Burnet County passes budget, tax rate decision to come
The Burnet County Courthouse. File photo
The Burnet County Commissioners Court recently passed its budget for the coming 2026-27 fiscal year, and is expected to vote on a new tax rate to fund that budget on Sept. 22.
This year’s budget bumped up across the board mostly due to 4-percent raises for county employees and officials, and rising insurance costs. But, the county also opened up its coffers to make sweeping improvements to local roads.
The new budget was approved by the Commissioners Court during a marathon six-hour meeting on Sept. 8 after months of work and open meetings.
You can watch the court’s meetings on the county’s YouTube channel at this link: Burnet County Government
The budgeted revenues for the 2026-27 fiscal year are about $43.8 million, which is around an 8.4 percent increase from the 2025-26 fiscal year’s revenues of $40.4 million.
The revenue increase is mostly attributed to the proposed increase in the tax rate, from $0.3323 to $0.3541. This rate is not yet set in stone and the court will vote on the official tax rate during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Burnet County Courthouse.
According to Burnet County Judge Bryan Wilson, much of the new revenue will go toward 4-percent raises for all county employees and elected officials, along with paying for an increase in insurance costs. The county has over 380 budgeted positions.
The 2026-27 budget has about $50.34 million in expenditures, which is well over the $43.8 million in projected revenue. But, that gap will be filled with about $6.5 million from the county’s fund balance, which will almost exclusively be used for local road and bridge projects.
“The most important thing is we’re really committed to getting some road projects done that will make a difference,” Wilson told DailyTrib.
He said much of that money will go toward land acquisition, engineering costs, and road work to help make the county’s roads safer and easier to travel.
See the adopted budget for yourself here: Burnet County Budget Fiscal Year 2027
1 thought on “Burnet County passes budget, tax rate decision to come”
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This story tells you the budget went up for “4-percent raises” and roads. It never tells you what the 4 percent costs.
Judge Wilson got to say “much of” the new $3.4 million pays raises and insurance. “Much” is not a number. The paper did not ask for one. More than 380 jobs times 4 percent is not a rounding error. It is on the order of a million dollars before benefits. Readers deserved that in the same paragraph as the quote.
The tax rate is not done. It is on the agenda September 22. The rate they want, $0.3541, is last year’s rate coming back. That is the bill. The six-hour meeting on September 8 did not close the books.
Roads are mostly coming out of savings. Raises and insurance are why the regular budget “bumped up across the board.” Those are two different piles. Lumping them together makes the raise sound like pavement.
The paper also skipped the longer trail. Combined base pay for the 19 elected offices is up about 35 percent since the FY2022 budget. Prices in that stretch were up about 21 percent. That is not “just keeping up.”
A news story that repeats “4 percent” and “roads” without the dollar cost of the raise is doing the Court’s work for them. Ask the question the article did not: how many dollars is the 4 percent?