Nueces County residents will pay a higher property tax rate that supports a 10% cost-of-living adjustment for county employees as local officials seek to retain qualified staff.
The county Commissioners Court approved the tax rate, which is about 2 cents higher than the current tax rate, along with the county’s budget on Sept. 10.
Both the budget and the tax rate passed on a 3-2 vote, with County Judge Connie Scott and Commissioners John Marez and Mike Pusley voting for each.
Commissioners Joe A. Gonzalez and Brent Chesney opposed the tax rate and abstained from voting on the budget.
During public comment in the Sept. 10 meeting, Mark Villarreal and Nathaniel Perez — president and vice president, respectively, of the Nueces County Sheriff Officers’ Association, a union composed of sheriff’s deputies, deputy constables and correctional officers — spoke in favor of an increased tax rate, saying it would help maintain public safety. Perez cited poor pay for law enforcement in Nueces County compared to other counties and equipment that is “falling apart.”
Nueces County and hospital district tax rates
Commissioners adopted a new property tax rate of $0.289789 per $100 valuation, which consists of $0.037608 for debt services and $0.252181 for maintenance and operations.
The new rate is an increase from the current tax rate of $0.265532 per $100 valuation and higher than the no-new-revenue tax rate of $0.269339 per $100 valuation.
Nueces County interim Auditor Constance Sanchez told the Caller-Times on Sept. 16 that the new, increased rate is “still historically low as compared to the last 10 to 15 years.”
The average taxable value of a homestead in Nueces County was $202,917 in the 2024-25 fiscal year, and the average tax bill was $538.81, according to a presentation Sanchez showed to the county commissioners.
The average taxable value has increased to $214,427, which means the average tax bill is estimated to increase to $621.39.
The new tax rate is estimated to generate more than $125.9 million in revenue for all of the county’s funds, compared to an unaudited estimate of about $116 million generated in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to the presentation.
The commissioners also approved a Nueces County Hospital District tax rate of $0.089495 per $100 valuation.
The rate represents the no-new-revenue rate, which is calculated to generate about the same amount of revenue as in the current fiscal year.
Because of the increase in the median value of homestead property in Nueces County, Nueces County Hospital District tax bills are expected to rise for the average homeowner, from $181.08 to $191.90, according to documents included in the county commissioners’ meeting agenda.
Top budgeted items
Among the top budgeted items are the 10% cost-of-living adjustment totaling about $5 million, $2 million for a collective bargaining agreement for law enforcement and about $392,000 in state-mandated salary increases for judges in district courts and county courts.
“We’re hoping the 10% helps retain employees, incentivizes them to work harder and gets the salary of the county attorney up high enough that we can increase the salary of the auditor to help the auditor in that office in getting the budget books up to date,” Scott said.
Commissioners also voted to approve:
Salary adjustments in county departments
Commissioners approved about $40,000 to support a first assistant auditor at the county auditor’s office and about $68,000 for department head salary adjustments for the Animal Services Department manager, county airport manager and county human resources director.
Marez spoke in support of salary adjustments for the heads of county departments, noting that a higher rate of pay could attract more qualified applicants to apply for available positions.
The commissioners also approved reallocating money from some departments for the following: about $315,000 for four new positions in the Human Resources Department, about $341,000 for four new budget-related staff positions and about $313,000 for the Grants Administration Department.
The commissioners approved a measure to close the Grants Administration Department. The money they approved for grants administration will be used for a contract with a firm called GrantWorks that will handle grant management, as well as stipends for the director of Nueces County Coastal Parks and an assistant director to pursue grant funding opportunities for the rest of the county.
Current staff in Grants Administration could apply to positions in the auditor’s office or elsewhere in the county after the closure, Scott said.
The commissioners also passed a motion to allow budgeted vacant positions to be deleted through December 2025, provided that they result in a net zero increase to the budget.
The measure will not permit salary reclassifications for vacant positions in fiscal year 2025-26.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Here are the Nueces County and hospital district property tax rates for 2025-26
Reporting by Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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