Gillespie County is preparing to increase property taxes on local taxpayers while sitting on a large general fund balance.
The rate proposed by the Gillespie County Commissioners for the 2026 tax year is $0.2873 per $100 of valuation, above the no-new-revenue (NNR) rate of $0.2770. The county’s own notice of public hearing1 is unambiguous: the proposed rate “is greater than the no-new-revenue tax rate,” and Gillespie County “is proposing to increase property taxes for the 2026 tax year.” NNR is the rate that would collect roughly the same money from the same properties as the previous year. A rate above that line is a tax increase. The figures also appear on the county’s financial page2 and tax-rate worksheet.3
What the numbers show
Last year’s adopted county rate was $0.2685, according to the Gillespie Central Appraisal District’s 2025 rate schedule.4 The proposed 2026 rate is a 7 percent increase.
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | |
| Total tax rate (per $100 of value) | $0.2685 | $0.2873 | 7% increase |
| Average homestead taxable value | $541,147 | $535,098 | 1.11% decrease |
| Tax on average homestead | $1,453 | $1,537 | 5.78% increase |
| Total tax levy on all properties | $21,172,026 | $22,952,710 | 8.41% increase |
While the typical homestead’s taxable value is slightly lower this year, the county is still asking households for $84 more. The countywide levy would rise by about $1.78 million. A separate budget notice5 says the proposed FY 2026–27 budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $1,635,185, or 6.2 percent, of which $995,578 would come from new property. The rest still falls on properties already on the rolls. And of course, those county taxes stack on top of school, city, and special-district tax levies.
A unanimous court, and questions from taxpayers
Every member of Commissioners Court is listed as voting to consider the increase: County Judge Daniel Jones and Commissioners Charles Olfers, Keith Kramer, Charles Jenschke, and Don Weinheimer. None voted against.6 That 5–0 vote published the proposed rate. The court has not yet adopted it.
The county’s own financial page does not settle those concerns. As of September 2026, the latest independent audit posted by the county was completed in May 2024 for the year ended September 30, 2023. Unassigned general-fund balance was $27.7 million, or 125 percent of general-fund expenditures. Combined governmental fund balances were $42.3 million. The audit archive lists no later report.7 A government holding more than a year’s general-fund spending in unassigned reserves does not seem like an emergency that requires a property tax increase on the people who already paid for those reserves.
The notice’s “no-new-revenue maintenance and operations” add-ons do not explain the hike either. The state criminal-justice mandate adjustment is $0.0005 per $100. The indigent health-care and indigent-defense adjustments are $0.0000.8
This is a choice, not a requirement
Consider a contrasting example: Tarrant County has adopted rates below NNR for three consecutive years and has now proposed a fourth.9 If a large metro county can fund core services and still collect less from existing properties than the year before, a Hill Country county with a large general-fund balance can at least adopt NNR.
The first duty of a county budget is to steward the people’s money and pay for courts, law enforcement, roads, and the jail. Families in Fredericksburg, Harper, Stonewall, and the rest of Gillespie County are already paying more for groceries, insurance, and other living essentials. Another tax increase coming out of the pockets of local taxpayers is money that cannot go to a car repair, a medical bill, or savings.
When a court adopts a rate above NNR, it has raised property taxes. Full stop.
Tuesday is the hearing
A public hearing on the proposed tax rate and the FY 2026–27 budget is set for Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. at the Gillespie County Courthouse, 101 West Main Street, Fredericksburg.
Commissioners Court can still adopt the no-new-revenue rate of $0.2770 and amend the budget to match. That would help keep faith with taxpayers and still capture revenue from new property on the roll. Raising the rate to $0.2873 is a decision to grow county government at taxpayers’ expense.
Concerned taxpayers should make their voices heard before that vote at the hearing.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility relies on the support of private donors across the Lone Star State in order to promote fiscal responsibility and pro-taxpayer government in Texas. Please consider supporting our efforts! Thank you!
Get The Fiscal Note, our free weekly roll-up on all the current events that could impact your wallet. Subscribe today!
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2806 ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/1228/Financial-Tax-Rate-Information ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2772 ↩︎
- https://gillespiecad.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Tax-Rates-2025.pdf ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/1228/Financial-Tax-Rate-Information ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?CID=1 ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=37 ↩︎
- https://www.gillespiecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2806 ↩︎
- https://texastaxpayers.com/tarrant-county-on-track-to-cut-property-taxes-again/ ↩︎
