Tom Green County commissioners adopt lower tax rate, new budget

SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The Tom Green County Commissioners Court adopted a new budget after narrowly approving proposed changes and took up a lower tax rate for fiscal year 2027 during its Tuesday meeting. The court made its decisions at its Sept. 8 meeting, during which the commissioners handled multiple agenda items concerning the county's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and tax rate. Several changes were made to the proposed budget discussed in the court's Aug. 18 meeting. These changes are as follows, as stated by County Judge Lane Carter: Below is a document of the proposed budget provided on the Tom Green County website, for comparison: The commissioners voted 3-2 to accept the outlined changes to the proposed budget. Precinct 4 Commissioner Shawn Nanny voted against the changes, expressing concerns about whether the county will see a return on investment for the $110,000 set to be contributed to the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce amid recent leadership changes within the organization. 'I think we need to take a step back, let everybody reorganize, come at it next year, let's see what happens,' Nanny said. Precinct 2 Commissioner Chad Decker, the other dissenting vote, shared similar reservations, citing public outcry regarding potential data center development in Tom Green County in relation to the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce's role in attracting business to the region. 'I think an overwhelming majority are against data centers, and they're saying you're taking our taxpayer dollars, and it's going to the chamber to help bring in data centers when that's against our wishes,' Decker said. The budget was ultimately adopted in a 4-1 vote, with Nanny being in opposition. The adopted budget included a 0.25-cent reduction in the proposed tax rate of 0.47075 per $100 valuation, which was a continuation of fiscal year 2026's total tax rate. The new rate of 0.46825 is split between a Maintenance & Operations rate of 0.42044 and an Interest & Sinking rate of 0.04781, as opposed to the proposed rate's Maintenance & Operations rate of 0.42248 and Interest & Sinking rate of 0.04827. Although the tax rate is lower than the previous year's rate, it is higher than the no-new-revenue rate of 0.45090. This means that the budget is considered to have a property tax increase, which the commissioners ratified during the meeting. 'Because the no-new-revenue is the tax rate, we're increasing it above that, and so that's why we have to word it that way,' Precinct 3 Commissioner Rick Bacon said. 'Even though we're lowering the tax rate from previous, it's still above what the no-new-revenue rate is.' According to the meeting's agenda, the adopted budget will raise more total property taxes than the fiscal year 2026 budget by $2,047,930, or 3.88%. Of this amount, $850,723 will be tax revenue raised from new property added to the tax roll for fiscal year 2027. The tax rate was adopted unanimously. To watch a full recording of the meeting, visit the Commissioners Court meeting recording portal on the Tom Green County website. Want more local news? Download the KLST+ app for your Smart TV to stay up to date on the latest news and watch episodes of exclusive shows made in-house! Find out how to get KLST+ on your television with our download guide.