asked Williams how much more money is needed for employee pay raises and hiring two new deputy constables. The answer was $4 \u2013 $5 million, she said.<\/p>\n

Parrish reminded the court it\u2019s not just deputies who are leaving for higher pay. It\u2019s also prosecutors in the District Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n


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