Collin County Commissioners Court Preview — August 24, 2026

Bottom Line (Ironically, at the Top)

The only item on the general discussion agenda today is the FY 2027 Budget, which is really the tail end of last week’s budget workshops. See last Monday’s preview for more. What matters now is the public hearings on both the proposed budget and the tax rate scheduled for September 14. That’s the same day the Court adopts both, and it’s also close to the deadline for the court to pass the budget for the next fiscal year, starting October 1st. By all means, some and make your voice heard at the public hearing, but realistically, nothing significant will change at that late stage of the game.The Fire Marshal is asking the Court to adopt a 90-day burn ban for the unincorporated county (outside city limits). His memo puts our drought index at 611 out of 800 and climbing eight points a day, with no rain in the forecast. So you pyros, stow your Zippos.

On the tech side, there’s a no-cost agreement to be an early adopter on electronic warrant exchanges. Cyber-warrants. Cool.

In executive session, the Court will discuss the Collin County Adventure Camp. It’s in executive session so I don’t know what’s going to be said since I’m not a Commissioner yet (I will be after the election with your help!). Then after I’m a Commissioner, I still can’t tell you what’s said because it’s in executive session. So there’s that.

Logistics

Review the full agenda here. Meetings start at 1:30 p.m. at the Jack Hatchell Administration Building, 4th Floor, 2300 Bloomdale Road, McKinney, TX 75071. You can sign up to speak at Commissioners Court meetings in person by filling out a blue card shortly before the meeting. You may alternatively share your thoughts by emailing the Commissioners Court through their contact info here. Videos of the meetings can be viewed here.

Commissioners Court Business (General Discussion Items)

1. Fiscal Year 2027 Budget: [DON’T PANIC] This item has no attachments because it’s all under last week’s budget workshop and on the county’s budget page. The recommended General Fund budget is $359.7 million, up from $325.1 million adopted for FY 2026, and it could reach $384.7 million if the Court funds everything on the supported and neutral request lists. Keeping the rate the same brings in $4.17 million more than the no-new-revenue rate would.

Executive Session

Executive session is a closed meeting authorized by Texas law for discussions involving real estate, personnel, pending litigation, or attorney-client matters. Any action taken must return to open session.

• Real Estate: Collin County Adventure Camp

Notable Consent & FYI Items

Total of $3,171,956.59 of your money in proposed expenses

• Order Prohibiting Outdoor Burning: A 90-day ban on all outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Collin County (outside city limits). The Fire Marshal’s memo explains that the Keetch-Byram Drought Index runs 0 to 800, with 0 being soaked and 800 being a tinderbox, and Collin County is averaging 611 and gaining about 8 points a day with no meaningful rain in the near future. Violating it is a Class C misdemeanor, so be warned.
• CRAC 3 replacement, Collin County Courthouse: $162,646 to replace a 12-ton computer room air conditioning unit at the courthouse. Air conditioning in Texas in August is a constitutional right. I’m pretty sure that’s somewhere in the Texas Constitution.
• Firearms, conducted electrical weapons and accessories: not to exceed $150,000. It’s a shared contract between the Sheriff’s Office, the Constables, and the District Courts.
• Preservation of civil minutes, Kofile Technologies: $140,132.95 to clean, repair, image, and index 26 volumes of County Clerk civil minute books encompassing 23,337 images and 15,556 documents, at about $6.00 a page. It’s paid from the Records Archive Fund, which comes from filing fees, not property tax. Stacey Kemp’s office has been working through the county’s paper history volume by volume.
• Tyler Technologies CloudGavel early adopter agreement: No cost. The county already bought CloudGavel; this signs us up to be an early tester for two new data exchanges between CloudGavel and Tyler’s court system: served search warrants and pre-file arrest warrants. Simply put, we stop retyping warrant information by hand between two systems already in the same building. Kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.
• Seven specialty court contract extensions: Personal services agreements for case managers and coordinators who run the VALOR and Veterans Treatment Court programs. While these positions are grant-funded, the state grant hasn’t been awarded yet, so the county fronts the cost out of specialty court funds and once the grant is awarded, is essentially reimbursed. That’s why these come in short extensions instead of annual contracts. Judge Roach’s Veterans Treatment Court is a great example of a program that earns its keep, and the people running it deserve timely payment.

Also on the agenda as mandated items: the county’s 2027 HIPAA exemption notice, a federal filing the county makes every year, and four ad valorem tax collection agreements under which the county collects property taxes on behalf of Anna ISD, the City of Frisco, and two public improvement districts. Those are revenue-generating, with terms set out in the agreements themselves.

How to Engage

• Watch: Meetings are broadcast and archived through Collin County’s video portal at collincountytx.gov.
• Speak: Fill out a blue card at the County Clerk’s office before the 1:30 PM start. Three minutes per speaker.
• Read: The full agenda with linked attachments.
• Contact: Commissioners Court members and the County Judge are listed at the County’s Commissioners Court page.

September 14 is the day the FY 2027 budget and tax rate get adopted, and the public hearings happen that same afternoon. But as I alluded to in the Bottom Line above (which I’m ironically referencing from the actual bottom…) so much work goes into the budget, that no significant changes will realistically be made based on citizen input minutes before the budget is passed. I’ve been on both sides of that, so just be advised and set expectations accordingly.

— Shelby