WAXAHACHIE – Strong opinions have been voiced over the past few weeks regarding Ellis’s County’s recently released proposed new fiscal year budget.
The county says growth requires more spending; critics say the budget creates more government than necessary.
Ellis County GOP held a special meeting this past Saturday discussing the proposed county budget and tax implications.
While the county commissioners could not be in attendance due to potential violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Ellis County Judge John Wray was in attendance.
The two major issues Ellis County residents have most concerns about are, for one, a proposed county tax rate.
It is being explained the new rate will be approximately 12% higher than last year’s no-new-revenue/effective rate.
Ellis County’s State Representative Brian Harrison said, “This budget grows government, it grows the bureaucracy and it empowers unelected officials to supplant the elected officials who you elected to represent you – and that is not acceptable to me.”
“This property tax hike is so big it would be illegal and it is only six 1000ths of a penny away from a rate that would allow you to vote on it.
“What are the odds of that, what are the odds of the exact dollar amount that the county of Ellis needs to function properly happens to be six 1000ths of a penny under the rate that would require them to go to the voters in an election.”
Another voice included Kameron Raburn, who won the primary election in the Republican race for the Ellis County Judge seat incoming in January.
He wrote on his Facebook he “Strongly opposes the proposed FY2027 Ellis County Budget in its current form.
“This budget isn’t simply about roads, public safety, or providing essential county services – it proposes a fundamental reorganization of Ellis County government.”
Since Saturday’s meeting, a number of people pointed-out the budget numbers have changed. Before adding to the confusion, residents should obtain a copy of latest proposed budget and work from those numbers.
A second issue raised red flags is a possible new county administrator positions.
One person described this addition as, “Another high-level salaried position that could significantly change how our county government operates.”
Raburn said the proposed budget creates two new departments: County Administration with three new positions and a County Budget Office with two.
“Together, these offices represent more than $1 million in proposed FY2027 reoccurring spending,” Raburn said.
“For generations, Ellis County has been led by an elected County Judge and Commissioners Court, accountable directly to the people.
“Now commissioners are being asked to create a new layer of appointed administration between the people and their elected officials. At the same time the County is creating more than $1-million in new administrative structure, the budget reduces the resources available to the elected County Judge’s office.”
Ellis County Judge Wray responded with comments to The Ellis County Press explaining, “The proposed budget anticipates Ellis County will hold its tax rate steady relative to the prior year, at 27.3992 cents for $100 of valuation.
“If the rate stays at this level, Ellis County will generate just under $113-million of tax revenue in the coming year, which is approximately $6.5-million to $7-million more than last year.
“Approximately 86.6 percent of this new revenue is derived from new property added to the tax roll in 2026.
“New property is added to the tax roll because of population growth.
“Ellis County is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, and it is reasonable to expect the budget to grow because of population growth and inflation.
“In fact, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which is the lead conservative think-tank in Texas, states growth in government revenue and spending should be limited to population growth plus inflation.
“The majority of your money going to Ellis County government is spent on law enforcement and criminal justice.
“The proposed budget anticipates adding detention officers for the county jail, new deputies and other employees for the Sheriff’s Office, new prosecutors and other employees for the District Attorney’s Office, and new employees for juvenile justice programs.
“All of these additions are driven by the increasing demand on our criminal justice system due to a rapidly growing population.
“Ellis County’s tax rate was 41.3599 cents per $100 of valuation in 2016, and the Commissioners Court has worked hard to control spending, reduce waste, and conservatively budget your tax dollars over the past 10 years in order to reduce the tax rate to its current level of $27.3992 cents.
“All members of the Commissioners Court, including me, understand the complexity, confusion, and unfairness of the property tax system and we understand your frustration.
“Until legislation is passed allowing counties to fund jails, law enforcement, courts, prosecutors, and other critical government services via a different revenue source, your Commissioners Court will have to use a responsible approach to budgeting and setting the tax rate which balances conservatism, growth, and critical county services.”
The proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 released last week will go through a process of feedback from County Commissioners, elected officials, departments heads within county government, and the citizens of Ellis County.