(Seguin) — Guadalupe County is working its way through what County Judge Kyle Kutscher describes as “an unprecedented budget year,” one marked by a shrinking tax base, changes in state exemptions, rising costs and continued growth across the county.
Kutscher says the county started the budget process in May facing a significant loss in taxable value.
“Well, this year’s budget has been a challenge, and it’s a challenge every year, but with appraisal reductions and a few big changes at the state, the county did lose a considerable amount of appraised value,” said Kutscher. “With a few big changes at the state, the county did lose a considerable amount of appraised value. There was about $1.45 or $1.46 billion dollars of value that was lost from a freeze/refreeze recalculation of certain exemptions. There was also new personal property or business exemptions that were given through the state that individuals voted on that reduced the appraisals in the county by about 400 million total. And then when you add back in the new property and all the development and construction that all of us see as we’re driving around it right over $860 million. The result of all of those things has the Guadalupe County total appraisal going down by almost $1.1 billion.”
According to the proposed budget, the county’s total taxable value dropped from about $21.98 billion in 2025 to approximately $20.90 billion in 2026. That decline came even as the county continued to add new development and with about $864.2 million in new property added to the tax rolls this year.
For the county, Kutscher says the lower tax base translates directly into less money available to operate.
“And what that means in our calculations of providing county services, is that just in maintenance and operation, we had almost $4 million less this year to work with as compared to last year,” said Kutscher. “And that puts a strain on a lot of departments and a lot of services that all departments and elected and appointed are trying to provide to the public and it just creates other challenges and stress points.”
At the same time the county was dealing with less revenue, he says some of its costs were going up just like what folks have seen in their everyday lives.
Kutscher pointed to increased EMS contracts, higher fire service costs, employee health insurance and debt tied to projects already approved or underway.
He says the proposed budget anticipates an approximately 8 percent increase in county health insurance costs. It also includes funding for several county projects.
“We had about a15 percent increase on EMS contracts because of increased call value, and increased cost to our partners who help provide those services,” said Kutscher. “We had health insurance that went up for county employees that estimated initially 15 percent, now reduced to about 8 percent, restructure of debt, which are for specific projects, that are expansion, renovation of our existing jail, and adult detention facility.”
The combination of those expenses and the reduction in available revenue created a situation Kutscher says the county has not faced before.
“With $4 million less in revenue with about $4.5 to $5 million of funds spent before we started, really did create some challenges that we haven’t had to deal with and haven’t seen in the past in Guadalupe County,” said Kutscher.
Kutscher says the proposed budget also includes a property tax rate of $0.3549 per $100 of valuation.
He adds that the county’s required budget notice also states that the budget would raise approximately $4.9 million more in property tax revenue than last year’s budget, an increase of 6.2 percent.
“The last thing any court member, anybody at the county, because we are a group of conservative people – the last thing we want to do is try to raise taxes or do anything,” said Kutscher. “But with that revenue shortfall, with the changes at the state, the additional exemptions, this 5.65 percent change in the tax rate does not add new positions. It didn’t change and give a tremendous amount of resources to anybody. No departments were singled out.”
Instead, he says, this proposed rate is simply to get the county back to a level where it can maintain the services it currently provides.
“Basically, that’s really just funding at an equal or balanced level what we already have in the current year budget,” said Kutscher. “So that was one of the biggest challenges we’ve seen, and this year was really just trying to get back to a level playing field at a tax rate that funds what we already had, so services did not have to be reduced.”
Kutscher says the budget process takes a team and is appreciative of all efforts to make it work even though folks don’t get all that they want.
Although cuts to the budget are required, Kutscher says the proposed budget still does include a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for eligible county employees.
Kutscher says it’s important for county officials to still recognize employees “while also keeping the impact on taxpayers in check.:
He says many county employees are entry-level or hourly workers who are dealing with the same rising costs as everyone else.
“They have stability in a job with the county, they get good insurance, but have a lot of employees that are hourly, that are struggling just to pay their bills also, and handle those issues with their families, and just live like a lot of our residents are,” said Kutscher.
Kutscher adds that the budget is not final and encourages citizens to also look at their proposed spending. The proposed budget has officially been filed with the County Clerk and is now available for public review.
On Sept. 1, the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court is scheduled to hold public hearings and take potential action on both the budget and tax rate.
Kutscher says the budget process began in May with department heads developing and submitting their requests. Commissioners Court then held individual meetings, group budget meetings and workshops “as officials worked through the impact of the lower tax base and increased expenses.”
And while the proposed budget calls for a higher tax rate, Kutscher said the county is also asking its departments to absorb some of the financial pressure.
“It’s still really tight and it’s just an unprecedented event,” said Kutscher. “I think, around the state, but especially in Guadalupe County because of the recalculation. … All of these things coupled together create, make a very tight fiscal environment for the county to be able to expand at a time when things are booming and growing very fast.”
Residents can review the 244-page proposed FY 2026-27 Guadalupe County budget online through the county’s website. The county’s budget documents and transparency filings are available through the county website, and Kutscher said residents who have difficulty accessing the information or who want specific details are encouraged to contact his office or any Commissioners Court member.
View the Guadalupe County FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget (Click Here)