Lubbock County will not impose higher property taxes on residents this year, thanks to the actions of two county commissioners.
On Monday, Precinct 2 Commissioner Jason Corley and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler skipped a commissioners court meeting, blocking a vote on a property tax increase supported by Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish and the other two county commissioners.
Corley and Rackler used the same strategy twice before, intentionally missing meetings on August 26 and September 9 to block tax increase votes.
State law requires four commissioners at a meeting to approve a tax levy.
Monday morning’s meeting was the last chance for commissioners to vote on a new tax rate before the September 30 deadline.
The tax rate for the next fiscal year will now default to the No New Revenue rate, which raises the same amount of revenue from the same properties taxed the previous year.
As Monday’s commissioners court meeting began without him, Rackler noted in a Facebook video that the county will still collect more property tax revenue than last year, as new properties added to the tax rolls generate additional tax revenue.
“Last year the budget was $153 million. This year it will be $158 million,” explained Rackler. “It’s still more money. We’re not going to cut anything, we’ll add less stuff to the budget.”
“People need to learn that in the middle of hard times, you have to make sacrifices at home and with the county,” he added. “We can do it. It’s not the end of the world.”
Several citizens gave public comments during Monday’s meeting in support of the NNR rate.
“When you take the same amount of money out of my pocket this year as you took last year, It’s not a tax cut. It’s a wish list cut,” county resident Cary Shaw told commissioners. He added that the county needs to “live within its means like the rest of us.”
Taxpayer advocate and Lubbock County Appraisal District Director Jim Baxa thanked Commissioners Corley and Rackler for not being at the meeting “because they’ve answered their constituents’ calls to block y’alls tax increase.”
Baxa then asked commissioners to follow Tarrant County’s example.
“They were able to find waste in government, cut spending, and go below the No New Revenue rate to actually give the residents a tax cut. That’s what we want to see here,” he said. “We want to see conservative government like Tarrant County has. That’s what we’re looking for here in Lubbock County.”
Lubbock County Precinct 2 resident Cyndi Acuff chided Judge Parrish for attempting to “humiliate and bully Commissioners Corley and Rackler, as well as those of us who have supported them.”
Acuff is one of the citizens referred to by Parrish as “crazy kooks” for opposing tax increases.
“You listed all the repairs and maintenance projects that would have to go unfinished to do budget cuts,” said Acuff, referring to a press conference held by Parrish last week to make a final pitch for a tax increase. “Well, sir, most voters are having to choose between food on the table for their kids or repairs to their homes.”
Acuff agreed with Baxa that Lubbock should follow Tarrant’s example.
You made the statement that if the residents of Lubbock County want lower taxes, they just need to move. Well, here’s an idea. Why don’t you three go to Tarrant County and take lessons from their Commissioners Court, where just last week, they lowered the property tax rate and the hospital district rate below the No New Revenue rate for the second year in a row. That is what good government looks like.
Precinct 1 resident Carrie Thomas encouraged commissioners to “readdress the budget with the mindset that you have been elected to be good stewards of the finances that are before you.”
“We all love this community,” she added. “We’re all on the same side, because we want this county to succeed on all levels.”
While tax rates for the county and hospital district were on Monday’s agenda, Parrish was forced to postpone votes on the items due to the lack of a quorum.
The three court members at the meeting did approve a county budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
“These delays are just delaying us,” said Parrish, who wanted to set the county’s property tax rate at the Voter Approval Rate—the maximum increase allowed without a public vote.
“So if you’re all for a lower tax rate this year, just ask yourself, what are you going to approve next year?” Parrish added. “How much do we kick the can down the road when the can can no longer be kicked?”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Gilbert Flores said Lubbock County is “stepping back five years.”
Flores also apologized to the county department heads, saying, “We’re not balancing your budget because of what’s happening. We’re not cutting your budget. We are butchering your departments. There’s so many things that you’re not going to be able to do for the next two or three years.”
“I dread to be here next year, but I am,” Flores added. “I am going to be here next year, and we’ll try again to do the best we can. But I don’t think our revenues are going to help us next year at all.”
“We need to be moving forward, not backwards, so I hope for the future of Lubbock County this doesn’t happen again,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Terence Tovar. “But we are here now. Hopefully the two come to the table with significant, significant cuts that are proactive for Lubbock County.”
Lubbock County residents can direct questions to commissioners court members.
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