With more than 1.04 million residents and almost 90 newcomers arriving daily in Denton County, we are projected to grow by 14.7 percent or more by almost 150,000 people in the next three years.
As a result of this fast-paced growth, we are working closely with our towns and cities to collectively address job growth through economic development, increased transportation needs through ongoing road projects and planning ahead on county services – all the while keeping the Denton County tax rate the second lowest in the state.
We purchased the Sally Beauty Headquarters facility in Denton last month to ensure Denton County has future space as we continue to grow. The facility, leased to the corporation for another year, will give the county additional room to hold the personnel providing county services.
Several county buildings are nearing maximum capacity, and, with this acquisition, we will have an immediate place to relocate employees and minimize future construction costs by using an existing building.
We also will spend about $53 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to build an Emergency Operations Center across from the Denton County Administrative Courthouse. The storm-ready building will house our Office of Emergency Management as well as our Denton County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Dispatch Center.
Especially now during this time of inflation, the Commissioners Court realizes the importance of ensuring our residents receive top-notch services from Denton County at a reasonable cost. Our number one priority continues to be to lower our tax rate, and we were able to do so again for the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget. The property tax, effective October 1, is the lowest it has been since 1986 – a total of 38 years!
The proposed FY 2024-2025 budget is $416 million with a proposed tax rate of $0.187869.
Several key factors in our fiscal year budget include:
- $7.35 million for Public Safety: Includes new positions, increased psychiatric services and court-ordered expenses for juveniles, increased fire service funding, increased prisoner transport expenses and increased cost of food and paper products for the Jail. Last year, to address the vast number of vacancies, we invested in salaries, increasing law enforcement pay across the board by 14 percent.
- $4.57 million for Judicial & Legal system.
- $2.45 million for Capital Improvement Projects and increased repairs and maintenance.
- $2.7 million for Technology Services to continue staying well ahead of the cybersecurity threat.
- $1.3 million for County Road & Bridge Improvements: Increasing the County’s pay-as-you-go system for county roads.
- $1 million in funds for Denton County MHMR for the Crisis Residential Unit and the Substance Use Disorder Program. Ensuring our residents have access to mental health programs in their time of need is important to us. And these programs are among several that help in a time of crisis.
This year, we are making salaries competitive countywide for employee retention. Our experienced employees allow us to continue providing quality services to an increasing number of taxpayers while at the same time keeping our number of employees per capita among the lowest in the top 15 Texas counties.
Retention of our employees is a key strategy in continuing to be innovative in increasing services to the public while maintaining a conservative view on our tax rate. We want to remain competitive in salaries across the board, including in law enforcement and our justice system, to retain current employees and continue to attract the best and brightest in the years to come.
As we look ahead to 2025, we are excited about the many opportunities that growth brings to Denton County. At the same time, we continue to be on the lookout for ways to use funds wisely on behalf of all residents. To find how you too can join our ranks, please check out our hiring page at governmentjobs.com/careers/dentoncounty.
There is still time to register to vote in Denton County for the November 5 General Election. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 7. The link to voter registration and polling information is votedenton.gov. Early Voting begins on Monday, Oct. 21.
Connect With Us: If you have any questions or comments, please let me hear from you. My email is [email protected], and my office number is 940-349-2820. For more information, register for my newsletter at Dentoncounty.gov/countyjudgenewslettersignup.
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