‘Fix it or we’ll vote you out’: Voters force Coryell County Commissioners to amend budget that would have increased property taxes 21%
CORYELL COUNTY, Texas (KWTX) - Things got heated at the Coryell County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, and it appears voters got their point across.
More than 150 people attended the public meeting, either via Zoom or in person, to voice their concerns about a new budget that could have increased their taxes by 21 percent.
The message from voters was clear, they are not happy with the first budget proposal that the court planned to vote on.
“To hear this 21% increase in our taxes to make up for the mistakes you’ve made,” said one person who attended the meeting. “You made mistakes, not us. And you’re expecting us to come in here and bail you out. Well, you can see, we’re done.”
It included things like more money for travel that the commissioners agreed they don’t need, and a $7,000 income supplement for district court judges on top of their state mandated wages.
“We don’t have to supplement a damn thing, and we aren’t going to supplement unless you idiots vote it in,” said another person attending the meeting.
These concerns echoed through the room for hours with threats to vote commissioners out of office.
“You better knock it down. You better get back in there and you better come back with another meeting,” said the second person speaking later in the meeting. “Not tomorrow, later, where we can all come back”
That is what they did.
“We are going to go back and revisit the proposed budget,” said Coryell County Judge Roger Miller. “We’re going to make cuts to the point to where I hope we feel like we’re still maintaining the services necessary for the county but also demonstrate to the public that we can in fact budget in a responsible manner.”
They began making changes to the budget with the crowd still there and things like the $7,000 supplement and a $2,000 auto allowance for the county judge were the first to go.
An allowance the Judge Miller offered to give up.
“They’re looking at the low hanging fruit right now but I do believe that there are some areas that potentially could be cut, that are much larger expenditures,” said Judge Miller.
Even if they make all the amendments Tuesday, they won’t be able to vote Tuesday.
They have to issue public notice which means they will have to vote on it at their next scheduled meeting at 9:00am on September 23, 2025 at 801 E. Leon St. in Gatesville.
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