Paid for by Grassroots America – We the People PAC®
Public Statement | August 17, 2026
Smith County Budget Workshop
Delivered by Tom Fabry, Chair
Government Watchdog Committee
For the last several years, Grassroots America offered this Court clear, proven methods to strengthen Smith County’s fiscal management. These aren’t theories. They’re disciplines used every day in business planning, Citizen-First local governments, and personal finance.
The basis for improvement was a County Business Plan developed by the Commissioners Court and implemented with department level plans to drive spending discipline and transparency to achieve measurable results for taxpayers.
We recommended five necessary steps to implement a successful County Business Plan:
- Zero Based budgets – analyze costs for each core constitutional responsibility of County government, which provides the basis for matching money with mission to achieve the highest quality services at the very best price
- Metrics – counting the work a department actually produces so taxpayers can see output, efficiency, and cost.
- Goals – set objectives and timelines for improvement
- Reporting – regularly checking progress, spotting problems early, and giving taxpayers clear quarterly updates
- Accountability – regular feedback to reward achievement and correct deficiencies
This Court ignored every single commonsense recommendation and you are right back in chaos mode – and OVERTAXING! Your own numbers prove it!
Just four years ago – in 2023 – Smith County’s population was about 242,000. Today it’s roughly 250,000 — a 4.2% increase.
Reasonable taxpayers expect property tax revenue to rise with population growth plus inflation. But compare the 2023 property tax levies of $72 million with your projected 2027 property tax levies at $116 million — that’s a massive 61.2% increase in taxes on citizens!
And now, all but one of you voted for the maximum tax increase allowed by law without voter approval – which only worsens the tax bite out of family and small business budgets.
Even worse is your hoarding of unspent tax dollars!
This time two years ago, we first called out your $43M fund balance when County policy required just $26M in unrestricted reserves. You overtaxed citizens by $17M!
This year, you are on track to accumulate an $84 Million unencumbered fund balance – an unprecedented $47M of excess taxation on Smith County taxpayers! By all rights, that money should be in family and small business bank accounts – NOT in the county treasury!
Today, your agenda calls for scrubbing budgets to find some savings. You should have done this months ago – not at the last minute.
Today, will you put the Citizens First? You cannot justify sitting on $84 million in cash after raising our taxes!