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# Jack County Budget Hearing: What the Law Requires and What Options Remain
- URL: https://www.skewthefuture.com/jack-county-budget-hearing-what-the-law-requires/
- Published: 2026-09-14T01:37:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T01:37:14.000Z
- Description: Jack County published notice for Monday's tax-rate hearing, but we have not found the separate county-budget hearing notice or record. We also identified at least seven FY 2026-2027 budget-discussion meetings where HB 1522 compliance has not yet been demonstrated.
- Author: John Barry IV
- Tags: Jack County, Commissioners Court, County Budget, Property Taxes, Public Notice, HB 1522, Government Transparency, Local Government

##  The County published notice for Monday's tax-rate hearing. We have not found the separate budget-hearing notice required by state law. Here is what taxpayers should know about the timeline, the options and the tax-rate deadline.

Jack County Commissioners Court is scheduled Monday, September 14, to hold a public hearing on the proposed tax rate and consider adoption of the FY 2026-2027 county budget.

Those sound like parts of the same process, and they are closely connected. But under Texas law, the public hearing on the proposed county budget and the public hearing on a proposed tax increase are separate requirements.

That distinction has become important.

Jack County did publish a newspaper notice for Monday's proposed tax-rate hearing. What we have not been able to locate is the separate public notice for the proposed county budget hearing or a record showing when that required budget hearing occurred.

This post explains what we know, what the law requires and what options appear to remain. It is a guide to the public record, not legal advice.

# What Jack County did publish

On September 5, the Jacksboro Herald-Gazette published Jack County's “Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase.”

The notice lists:

• Proposed tax rate: $0.453183 per $100 of taxable value

• No-new-revenue tax rate: $0.430234 per $100

• Voter-approval tax rate: $0.453184 per $100

• Public hearing on the proposed tax rate: September 14 at 10:00 a.m.

That is the notice for the tax-rate hearing.

The September 14 Commissioners Court agenda also identifies Item 4(a) as a “Public Hearing on Proposed Tax Rate” and Item 4(b) as “Adopt Budget for FY 2026-2027.”

What we have not found is a notice identifying a public hearing on the proposed FY 2026-2027 county budget.

# The budget hearing is a longstanding requirement

The public budget hearing is not a new requirement created by House Bill 1522.

For counties the size of Jack County, Texas Local Government Code §111.007 says Commissioners Court “shall hold a public hearing on the proposed budget.” Any person may attend and participate.

The proposed budget must be filed with the County Clerk no later than August 15 under §111.006\. The budget hearing must then be held no later than the 25th day after the budget is filed and before the County adopts its property tax rate.

The public notice for that hearing must state the date, time and location and must be given not earlier than 30 days and not later than 10 days before the hearing.

Section 111.0075 adds a newspaper-publication requirement. The budget-hearing notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation during that same 10-to-30-day window.

At the conclusion of the budget hearing, §111.008 directs Commissioners Court to take action on the proposed budget.

Jack County has followed this separate process before. In 2020, the Court authorized publication of a notice for an August 24 public hearing on the FY2021 proposed budget. The August 24 agenda then separately listed “Public Hearing on Proposed County Budget for FY 2021” and a budget workshop.

That history helps illustrate the difference between a budget hearing and a tax-rate hearing.

# Why the September 5 notice does not answer the budget-hearing question

The September 5 newspaper notice specifically announces a public hearing on the proposed tax rate.

It does not announce a hearing on the proposed county budget.

There is also a timing issue. If September 14 were intended to be the county's budget hearing, September 5 would be only nine days before the hearing. The budget-hearing notice must be given and published no later than the 10th day before the hearing.

More importantly, the proposed budget was legally required to be filed by August 15\. Even if Jack County waited until the August 15 deadline to file it, the 25th day after filing would have fallen before September 14.

That means simply calling Monday's tax-rate hearing a budget hearing would not resolve the statutory timeline.

# House Bill 1522 adds another layer

HB 1522 took effect September 1, 2025\. It did not create the public budget hearing. Instead, it added new transparency requirements to the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Texas Government Code §551.043(c) now applies to every meeting at which a governmental body will discuss or adopt its budget.

For each such meeting, the posted meeting notice must include:

• A physical copy of the proposed budget unless the proposed budget is clearly accessible on the home page of the governmental body's website

• A taxpayer impact statement comparing the property-tax bill on a median-valued homestead for the current year with estimates under the proposed budget and under a balanced budget funded at the no-new-revenue tax rate

That requirement applies to budget workshops as well as final adoption meetings because the statutory trigger is whether the budget will be discussed or adopted.

Jack County posted an initial proposed FY 2026-2027 budget dated July 31\. Commissioners then spent August holding budget workshops and making revisions.

The public-facing document we have been able to find remained the July 31 work budget while Commissioners, department heads and the Judge were working through later numbers. We have not located the HB 1522 taxpayer impact statements for any of the seven completed budget-discussion meetings identified so far or for Monday's adoption meeting.

There is one point we should state carefully. HB 1522 does not say that every handwritten edit or every intermediate spreadsheet must immediately be uploaded. It does, however, tie access to “the proposed budget” to each meeting where the budget will be discussed. When the working proposal changes substantially, taxpayers should be able to identify which proposal their Commissioners are actually discussing.

A physical budget may have been attached to a courthouse posting even if it was not online. We have not inspected every physical posting, so we are not claiming that possibility did not occur. The County can resolve that question simply by identifying the documents that accompanied each meeting notice.

A current website check adds another useful fact. At 7:18 p.m. on September 13, the visible Jack County home page did not show a FY 2026-2027 proposed-budget link. At 7:20 p.m., the County Auditor's Proposed Budgets subpage did list “Proposed Budget FY 2026-2027.” That tells us the budget was available on a subpage Sunday evening, while no budget link was visible on the home page in the screenshot reviewed. It does not establish what the home page looked like on earlier meeting dates.

![Screenshot of the Jack County Proposed Budgets page showing a link to the FY 2026-2027 proposed budget.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5c/4e/5c4eb6e9-83ff-409d-812f-91d5df366ead/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-13-201816.png)

Jack County’s Proposed Budgets page as viewed September 13, 2026, showing the FY 2026-2027 proposed budget listed on the County Auditor’s subpage.

# What the earlier budget meetings show

As part of the follow-up review, we went back through the FY 2026-2027 budget cycle. We have now identified at least seven completed Commissioners Court meetings where the County budget was substantively discussed: June 8, June 22, July 20, August 3, August 10, August 17 and August 24.

The August record is especially clear. The August 3 official minutes identify a “BUDGET WORKSHOP FY2026-2027.” The August 17 special meeting expressly listed a FY 2026-2027 Budget Workshop. Recorded meeting notes also show substantive budget discussion on June 8, June 22, August 10 and August 24.

Because Texas Government Code §551.043(c) applies when a governmental body will discuss or adopt its budget, those meetings raise the same HB 1522 notice question.

So far, we have not located an HB 1522 taxpayer impact statement for any of those seven completed budget-discussion meetings. We also have not yet established that the required proposed budget accompanied each posted notice or qualified for the home-page exception.

That does not prove that every meeting violated the statute. We have not inspected every original physical courthouse posting packet, and some required materials may exist in records we have not found. The more precise finding is that compliance has not yet been demonstrated.

The County can resolve much of this quickly by producing the original posted notice packets and identifying the budget and taxpayer impact statement that accompanied each meeting.

The May 27 regular-meeting agenda has now been reviewed and does not list a FY 2026-2027 budget workshop or other County-budget discussion item. The July 20 special-meeting agenda, however, expressly lists Item 8, “BUDGET WORKSHOP FY2026-2027.” That brings the completed budget-discussion meetings identified so far to at least seven. This remains a preliminary audit of the current budget cycle, not yet a complete review of every Commissioners Court meeting since HB 1522 took effect.

# Why these questions were raised before Monday's meeting

The transparency concern actually predates my discovery of HB 1522\. After the August 24 meeting, I asked for a copy of the current working version of the budget because the public-facing copy appeared to remain the July 31 version even though the Court had spent August holding workshops and making changes. At the time, I did not know HB 1522 had added specific notice requirements for meetings where a budget is discussed or adopted.

Learning about HB 1522 later prompted me to go back and review the meeting notices and the budget process more closely.

On September 12 at 6:57 p.m., I sent Judge Umphress and the Commissioners the core questions behind this article before Monday's meeting. The central question was: **“What am I missing that would show these requirements have already been satisfied?”** I asked for the proposed-budget filing date, the date of the required budget hearing, the publication record, the HB 1522 taxpayer impact statements and the current budget version the Court plans to consider Monday. **I then waited 24 hours before publishing this article. As of 8:30 p.m. Sunday, September 13, I had received no response from the Judge or Commissioners.**

The purpose was to give the Court an opportunity to identify records I had missed or seek legal guidance before taking final action. I also made clear that I was not asking for a group discussion by email. If the records exist, identifying them resolves much of the concern. If they do not, the focus should be on finding the lawful corrective path forward.

# What can the County do now?

The best outcome is the simplest one: if the County already held a properly noticed budget hearing, it can identify the date and produce the notice and record. That would resolve the central question.

If no prior budget hearing occurred, the County has a much tighter problem because the statutory hearing deadline has already passed.

The practical path toward restoring public notice and participation appears to be to postpone the budget and tax-rate votes, obtain legal advice and publish a proper budget-hearing notice as quickly as possible.

The Jacksboro Herald-Gazette publication schedule currently shows Saturday, September 19 as the next publication date, with a submission deadline of Wednesday, September 16 at 4:00 p.m.

A September 19 budget-hearing publication would make Tuesday, September 29 the earliest apparent hearing date under the 10-day notice rule.

For a September 29 meeting, the County would also need to satisfy the new three-business-day Open Meetings Act notice period. A prudent deadline would be Wednesday, September 23\. The notice should include the proposed budget, or make it clearly accessible from the County home page, and include the HB 1522 taxpayer impact statement.

That route would give the public the notice and hearing opportunity that appear to be missing. But it would not turn a late hearing into one held within the original 25-day deadline. Whether a late hearing can legally cure the earlier defect is a question for the County Attorney and, if necessary, outside counsel.

# The tax-rate hearing creates a second timing problem

Texas Tax Code §26.06 allows Commissioners to vote on the proposed tax rate at the tax-rate hearing. If they do not vote that day, they must announce when the tax-rate vote will occur, and the vote may not be held later than the seventh day after the hearing.

That means a September 14 tax-rate hearing normally supports a tax-rate vote no later than September 21.

But Local Government Code §111.007 requires the budget hearing to occur before the County adopts its ad valorem tax rate.

If the earliest properly published budget hearing is September 29, the County cannot solve the sequence simply by holding Monday's tax-rate hearing and waiting until September 29 to use it. The seven-day tax-rate vote window would have expired.

For that reason, one possible corrective path would be to re-notice the tax-rate hearing as well and coordinate both hearings for a later date. County counsel should determine the exact sequence and notice language.

# What happens if the County does not adopt a tax rate in time?

Texas Tax Code §26.05 sets the final tax-rate deadline as the later of September 30 or the 60th day after the County receives the certified appraisal roll.

The exact Jack County deadline depends on the date the County actually received the certified roll. September 30 is therefore the earliest date that can control under this provision unless the 60th day falls later.

If the County misses the applicable deadline, state law does not simply leave the County without a tax rate.

Section 26.05(c) automatically sets the tax rate at the lower of:

• the no-new-revenue tax rate for that year, or

• the tax rate adopted for the preceding year.

Jack County's published FY2025-2026 total adopted rate was $0.442043 per $100.

The 2026 no-new-revenue rate listed in the September 5 notice is $0.430234 per $100.

Because $0.430234 is lower, that is the rate that appears to control if Jack County reaches the statutory deadline without adopting a rate, assuming the published figures remain the applicable figures.

The proposed rate is $0.453183.

For a property with $100,000 in taxable value, the difference between the proposed rate and $0.430234 is about $22.95 for the year. That example uses taxable value, not market value, and individual tax bills can differ because of exemptions and other factors.

For the County, the consequence works in the other direction. A lower rate would produce less property-tax revenue than the proposed rate, which could require the budget to be adjusted, other lawful revenues or reserves to be used, or planned expenditures to be reconsidered.

Section 26.05(c) treats the fallback rate as an adopted rate and requires the governing body to ratify it shortly afterward.

# Why resolving this before a vote matters

These are not just paperwork questions.

The budget determines how County services are funded. The tax rate determines how much of that cost is raised through property taxes. The public-hearing process gives taxpayers a chance to see the plan and participate before those decisions become final.

HB 1522 adds another reason to get the notice right. Under the Texas Open Meetings Act, an action taken in violation of Chapter 551 is voidable, and an interested person can seek mandamus or injunctive relief to prevent or reverse a violation.

That does not mean every unanswered notice question automatically invalidates a vote. It does mean there is value in resolving these questions before the Court acts rather than after.

# What we hope to hear Monday

On September 12 at 6:57 p.m., I sent Judge Umphress and the Commissioners the core questions behind this article. I asked what I might be missing that would show the requirements had already been satisfied and sent the questions before Monday's meeting so there would be time to identify records I had missed or seek legal guidance if needed. I also made clear that I was not asking for a group discussion by email. As of Sunday evening, after allowing a full 24-hour response window, I had received no response from the Judge or Commissioners.

The County can make much of this clear by answering a few straightforward questions on the record:

• What date was the FY 2026-2027 proposed budget formally filed with the County Clerk?

• When was the public budget hearing required by §111.007 held?

• Where and when was the 10-to-30-day budget-hearing notice published?

• What budget and taxpayer impact statement accompanied the August budget-workshop notices under HB 1522?

• Where is the taxpayer impact statement for the September 14 budget-adoption meeting?

• What exact version of the FY 2026-2027 budget is Commissioners Court being asked to adopt?

If those records exist, publishing them would resolve much of the uncertainty.

If they do not, the constructive question is no longer who is to blame. It is how Jack County can provide the required public process, protect the validity of its budget and tax-rate decisions and make the record clear before the remaining deadlines expire.

# The goal is a lawful path forward

Skew the Future's role here is not to tell taxpayers what position to take on the proposed budget or tax rate.

The goal is to make the process understandable.

Jack County has a budget to adopt, services to fund and deadlines to meet. Taxpayers have notice and participation rights that are part of that same process.

The best outcome is a path that respects both.

We will update this article if the County identifies additional notices, hearing records, budget versions or taxpayer impact statements during Monday's meeting.

Let’s keep building.

# Shared Resources. Shared Standards. Shared Stewardship.

# Source Links

Texas Local Government Code Chapter 111, County Budget:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Texas Local Government Code §111.006, Proposed Budget Filed With County Clerk:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm#111.006](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#111.006)

Texas Local Government Code §111.007, Public Hearing on Proposed Budget:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm#111.007](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#111.007)

Texas Local Government Code §111.0075, Special Notice by Publication for Budget Hearing:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm#111.0075](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#111.0075)

Texas Local Government Code §111.008, Adoption of Budget:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm#111.008](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/LG/htm/LG.111.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#111.008)

Texas Legislature, Enrolled HB 1522:

[https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB01522F.HTM](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/HB01522F.HTM?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Texas Association of Counties LegalEase, HB 1522 Budget Meeting Notice Guidance:

[https://www.county.org/resources/news/legalease-faqs-by-subject/open-meetings-act/89th-new-requirements-budget-meeting-notice](https://www.county.org/resources/news/legalease-faqs-by-subject/open-meetings-act/89th-new-requirements-budget-meeting-notice?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Texas Government Code Chapter 551, Open Meetings:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.551.htm](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.551.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Texas Tax Code §26.05, Tax Rate:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.26.htm#26.05](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.26.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#26.05)

Texas Tax Code §26.06, Notice, Hearing and Vote on Tax Increase:

[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.26.htm#26.06](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.26.htm?ref=skewthefuture.com#26.06)

Texas Comptroller, Truth-in-Taxation Hearings and Tax-Rate Adoption:

[https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/truth-in-taxation/hearings.php](https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/truth-in-taxation/hearings.php?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County Proposed Budgets:

[https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/county-auditor/page/proposed-budgets](https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/county-auditor/page/proposed-budgets?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County FY 2026-2027 proposed budget, July 31 Work Budget Version 0005:

[https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/media/1696](https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/media/1696?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County Tax Rates, including FY2025-2026 adopted total rate:

[https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/county-tax-assessor-collector/page/tax-rates](https://www.jackcounty.texas.gov/county-tax-assessor-collector/page/tax-rates?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County September 14, 2026 Commissioners Court agenda:

[http://apps.easydoc.jackcounty.org/Agendas/LinkedDir/2026/2026-09-14-regular.pdf](http://apps.easydoc.jackcounty.org/Agendas/LinkedDir/2026/2026-09-14-regular.pdf?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Texas Public Notices, Jacksboro Herald-Gazette September 5, 2026 Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase:

[https://www.texaspublicnotices.com/(S(q2eftvexus0ke50et5puxlsb))/Details.aspx?SID=q2eftvexus0ke50et5puxlsb&ID=944938](https://www.texaspublicnotices.com/%28S%28q2eftvexus0ke50et5puxlsb%29%29/Details.aspx?SID=q2eftvexus0ke50et5puxlsb&ID=944938&ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County August 10, 2020 agenda authorizing publication of FY2021 proposed-budget hearing notice:

[https://jackcounty.org/pages/CC/agenda/2020/08-10-2020.pdf](https://jackcounty.org/pages/CC/agenda/2020/08-10-2020.pdf?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Jack County August 24, 2020 agenda listing Public Hearing on Proposed County Budget for FY2021:

[https://jackcounty.org/pages/CC/agenda/2020/08-24-2020.pdf](https://jackcounty.org/pages/CC/agenda/2020/08-24-2020.pdf?ref=skewthefuture.com)

Additional Jack County records reviewed for the FY 2026-2027 meeting audit include the May 27 regular agenda, July 20 special agenda, August 3 minutes, August 17 special-meeting notice and meeting records from June 8, June 22, August 10 and August 24.