Ector County Commissioners discusses upcoming year tax rate

Ector County, Texas (KOSA) - Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett said the proposed tax rate is 35 cents, which is the same as last year’s rate.

With this tax rate, Fawcett says the county will bring in more in property tax revenue and that will help set the county up for long-term success says Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett

Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the 2023-2024 tax rate.

The way this tax rate is set up is .35 cents per 100 dollar valuation, which is the same rate as last year.

This tax rate will provide pay raises of 20 percent for the jailers at the Ector County Detention Center and raises for the District Attorney’s office.

Despite county workers getting raises the plan will actually let the county save money at the end of the day since the county will be able to fill vacated positions across the county .

“But in reality, we pay 75 dollars an hour sometimes because we were going through a temp agency. So why would we not raise that pay to what is an equivalent all rendering LVN in the market today and actually get that pay down and save the county money. And so we added strategic pay for our health” says Fawcett

the district attorney’s office will see strategic raises to address vacancies. State legislation is key for getting the raises.

Counties with less than 300,000 residents in Texas will receive 500,000 dollars for their sheriff staff while DA offices receive 250,000 dollars.

“And so that was the other raise we had was the District Attorney’s office and those salaries. That salary increase that we’re using out of our general fund which is our property tax fund is actually going to be reimbursed to the county to the tune of 250,000 dollars. And also, the sheriff’s department, a lot of those raises that we did. We’re going to receive 500,000 dollars back from the Texas legislature in the form of those grants” says Fawcett

There is another meeting on September the 5th at the Annex building if residents want to come out and ask questions about the tax rate.