In public forum, Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham discussed water issues in Gober and Dodd City.
The Fannin County Sheriff's Department posted that, due to a coordinated effort and donations from multiple entities across the county, a steady supply of bottled drinking water and non-potable water is available at the Gober community center for those affected by the Gober MUD water outage. The Bonham State Park has waived fees and offered access to their showers as well for anyone in the affected area. The relief efforts will continue as long as necessary!
At that point, the discussion turned to the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget requests.
Fannin County Auditor Alicia Whipple commended Brandon Caffee, Director of Fannin County Juvenile Services, for reducing his budget request by $13,140.00.
Judge Paul Ivy, JP Pct. 1, asked for a $3,746.00 raise for the precint's chief clerk; requests by Criminal District Attorney John Skotnik totaled $20,000; the county's share of a cybersecurity grant would be $77,818.79; and the county fire marshal requested $82,378.00 for a truck.
This time of the fiscal year is always crunch time for the auditor's office, but Fannin County Clerk Jenny Garner has been wearing two hats since the departure of the county's elections administrator and won't know the full impact of state mandates on her budget until she attends a Secretary of State workshop this week.
Garner expressed frustration at the lack of interaction so far in the budget process.
"For the last two years, I have shown up faithfully to every commissioners’ court, special meetings, budget meetings, and workshops that I was able to attend," Garner told the court. "Over the course of that two years, I have listened to arguing, innuendo, hearsay, and deliberate attempts not to unify our county but to constantly undermine our elected officials and the faith that our citizens have placed in us. I have heard the term transparency used so many times that I literally become nauseous when it is used now. So let’s try a new word…honesty…or maybe integrity.
"I have come into this courtroom and asked for the things my office needs to do our jobs and serve our citizens. As an elected official, I am constantly cognizant of the fact that we are using taxpayer money. If I want to do something costly, I diligently work to secure grants or special funding for such projects. I have consistently come in under budget and I do everything I can to be fiscally responsible with the funds I am entrusted with…
"When I met with the Judge and the auditor regarding my budget, I asked for increased funding for election workers for the upcoming year based on SB 2753. I had spent numerous hours working through various scenarios trying to determine what a reasonable expectation was…if we ran the elections the way the legislature originally proposed, we would need close to $150,000 per election based on the fact that we are precinct based. They have adjusted their expectations, but I am estimating that we will need $30,000 to $50,000 per election, depending on the number of polling locations we open and how many hours we keep them open. Gratefully, odd-numbered years have fewer elections but holding the line at $30,000 for election workers for 2026-2027 and coming back in for the following year asking for at least three times that amount is going to be a huge hit in the pocketbook for the 2027-2028 budget.
"If we can pass countywide voting, it will help reduce part of the cost but we have no guarantee that will happen and it is incumbent upon all of us to plan based on the current scenario. I am attending a workshop this week in Denton with the Secretary of State’s office to help determine what the budget needs are…I can already tell you that they are recommending that we have enough office staff to flex hours in order to help reduce overtime. I’m not opposed to that but I need at least three full-time staff members to staff the office if I am going to reduce the overtime budget. SB 2753 wasn’t set up for precinct-based counties in mind and the programming may be too intense for me to do…if I can’t do the programming, we will need to add at least $15,000 into the budget for that. The elections administrator that we had last year saved us approximately $45,000 in programming fees.
"An entire group of people, including party chairs, requested that money be allocated for an elections administrator. We currently do not have someone in that position, so it has been proposed that we do away with the position and cut the position down to a clerk. That leaves us in the position of having no funding to hire an elections administrator if an acceptable candidate is found or if the election commission decides we need to attempt to fill the position in the next 18 months. Since I am being asked to commit to working two full-time positions, I find that proposal at least questionable.
"None of us appreciate 'unfunded mandates' but they are real. Refusing to fund them will not change the fact that we are expected to meet those standards. It reminds me of the Israelites being required by Pharaoh to make bricks without the necessary ingredients.
"Historically, this county has perpetuated a poverty mentality that is unacceptable. We have expected people to work in substandard buildings for below standard pay for way too many years. I haven’t had time to pursue money that is owed to the county because I am constantly doing clean-up that has been caused by years of neglect and lack of funding. My office is still doing work that the last county clerk was unable to complete due to constant understaffing and underfunding.
"Now, where does that leave us for this year’s budget? We are being told that we have lost revenue and are going to be in worse shape than we were the year before. Since I don’t have access to all of the departments’ requests, it is impossible for me to verify the numbers that get thrown around in this courtroom. But this is what I do know. The 'Truth in Taxation' bills put in place a mechanism for the cities, schools, and the county to adjust the tax rate when there is 'No new revenue.' It allows the commissioners to adjust the tax rate within certain parameters to meet the demands of inflation, unfunded mandates, and the service needs of the citizens. By law, this is not deemed a tax increase. A true tax increase is taken to the citizens for a vote. If the new growth in this county does not offset the losses in revenue, then it is incumbent upon the commissioners and the judge to adjust the tax rate. If not adjusting the tax rate became a precedent, it would only take a couple of years for the county to find itself so far in the hole that we wouldn’t even be able to account for the effects of inflation much less service the growth in our county. And sadly, with growth also comes crime. Underfunding the sheriff’s office or the District Attorney’s office is unacceptable. We pay our taxes to ensure that we have protections and so we can keep criminals from becoming the norm.
"Having said all of that, what am I asking for? At the moment, I am asking the commissioners to engage in a meaningful conversation with each department regarding their needs. The elected officials have shown up to multiple budget meetings and have been given no opportunity to explain or defend their needs. I am asking the court NOT to adopt a budget until that has taken place and I have had an opportunity to work through the math in training this week with the SOS office to better determine the needs of the election department.
"I am asking the commissioners’ court to adjust the tax rate if it becomes apparent that it is necessary to run this county at the level required by state statute. Laws, regulations, and mandates are not suggestions. Find a way to fund them. If it means a tax adjustment, make it. We elected each of you because we believed you were capable of working together to make good decisions and -- when necessary - -make the hard ones. But refusing to adjust the tax rate just so you can claim the county didn’t raise taxes, while cutting departmental budgets and refusing to fund mandates does not demonstrate fiscal responsibility. Quite the contrary, it is the height of fiscal irresponsibility."
With the deadline to publish the county budget drawing near, Garner will be attending a Secretary of State workshop through July 17, 2026 to determine the exact extent of state mandates on her budget.
Whipple will need to publish the budget by July 30, 2026 -- 15 days from now.
