Jack County Commissioners Court is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Sep 28, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the County Courtroom, Suite 207B, at the Jack County Courthouse. The posted agenda places the public hearing on the proposed county budget and tax rate before separate action items to adopt the FY 2026-2027 budget and set the tax rate.

Before that meeting, Skew the Future is launching a new tool designed to make the working budget easier to inspect: the Jack County Budget Explorer.

The Explorer lets readers search line items, filter by department or precinct and compare the proposed FY 2026-2027 numbers with the prior budget. It is designed for a phone first, so readers can use it during a meeting without trying to scroll through a long budget PDF.

Open the Jack County Budget Explorer.

A working snapshot, not the final budget

The Explorer currently uses the work-budget version dated Sep 10, 2026. That matters because Commissioners have continued changing numbers in later workshops.

In other words, the Explorer is a snapshot of the budget at a specific point in the process. It is not a claim that every number shown there will be in the budget adopted Monday.

That is also why the Explorer includes a source note explaining that it is an independent transcription and that the County's official records control if there is a discrepancy. If you find an error, missing line item or discrepancy between the Budget Explorer and an official Jack County record, please send it to john@skewthefuture.com. Include the account number, department or page reference when possible so it can be checked and corrected.

Changes already made after the Explorer snapshot

One example is Precinct 2. Later workshop discussion reduced several operating lines from the amounts currently shown in the Explorer:

• 012-622-503 Sand/Gravel: $100,000 to $85,000, a $15,000 reduction.
• 012-622-508 Repair Bridges: $40,000 to $0, a $40,000 reduction.
• 012-622-704 Heavy Equipment Repair: $30,000 to $15,000, a $15,000 reduction.
• 012-622-903 Gas/Oil: $65,000 to $50,000, a $15,000 reduction.

Those are $85,000 in direct reductions.

Account 012-622-997, Total Operating Expense, also changed from $90,000 to $75,000 in the working material we reviewed, but that line is a subtotal. So it should not be counted as another $15,000 cut on top of the underlying accounts.

Workshop discussion also referenced a broader amount that still needed to be removed from the budget. The key point for readers is that some of the numbers discussed after the Sep 10, 2026 snapshot are not yet reflected in the Explorer.

The $350,000 radio and communications line

Another line worth watching is Emergency Management account 010-661-912, Radio/Communication. The Sep 10, 2026 work-budget snapshot carries $350,000 in that account.

Commissioners later discussed reducing or removing a large radio-equipment amount. The final number should be checked against the budget actually adopted Monday rather than assumed from the Sep 10, 2026 Explorer snapshot.

Why some salary lines need context

The budget also changed how some recurring stipends are presented. In several offices, separate stipend lines were reduced to zero while regular salary or payroll lines increased.

For example, the County Clerk elected-official salary line moves from $61,563 to $64,641 while a separate $4,000 stipend line goes to zero. That does not mean the salary line alone tells the full compensation story.

The same issue appears elsewhere. The Elections Administrator office has a $2,000 stipend line moving to zero while the office payroll subtotal increases. The County Extension office also has a $2,000 stipend line moving to zero.

Some special-purpose stipends remain in other departments. The thing to realize here is that some of the changes in salary are due to moving the stipend amount into the salary. But not all stipends were moved so it is not simply "salary line up" and "stipend line down." Readers should compare the full compensation block and determine what changed in total.

The tax-rate numbers going into Monday

The published proposed county tax rate is $0.453183 per $100 of taxable value.

The countywide no-new-revenue rate is $0.430234 per $100 and the voter-approval rate is $0.453184 per $100.

The proposed county rate is made up of two components:

• General operating: $0.358123 per $100.
• County Special / Road and Bridge: $0.095060 per $100.
• Combined proposed county rate: $0.453183 per $100.

The no-new-revenue rate is also built from the matching components:

• General operating no-new-revenue component: $0.348538 per $100.
• County Special / Road and Bridge no-new-revenue component: $0.081696 per $100.
• Combined countywide no-new-revenue rate: $0.430234 per $100.

The County Special amount is not something to add again on top of the published countywide rate. It is already one component of that total.

The proposed rate is about 5.33 percent above the countywide no-new-revenue rate. That comparison describes the tax rate, not the change in every individual property owner's bill. A property's bill also depends on taxable value, exemptions and other factors.

What to listen for Monday

The most useful questions are not complicated:

• Which exact budget version is the Court adopting?
• Which workshop reductions made it into the final document?
• What is the final amount in Emergency Management account 010-661-912?
• How were recurring stipend changes reflected in final salary and payroll totals?
• What general operating and County Special / Road and Bridge component rates are adopted?
• What is the final combined county tax rate?
• Will the final adopted budget and tax-rate documents be posted promptly after the meeting?

Those answers will let us update the Explorer from a working-budget tool into an adopted-budget reference.

Use the Explorer before and during the hearing

The Jack County Budget Explorer is available now.

Use it to search an account number, compare departments, look at a precinct or drill into a line item. Just keep the Sep 10, 2026 snapshot limitation in mind when reviewing numbers that Commissioners have discussed changing since then.

After the hearing, Skew the Future will compare the adopted budget with the working version and update the Explorer so readers can see what actually changed.

Complex public decisions explained.

Source and Further Reading

Jack County Budget Explorer
Direct tool for searching and comparing the working FY 2026-2027 budget.

Jack County Commissioners Court meetings and agendas
Use the Sep 28, 2026 agenda for the hearing and adoption items.

Jack County Proposed Budgets
Official County landing page for proposed-budget documents.

2026 Jack County TNT Worksheets
Official County page for the 2026 Truth-in-Taxation worksheets and supporting documents.

Texas Local Government Code Chapter 111
State law governing the county budget process, including the public hearing and adoption provisions.

Texas Comptroller Truth-in-Taxation
State guidance explaining the no-new-revenue rate, voter-approval rate, notices, hearings and tax-rate adoption.

Earlier SkewTheFuture budget hearing explainer
Background on the Jack County budget process, notice questions and the deadlines leading into the current hearing.