For residents of Hightop Ridge, Bexar County’s latest budget proposal is about more than a $2.6 billion headline. It helps determine how much the county plans to spend on law enforcement, roads, flood control, courts, parks, public health and other services people rely on — all while county leaders face their first decline in taxable property values in years.

Bexar County Manager and Budget Officer David Smith presented the $2.616 billion proposed Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget to Commissioners Court on Aug. 18. The plan would maintain the county’s current overall property tax rate of $0.299999 per $100 of valuation while reducing the total all-funds budget from the roughly $2.834 billion adopted for the current fiscal year.

The proposal is not final. Commissioners Court will spend the coming weeks reviewing the numbers and considering changes before a scheduled public hearing and adoption on Sept. 15, 2026. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Why Bexar County Is Entering a Tighter Budget Year

One of the biggest forces behind the proposed Bexar County budget is a change homeowners may already recognize from this year's property appraisal cycle.

The county's 2026 net taxable property base is approximately $242.2 billion, down 1.3% — about $3.2 billion — from the previous year's certified values. Existing taxable values declined by roughly $10.3 billion, while about $7 billion in new value was added through residential, commercial and other development.

County documents attribute part of that decline to successful property valuation protests and expanded exemptions. About $3.3 billion in new exemptions were approved during the legislative session, including exemptions affecting surviving spouses of disabled veterans and a voter-approved increase in the business personal property exemption threshold.

That matters because property taxes are a major funding source for county government.

Smith wrote in the proposed budget that the last comparable decline in county property tax revenue followed the 2008 housing crash, when Bexar County responded with hiring freezes, budget reductions and the elimination of budgeted positions. This time, county officials say financial reserves built over previous years provide more room to absorb the downturn without immediately turning to measures that severe.

Proposed County Tax Rate Would Remain Unchanged

For homeowners in Hightop Ridge, one of the most closely watched numbers is likely to be the proposed tax rate.

The budget was built around keeping Bexar County’s rate at $0.299999 per $100 of taxable value, the same overall rate currently in place. The calculated no-new-revenue rate is $0.309043, while the voter-approval rate is $0.386727.

Keeping the county tax rate unchanged does not necessarily mean every homeowner’s county tax bill will stay the same. Individual bills can still move up or down depending on a property's taxable appraisal value, exemptions and other factors.

The proposal would also shift a portion of the existing rate from Flood Control Maintenance and Operations to General Fund Maintenance and Operations. County officials estimate the shift would redirect roughly $20 million in property tax revenue to the General Fund without changing the overall county tax rate. According to the budget presentation, the change would not affect existing flood-control projects or programs.

Where the $2.6 Billion Would Go

The proposed all-funds budget totals $2,615,811,785.

That includes approximately:

• $904.9 million in operating expenditures
• $565.4 million for roads, flood and capital
• $181.1 million for debt
• $37.1 million in contingencies
• $263.3 million in carry-forward funding
• $394.9 million carried forward for capital projects
• $211.1 million in venue reserves
• $58.1 million in debt reserves

The proposed General Fund totals about $964.3 million, down from approximately $1.031 billion in the current adopted budget.

That General Fund supports many of the county services residents encounter most directly, including courts, elections, public safety, parks, health and welfare programs, county administration and other day-to-day operations.

Public Safety Remains One of the Largest Commitments

Public safety would receive about $292.5 million from the General Fund, making it one of the county's largest major spending categories.

Those dollars help support the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, adult detention operations, law enforcement, constables, juvenile services, the Medical Examiner's Office, emergency management, the Fire Marshal and related functions.

The capital plan also proposes $6.7 million for law enforcement body cameras and Taser upgrades, along with roughly $6.2 million for replacement vehicles.

At the same time, county departments collectively requested 263.5 net new positions at a cost of roughly $26.7 million. The proposed program changes, excluding post-ARPA positions, recommend only 14 net new positions, all in funds outside the General Fund.

That contrast gives residents a sense of just how selective county budget writers are trying to be this year.

No Across-the-Board Cost-of-Living Raise Proposed for County Employees

Another notable change involves employee compensation.

The proposed budget includes no cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for county employees, including workers covered under the county's collective bargaining agreement.

Employees who are already on established step-pay plans or career ladders would continue receiving scheduled increases. That includes certain court coordinators, uniformed Sheriff's Office personnel, Crime Lab employees, district attorney investigators, constables, Fire Marshal employees and medical examiners.

County officials noted that Commissioners Court has approved employee pay increases totaling more than 20% since the COVID-19 period, but the decline in revenue has changed the financial picture for the coming year.

The End of ARPA Funding Creates Another Budget Pressure

Bexar County is also approaching the end of programs funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, which supported local governments following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed budget includes funding for all 91 authorized post-ARPA positions through Dec. 31, 2026. Funding for many of those positions for the remainder of the fiscal year would then sit in contingencies while Commissioners Court evaluates which programs should continue with local dollars.

Among the programs being considered are BiblioTech Navigators, domestic violence impact courts, the Pre-Indictment Court, Preventative Health programs, the STAR domestic violence hotline program and TX Fast Track 2.

The county proposes continuing funding for the Specialized Multidisciplinary Alternate Response Team, or SMART, which provides a diversion-focused behavioral health response and is intended to operate around the clock.

Those decisions may receive particular attention as Commissioners Court weighs which pandemic-era programs have become services the community now considers part of everyday county government.

Roads and Flood Control Are Emerging as a Bigger Long-Term Question

For growing parts of Bexar County — including neighborhoods where new subdivisions continue to spread into unincorporated areas — the road and flood sections of the budget may be especially important.

The proposal does not include new funding for a broader slate of road or flood projects. Instead, approximately $2 million would be reallocated from other projects for three road-related allocations: additional funding for Spurs Ranch Phase II and Boerne Stage Road Phase III, along with a new countywide traffic-signal project.

County officials say the larger challenge is still ahead.

As subdivisions expand in unincorporated Bexar County, the county becomes responsible for maintaining more streets while also facing increasing demand for major thoroughfares and flood-control infrastructure. The budget calls for county staff to spend the next year developing a strategy to identify those needs and determine what they could cost.

Smith cautioned in the budget message that a future 10-year capital program addressing roads and flood control could become the largest capital program in Bexar County government history and could require substantial additional revenue. No funding strategy for such a program is included in this year's proposal.

For Hightop Ridge, that longer-range discussion could ultimately prove just as consequential as this year's budget, particularly as population growth puts more vehicles on county roads and more development changes drainage patterns across the region.

New Capital Spending Is Being Kept Limited

Bexar County is proposing roughly $18.6 million in new capital improvement projects, with spending focused primarily on public safety, technology and replacement of essential equipment.

Projects include a $5 million financial system upgrade, $6.7 million for body cameras and Taser upgrades, replacement vehicles, information technology infrastructure and juvenile probation equipment.

The county has paused issuing new Certificates of Obligation while it spends down existing debt and is recommending that the practice continue. Approximately $362 million remains unspent in existing capital projects, giving Commissioners Court the option of shifting money from delayed or no-longer-viable projects if new priorities arise.

County officials also point to Bexar County's triple-A ratings from Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's as an important part of its long-term financial position because stronger credit ratings can reduce borrowing costs when the county eventually takes on additional debt.

What Happens Next With the Bexar County Budget?

The Aug. 18 presentation was the beginning of the public budget process, not the final decision.

The county's current budget calendar calls for a tentative work session on Aug. 25, presentation of the proposed tax rate on Sept. 1, another tentative work session on Sept. 3, a work session on recommended budget changes on Sept. 14, and a public hearing and proposed adoption of the budget and tax rate on Sept. 15.

That gives Commissioners Court several opportunities to revise the spending plan before it becomes final.

For residents, this is the stretch of the process worth watching. The proposal attempts to preserve county services and the existing overall tax rate at a time when taxable values have declined, federal pandemic funding is ending and the long-term price tag for roads and flood protection is becoming harder to ignore.

Those competing pressures will help shape not just Bexar County's next fiscal year, but potentially the choices county leaders and taxpayers face as the region continues to grow.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for updates as Bexar County Commissioners Court reviews the FY 2026-27 proposed budget and moves toward final adoption.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.