What to watch: The Midland County Commissioners Court will meet Tuesday, July 7, to continue the annual budget process by discussing elected officials’ salaries, formally apply for federal funding to improve the Five Points intersection, consider supporting Midland’s Opportunity Zone nomination, and discuss courthouse security and the future of the county’s former Extension Building.

Key points:

  • Elected officials’ salaries: Commissioners will discuss proposed salaries for the county’s more than 25 elected officials as part of preparing next year’s budget. At the last meeting, County Judge Terry Johnson explained that Texas law requires the court to establish elected officials’ salaries before addressing employee compensation in the budget process.

Johnson, who sets the county budget as County Judge, previously said he has historically benchmarked elected officials’ salaries against similarly sized counties and aims to stay near or slightly above those averages to account for the cost associated with living and working in Midland. He also noted that the state partially sets the salaries of some elected officials.

The court will also begin selecting members of the Salary Grievance Committee, the statutory panel that hears appeals if an elected official objects to the salary the court sets.

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  • Five Points grant: Commissioners will consider formally applying for a $4 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to improve the busy, unsignalized “Five Points” intersection on Garden City Highway, southeast of Midland.

The funding, secured by Rep. August Pfluger, would pay for design and engineering work but not construction. Johnson previously described the project as the county’s first Interstate 27-related improvement.

  • Opportunity Zones 2.0: Commissioners will consider supporting the Midland Development Corporation’s application to designate eligible Midland census tracts as federal Opportunity Zones, a program offering tax incentives intended to encourage long-term private investment in economically distressed areas. The item follows the City Council’s June 23 vote to ask Gov. Greg Abbott to nominate Midland’s eligible tracts.
Under the program, the governor nominates a state’s tracts to the U.S. Treasury for certification, and any designation would take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Midland County received no Opportunity Zone designations in the 2018 round, so a designation this time would be the county’s first. The city is also seeking a resolution of support from Midland County.
  • New JP courthouse security: Commissioners will discuss which county office will be responsible for security at the new Justice of the Peace Courthouse Building once it opens in the fall. The agenda does not specify whether the responsibility would fall to the Sheriff’s Office, a constable’s office, or another county department.
  • Old Extension Building: Commissioners will discuss the future use of the county’s former Extension Building. The agenda packet does not recommend a specific course of action, but the discussion could include options such as repurposing, leasing, selling, or otherwise redeveloping the property.