Angelina County adopts 2026 budget; keeps same tax rate, trims PIO role

The Commissioners Court on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 unanimously adopted the fiscal year 2026 county budget, keeping the property tax rate unchanged while acknowledging a rise in total tax revenue. The county judge Keith Wright noted the plan “does raise an additional $1.8 million in revenue,” driven by new property value (about $591,000) and appraisal changes to existing property, while “proposing to adopt the same tax rate that we had last year.”

As part of the vote, the Court removed the Public Information Officer position and related software from the budget, moving those dollars to contingency. The Wright also explained why taxpayers will see “an increase by 3.91%” on the required notice despite the unchanged rate: state calculations compare the adopted rate ($0.449041 per $100) to the no-new-revenue rate ($0.422585), with the voter-approval rate at $0.465693 per $100.

The Court later ratified the property-tax revenue increase, a procedural step tied to state law, and said a separate roll-call vote to adopt the tax rate itself will occur at the next meeting. No public comments were made during the budget hearing.