SMITH COUNTY, Texas — The Smith County Commissioners Court will host its second public hearing for residents to voice concerns about the proposed property tax rate and budget for fiscal year 2024.
If approved, the tax rate would be 34.7264 cents per $100 valuation, which is an increase from the current rate of 33 cents. According to Smith County, the rate is rising because of the bond for a new courthouse and parking garage that voters approved in November.
The public hearing will be held Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom, located in the Annex Building at 200 E. Ferguson in Tyler. The first hearing was held Tuesday morning.
Smith County Judge Neal Franklin said the theme for this year's budget is “Together, We Can!”
“Working together as a community has never been more important as we move forward with construction of a new courthouse and parking facility,” he said. “Armed with community support and the knowledge that we are facing increased debt service in our budget, I asked the elected officials and department leaders to sharpen their pencils on their budget requests. They did exactly as I requested and we carefully worked through the budget together.”
Commissioners are set to vote on the proposed budget and tax rate on Sept. 5. If approved, the budget will go into effect on Oct. 1.
Two of the major points of the budget are a 5% cost of living raise for all employees and addressing the continuing issue of detention officer vacancies in the jail. The county is also addressing the bond debt from the courthouse and parking garage projects.
“These are financially challenging times for everyone due to the inflation we currently face and have experienced over the last year,” Franklin stated in his budget cover letter. “I am so very proud of everyone that gives their all daily for this county and that have stayed with us through some challenging times.”
Franklin said that retaining jail officers is the most difficult issue rather than hiring new officers.
“We believe that offering overtime pay rather than accrued compensatory time will be a positive step towards retaining these employees," Franklin said.
The entire proposed budget can be found here: www.smith-county.com/government/departments/auditor/financials/adopted-budgets