08/20/2026
This is too important to be left alone.
I believe the people of Hays County deserve clear information and a clear choice.
That is why I am bringing forward this resolution about the proposed Hays County Hospital District.
Here is the most important thing to understand:
Hays County is already spending millions of dollars each year to provide healthcare for people who cannot afford it. This is something the law already requires us to do.
Based on our current financial estimates, approximately 1 cent for every $100 of taxable property value could help cover the healthcare costs Hays County is already paying today.
Approximately 2 cents total, represents a broader plan we can study. That plan could help improve local healthcare services and help Hays County make better use of available state and federal healthcare dollars.
Those are the numbers I want the public talking about.
Texas law requires the ballot language for a hospital district to include a maximum tax rate of 75 cents per $100 of taxable value.
But a legal maximum is not the same thing as a planned tax rate.
That is why I believe Hays County has a responsibility to put our real planning numbers in writing and in public long before anyone votes.
We also have examples around Texas that we can study.
Right next door, Travis County has its own healthcare district, Central Health. South of us, Bexar County has a hospital district that operates University Health.
Those communities created healthcare systems based on their own needs.
Meanwhile, many Hays County residents must travel outside our county to get healthcare services that are not available close to home.
We should study what other Texas counties have done. We should look at what worked, what did not work, what it cost, and what lessons Hays County can learn.
That is what this process should be: open, careful, local, and decided by the people.
Most importantly, we cannot forget the people at the center of this discussion.
It is the working parent who keeps putting off a doctor’s visit because money is tight.
It is the senior trying to stay healthy while living on a fixed income.
It is the neighbor who loses a job and suddenly loses health coverage.
It is the family that should not have to use an emergency room as its first choice for basic healthcare.
These are our neighbors.
They deserve our attention.
Healthcare should be close to home. It should be responsible. And it should meet the needs of the people who live here.
Between now and May, we have time to put the numbers, questions, plans, costs, and protections on the table for everyone to see.
We should ask hard questions.
We should show our work.
We should listen to people who support the idea and people who have concerns about it.
And then the people decide.
That is the most important part.
Not politicians deciding for you.
Not political parties deciding for you.
Not political timing deciding for you.
You decide.
The people of Hays County.
Read the resolution.
Look at the numbers.
Follow the process.
Ask questions.
Challenge us to explain it clearly.
And when it is time to vote, the final choice belongs exactly where it should:
With the people.
This resolution did not make last night’s agenda cutoff in time to be included in the backup materials. Today, we emailed a copy to every member of the Court & the County Clerk, & we are also making it available to the public.
