Commissioners court meetings are held inside the Smith County Courthouse Annex in downtown Tyler.

From Staff Reports

The Smith County Commissioners one last public hearing Tuesday morning before adopting the proposed 2025 budget and tax rate at their weekly meeting.

“For the citizens, my goal is always to keep the taxes at a reasonable level while providing the high level of services the citizens expect and demand,” Smith County Judge Neal Franklin said.

“For the employees, my goal is to provide them with a living wage and benefits in addition to a work environment in which they feel appreciated and respected,” he added.

The budget, with over $153.9 million in expenditures, increases the actual tax rate by 1.6967 cents to 36.4231 cents per $100 valuation, according to the county. The tax increase is caused by the courthouse and parking garage bond approved by voters in November 2022, Franklin said.

The budget will go into effect Oct. 1. This year’s budget theme is “Breaking Ground,” Franklin said.

“This is due to all the construction taking place, but it also represents some new business relationships we have forged,” Franklin said. “My promise when I ran for county judge was to make this county a better place for the citizens and the employees of Smith County.”

The balanced proposed budget can be found online at www.smith-county.com/government/departments/auditor/financials/adopted-budgets .

Franklin said this year’s budget focuses on the following areas:

Employee Investment: The county will increase its monthly contribution to the health insurance fund for each employee from $722 to $822. Additionally, this budget will provide a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to all employees and elected officials. These changes demonstrate the county’s ongoing dedication to its employees.

Indigent Defense: All five district courts have increased the indigent defense contract attorney rates from $95,000 to $120,000 to retain current attorneys and attract new ones to the Smith County court system.

The increase in funding comes after a budget workshop in early August during which county judges pushed for more indigent defense funding to cover the county’s district courts which include the 7th District Court, the 114th District Court, the 241st District Court, the 321st District Court and the 475th District Court.

The district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of Texas. The 321st District Court is designated to hear only family law cases, while the other four hear only civil and criminal matters. The 475th District Court also hears juvenile cases.

Jail Operations: Detention officer vacancies at Smith County Jail have been a long-standing issue. To address this, overtime was increased in the county’s fiscal year 2024 budget, significantly reducing vacancies. The budget now accommodates 10 additional officers, offsetting the cost through reduced overtime without significantly raising the overall budget, according to the county.

Debt Service: The county stated the portion of the tax rate dedicated to debt service has been strategically adjusted over the past three years to mitigate the impact approved by voters in 2022 to support a new county courthouse and associated parking garage. The debt service portion for fiscal year 2025 has increased by 1.6 cents to reach a level of 7 cents. The county still has two more issuances of voter-approved infrastructure bonds to issue.

Road and Bridge Funding: In fiscal year 2024, Phase 2 of the Road and Bridge Bond project is ongoing. Smith County aims to achieve the 5-cent maintenance-and-operations (M&O) tax rate contribution through the Road Bond Plan. The construction and renovation of the new Road and Bridge Facility is nearly complete and was fully paid for in cash, the county stated.

The county said its overall financial position is strong despite the challenges of inflation. Its bond rating remains strong at AA+ compared to Standard and Poor’s rating service.