CORYELL COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Residents packed the Coryell County Commissioners Court Tuesday morning, turning a budget and tax rate hearing into a heated debate.
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“See if a show of hands, if we agree or not, whether our county has been mismanaged,” one resident said, as nearly every hand in the room went up.
Many voiced frustration over rising costs and what they see as years of financial mismanagement.
“A single mom, sitting up in the front, can’t even afford to spend any time with her family because she is spending all of her time working, trying to pay the taxes that y’all keep running up over the last five years,” one resident said.
“Our solution is not to cut spending, but to raise taxes — that’s disgusting and despicable. I’m ashamed that I voted for you,” another added.
Watch part of the discussion here - viewer discretion advised due to some explicit language:
“To make up for the mistakes y’all have made — you’ve made mistakes, not us, and you are expecting us to come in here and bail you out. Well, you can see we are done,” said another resident.
The proposed budget includes salary raises for certain county employees and additional jail funding, supported by a 21% tax rate increase.
“I own property in another county, and I’ve compared the salaries of the other counties to Coryell, and it is outrageous in Coryell,” one resident said.
“Homeownership is the American dream. Everybody is wanting to be a homeowner, so guess what happens when the taxes go up and they can’t afford that home?” another asked.
“We, as a company, have our own bills to pay, and we just won’t be able to absorb an increase of this magnitude — which I’m guessing will be the case for many other businesses in this county,” another resident said.
Outside the meeting, residents Stephen Bennett and James Lewis expressed similar frustrations.
“Each individual voice, each individual having something to say is important. It is the sum total of which that creates this county community, and I don’t think that it’s being taken necessarily to heart,” Bennett said.
“One of two things I hope come out of it: either they don’t raise the taxes and they cut the budget like they should, or each of the three commissioners that voted for this proposed budget, proposed tax increase gets voted out,” Lewis said.
After hours of public testimony, commissioners voted the budget down. But all eyes remain on the court as the filing deadline looms. The county has until the end of the month to set the tax rate and approve the budget.
