Tarrant County commissioners approved an approximately $834.1 million fiscal year 2027 budget Tuesday and adopted a lower property tax rate in separate 3-2 votes that split along party lines.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, all Republicans, supported both measures. Commissioners Roderick Miles Jr. and Alisa Simmons, both Democrats, voted against them.
The county’s approved FY2027 budget totals $834,076,906, about $10.6 million more than the FY2026 budget. It takes effect October 1.
Tarrant County’s fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, and the Commissioners Court evaluates departmental spending needs and sets the county’s property tax rate, according to the county’s budget website.
Residents Weigh In On Spending
Residents offered differing views on county spending and taxation during Tuesday’s meeting.
True Texas Project President Fran Rhodes praised the county’s approach.
“I appreciate that you’ve cut the budget, that my taxes are down,” Rhodes told commissioners. “For all these people who think you should be collecting more money for more services, they are welcome to write a check to the county at any time.”
Simmons, meanwhile, raised concerns during the meeting about portions of the spending plan, including funding for the sheriff’s confinement division.
The county’s approved budget allocates approximately $130.65 million to sheriff confinement for FY2027, an increase of about $10.73 million from the FY2026 appropriation. Overall public safety spending rises from approximately $252.89 million to $272.67 million, an increase of about $19.78 million.
County Adopts Lower Tax Rate
Commissioners separately adopted a property tax rate of $0.1860 per $100 of taxable value, down from $0.1862 in the previous fiscal year and marking the fourth consecutive annual rate reduction.
The adopted rate is slightly below the county’s $0.186069 no-new-revenue rate. Under Texas property-tax calculations, the no-new-revenue rate is designed to raise approximately the same amount of property tax revenue from properties taxed in both years, after required adjustments.
A lower rate, however, does not necessarily mean every property owner will receive a lower county tax bill.
Tarrant County’s official tax-rate notice estimates the tax on the average residence homestead for the 2026 tax year at $516.40, compared with $515.68 the previous year — an increase of 72 cents — as the average taxable homestead value increased from $276,948 to $277,637. The county estimates its total property tax levy will rise about $4.7 million, or 0.9%.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, O’Hare has said county and JPS Health Network tax and spending changes have saved families and businesses more than $1.1 billion over four years.
Gov. Greg Abbott appeared with O’Hare, Ramirez and Krause in Fort Worth on August 20 to promote his statewide property tax proposal after Tarrant County adopted a resolution supporting the plan.
“It is very achievable for jurisdictions across the entire state to do exactly what Tarrant County has done,” Abbott said in an official release. “And that is to cut property taxes while fully funding operations in a robust, growing city like Fort Worth and county like Tarrant County.”
