Smith County, Texas · Smith County FY2026-27 Budget (posted as the “FY 2027 Proposed Budget,” version Aug 30, 2026)
Smith County — the money trail
Texas counties budget fund by fund. This is the county’s own “Total All Funds” for the year that began October 1, 2026 (p. 21) — every fund it appropriates, not counting a $6 million transfer to the employee health-insurance fund. The Commissioners Court adopted the budget and a tax rate of $0.374088 per $100 on September 15, 2026, by a 3–1 vote. The county’s website still posts the book titled “Proposed,” with the votes shown as “Pending” (Docket #1) — but its fund totals match news reports of the adopted budget to the dollar. The tax rate is levied on $33,211,827,069 of taxable value (p. 27). This budget raises $6,139,669 (5.77%) more property tax than last year. For context, each year’s budget cover states how much more property tax it raises than the year before: FY24 +20.01%, FY25 +12.09%, FY26 +7.22% (with the rate unchanged — rising values did it), and FY27 +5.77%. Click any number to see exactly where it comes from. Where the trail goes dark, it becomes a numbered issue in the
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Cross-foots ✓ 10/10
Where it goes — $198,056,173 appropriated
▶General Fund10$120,711,94661%✓ Sourced
The county’s main operating fund — courts, the sheriff, the jail, and most offices. Paid for mostly by property tax: the General Fund’s share of the rate is $0.265117 per $100 (p. 27). Honest arithmetic: the 50 departments below, as printed on pages 38–88, add up to $120,711,947 — one dollar more than the $120,711,946 fund total the county prints on page 21. That $1 is rounding inside the county’s own book, so this fund is not marked as cross-footed to the dollar.
The county judge and four commissioners — the body that adopts this budget.
Land records, marriage licenses, and county court filings.
County computers, network, and software.
Countywide costs not tied to one office.
Upkeep of county buildings.
Court-appointed lawyers for people who cannot afford one.
Down from $726,458 estimated for FY26 (same page).
Up from $659,736 estimated for FY26 (same page).
The largest single line in the General Fund — about 27 cents of every General Fund dollar.
A new department in FY27 — every earlier year on its page is blank.
▶Road & Bridge Fund$25,460,73613%✓ Sourced
County roads and bridges, paid by its own slice of the property tax ($0.0425 per $100, p. 27) plus vehicle fees. Up from $16,563,550 adopted for FY26 (FY26 book, p. 62) — most of the jump is in the Labor Division.
▶Juvenile General Fund$6,780,4613%✓ Sourced
Juvenile detention and probation. It gets $5,700,000 moved in from other funds this year (p. 21).
Up from $3,188,659 estimated for FY26 (same page).
Down from $3,346,331 estimated for FY26 (same page), while Detention roughly doubles. Together the two are close to last year’s total. The book does not say why the costs moved.
This year’s payments on the county’s bonds, paid by the debt slice of the tax rate ($0.056471 per $100, p. 27). Behind it: $221,005,000 still owed as of Oct 1, 2026 (cover and p. 30). The biggest piece is the 2023 courthouse bonds — $145,355,000 still owed, paid through 2047–48 (p. 29) — from the $179 million courthouse and parking package voters approved in November 2022. The yearly payment rows add to the $221,005,000 exactly, with $125,301,169 of interest still to come; the per-bond subtotals printed in the schedule leave out each bond’s first-year payment (Docket #2).
Small funds with fees set aside by state law — courthouse security, the law library, court technology, records preservation, and others (from page 90 on). Not broken down line by line here yet.
▶Capital Improvement Funds$24,232,59912%✓ Sourced
Money for buildings and roads, mostly bond money already borrowed plus a transfer from the General Fund.
Paid partly by its own $0.01 slice of the tax rate (p. 27).
Money from seven infrastructure bond series (2018–2025), spent as projects finish.
What is left to spend on the new courthouse.
Nothing budgeted to spend in FY27; $5,203,256 sits in the fund (p. 21).