Comal County looks to prioritize law enforcement in proposed FY2025-26 budget

A no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.305015 per $100 valuation was recommended to commissioners to fund the proposed budget, which is about a 4-cent increase from the county’s current no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.264 per $100 valuation.

The proposed budget will raise more property taxes than last year's budget by $17.69 million, or 19.2%. Of that amount, $4.43 million is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax role this year, according to county documents.

• Proposed tax rate: $0.305015 per $100
• No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.256116 per $100
• Voter-approval tax rate: $0.382515 per $100

The proposed FY 2025-26 budget allows for a 4% pay scale advancement—making up $7.8 million of the FY 2025-26 budget. Approximately 71% of that would go to law enforcement, Krause said.

“When we think about what we’re supposed to spend money on—law enforcement is right there at the top of the scale,” he said.

The proposed budget also includes an incentive pay for law enforcement.

"Any law enforcement personnel that have been here from zero to four years get an extra $1,000 per year. If they've been here from five to eight years they gave $2,000 per year extra on top of their regular pay and if they've been here nine years and over then they get an extra $3,000 on top of their regular pay," Krause said.

Also worked into the proposed budget is a proposed shift increase for Field Training Officers. Currently, Field Training Officers receive $25 per shift, and that number would increase to $35.

The recommended budget also looks to add at least 15 new positions and the elimination of two public health positions at the request of the public health department. There were also nine reclassified positions, according to the presentation.

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The proposed budget also allocates almost $15.5 million toward land and property improvements, which includes the potential expansion of the Precinct 3, Precinct 4 and Justice of the Peace buildings. Funds for tax office improvements are also included in the proposed budget.

“We, for a couple years now, have talked about building a new tax office. And even if we decided to build a new tax office today, that is still several years away from completion and the current building has some real needs that we need to address,” Krause said.

There is also $1.5 million budgeted for bridge improvements over Jacob's Creek, and $5 million for flood control structure improvements for the county's six flood control dams. The proposed budget also looks to fund improvements for flood control warnings, Krause added.

"We've got some additional siren locations. We've got weather stations, so that we can sit here at a computer and see what's happening out there, and right now we're depending on patrol deputies and road department personnel to call in weather conditions at some of the different locations throughout the county. So these weather stations will give us some great information to use when trying to respond to emergency situations," Krause said.

What commissioners are saying

Precinct 2 Commissioner Scott Haag said he liked a lot of items included in the budget, including the public safety items.

“The dams that we have—those improvements to those dams—are vital. We watch those dams when it rains and what they do for the downstream is just tremendous and we’ve got to do those. We can’t let those deteriorate. We’ve got to keep on top of it," Haag said.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jen Crownover said if the past month taught them anything, it’s that being proactive on these things is a good thing.

“I think Comal County has really set a great example for a lot of our friends and neighbors," Crownover said.

Before you go

Public hearings are required when a county is going above the no-new-revenue rate, Krause said. There will be three public hearings scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom at 100 Main Plaza in New Braunfels.

• Aug. 21: Salaries of elected officials
• Aug. 21: Proposed FY 2025-26 budget
• Sept 4: Property tax rate