By Russell Slaton
russell@themonitor.net

EUSTACE-Eustace City Council voted Sept. 3 to adopt the town’s 2026-27 budget, according to Eustace City Secretary Sandy Lane. That vote came after the city council held a public hearing and received comments regarding the proposed budget, the agenda shows.
A copy of the budget outlines that the City of Eustace expects revenues for its general fund to be $907,000 for the next fiscal year, with expenditures pegged at $886,615. Broken down, the general fund expenditures include $166,250 for administrative costs, $533,155 in total police expenditures (which includes an accounting carry-over of loan funding for three new police vehicles not yet bought), $95,100 to fund Eustace Municipal Court, along with $91,700 for streets and maintenance.
The budget for the city’s general fund shows that the difference of $20,385 in revenues that exceed spending will be transferred to a reserve funds-designated savings account.
A second part of a city’s budget, sometimes called a revenue fund (which includes water and sewer service revenues and expenditures), is classified as “Water Department” for the City of Eustace. That part of the budget shows revenue from water sales to be $365,000, with sewer revenues expected as $255,000. Sewer and water tap fees comprise $15,000 of the projected revenue ($12,000 for water and $3,000 for sewer) while septic income is dominated by an expected $87,000 in trash collection fees. The total of the miscellaneous fees portion of the water department budget is $115,800, with the total expected gross revenue for the second part of Eustace’s budget being $752,000.
Gross expenditures for the water department budget are $752,000 (of which $235,000 is salaries and wages within $324,500 in total personnel costs, which includes insurance coverages). Another $188,600 is set aside for maintenance and contractual expenses for the water department, along with $89,500 for financing costs, such as loans. The water department budget is expected to add $31,450 to the city’s reserves, also placed in a savings account.
In addition, the council adopted an ordinance setting the 2026 tax rate at $0.248562 per $100 value, Lane confirmed. The 2025 tax rate was a flat 25 cents, Henderson County Appraisal District records show.
In other business, the council:
• Approved an interlocal election agreement with Henderson County; up for election in 2027 are Mayor Dustin Shelton and council members Tim Meyer and Lisa Roberts.
• Approved an interlocal cooperation contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for Texas Conviction Reporting (TXCR), which is the state repository for local criminal justice agencies and courts to report arrest and disposition data, according to DPS.
• Approved a Memorandum of Understanding between Henderson County and Eustace Police Department of the use of the East Texas Interoperability Network (ETxIN), which includes Henderson County’s digital emergency radio network for first responders.