Tarrant County employees would get raises totaling nearly $14 million under an $834.1 million budget proposal that also nudges the property tax rate down for the coming fiscal year.

Commissioners Court discussed the fiscal year 2026-27 spending plan at an Aug. 13 meeting, according to Community Impact. The balanced budget represents a $10.6 million increase over the current year.

Law enforcement officers would receive a 4% raise, non-law-enforcement staff would get 3% and detention officers 2.5%, said Matthew Jones, deputy director of budget and risk management for Tarrant County. The combined cost: approximately $13.98 million, Jones said.

Total county salary spending would climb to $494.33 million, up nearly $30 million from the $465.33 million appropriated for fiscal year 2025-26.

What it means for your tax bill

The proposed tax rate is $0.186 per $100 of assessed value, down from $0.1862 in the current year. The rate falls below the no-new-revenue rate, meaning the county is collecting less per dollar of property value than it did last year.

For the average Tarrant County home, valued at $277,637, the annual county tax bill would be $516.40. That's 72 cents more than the current year's $515.68 bill on the average home value of $276,948, because rising property values offset the rate cut.

Debt shrinking fast

County Administrator Chandler Merritt pointed to the county's declining debt load as a bright spot. The interest-and-sinking portion of the tax rate is just $0.0044 per $100, with the remaining $0.1816 going to maintenance and operations.

"Back in 2017, the ratio was about 90 to 10, and with this proposed budget, it takes it down to 98 to 2," Merritt said of the shift from debt service toward operations spending.

A dissenting view

Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who is running for county judge, pushed back on the framing of the budget as a tax cut. In an Aug. 22 Facebook post, Simmons wrote that the county's own budget department acknowledged "no real savings" at the hearing and called the $10.6 million spending increase "not a cut."

@CommALSimmons: "For the average $277,000 Tarrant County home, the amount actually RISES. Your annual property tax bill could go up approximately 73 cents."

What's next

Commissioners are scheduled to adopt the tax rate and budget at a Tuesday, Sept. 15 meeting. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

No public hearing date ahead of the adoption vote appeared in available county documents.