Photo credit: Midland County

What to watch: Midland County Commissioners Court will meet Tuesday, Sept.1, to continue work on the fiscal year 2027 budget and consider employee and law enforcement pay, rising health insurance costs, a $1.3 million grant for oil-field theft prosecutions, and a possible burn ban.

Key points:

  • Employee pay and health benefits: Commissioners may vote on salary increases for county employees as the court continues to build the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.  The court will also continue hearing budget requests from department heads and elected officials following its previous marathon meeting.

Commissioners will receive a second presentation on employee and retiree medical contributions, proposed changes to medical and pharmacy benefits, and projected medical and prescription costs. At the previous meeting, a consultant told commissioners the county health plan is on pace to spend $2.6 million on GLP-1 weight-loss medications this plan year, up from $1.1 million in 2025.

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Without changes, the consultant projected rising medical and prescription costs to push the health-plan budget to $15.5 million. The consultant proposed increasing employee premiums. He cautioned that keeping employee and retiree contributions flat would leave the county, and ultimately taxpayers, absorbing more of the increase.

  • Sheriff’s Office pay schedule: Commissioners may vote on the Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Pay Schedule for FY2027, establishing the pay structure for deputies and other Sheriff’s Office positions.

The item follows months of disagreement over Sheriff’s Office pay, beginning in January and continuing through April and June, when commissioners considered creating a uniform pay scale across county law enforcement agencies. Tuesday’s action could establish the Sheriff’s Office pay structure commissioners use in the final fiscal year budget.

  • Oil-field theft prosecution: Commissioners may accept a grant from the Border Prosecution Unit for the District Attorney’s Office. In June, the court approved applying for the grant, worth approximately $1.3 million over two years, after District Attorney Glenn Harwood told commissioners it would fund seven positions and related equipment with no county match required.

Harwood said Midland County would serve as a regional hub for prosecuting oil-field theft cases referred by neighboring counties. Tuesday’s item would formally accept the grant award.

  • Courthouse turnstile: Commissioners may vote on funding related to the courthouse turnstile. In November 2025, commissioners approved installing donated turnstiles in the courthouse lobby, with the county committing $12,000 toward installation. The plan calls for employees to use a badge-access entrance, while jurors and the public continue through the main security screening area.
  • Animal Control reorganization: Commissioners may move the county’s Animal Control Officer position, including its salary, vehicle, and equipment, to Emergency Management, effective immediately. The move would place animal-control operations under the county division responsible for emergency and disaster management.
  • Burn ban: Commissioners may impose a 90-day burn ban restricting outdoor burning in unincorporated Midland County.
  • Sinclair Avenue: Commissioners may approve an interlocal agreement with the City of Midland involving construction of portions of Sinclair Avenue and County Road 1250 and related intersection improvements. The agreement would establish how the city and county divide responsibilities for the project.