Fort Bend County homeowners in Katy and Fulshear face an unusual budget season: a political standoff over who legally holds the county judge's seat has left the commissioners court one member short of the quorum needed to adopt a tax rate before a late-September deadline.

If no vote happens, state law kicks in an autopilot. Under Texas Tax Code Section 26.05(c), the county's rate automatically defaults to the lower of last year's rate or the no-new-revenue rate. For a typical Cross Creek Ranch home valued at $600,000, that means a county tax bill of roughly $2,030 a year, essentially unchanged.

The county's 2025 combined rate was $0.422 per $100 of assessed value, according to Fort Bend County tax records. With the county's 20 percent homestead exemption, a $600,000 home is taxed on $480,000.

Why the court can't vote

The trouble traces to March, when County Judge KP George was convicted on two felony money-laundering counts and suspended in April. A visiting judge appointed Daniel Wong, a Republican and former Sugar Land City Council member, as interim county judge while a civil removal case was pending.

In June, the plaintiff in that removal case voluntarily dismissed it. County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson concluded Wong's appointment dissolved with the lawsuit. Wong disagreed, citing the Texas Constitution's holdover provision, and kept presiding.

"I have a duty to continue to hold this office until the court tells me otherwise," Wong said in a July 18 report on the dispute.

Since late June, Democratic Commissioners Grady Prestage (Precinct 2) and Dexter McCoy (Precinct 4) have boycotted most meetings, saying on advice of the county attorney that any vote taken under Wong could be challenged as invalid. McCoy said he would "not participate in a meeting presided over by someone who has been found not legally authorized to serve as County Judge." On July 9, the absences left the court unable to conduct any business at all, with roughly 40 agenda items untouched.

The four-chair rule

Under Texas Local Government Code Section 81.006, a county tax may be levied only when at least four of the court's five members are present and at least three vote in favor. Three Republicans — Wong, Commissioner Vincent Morales (Precinct 1, which includes Fulshear) and Commissioner Andy Meyers (Precinct 3) — can handle ordinary business with a three-member quorum. They cannot levy a tax.

The county's FY2027 budget calendar schedules a proposed tax rate vote on Aug. 27, public hearings Sept. 23 and 24, and budget and rate adoption on Sept. 24.

What's at stake beyond the tax rate

The county's roughly $744 million budget does not have the same statutory fallback. Budget adoption is not subject to the four-chair rule, but every path forward runs through the same legal uncertainty: either Democrats return to meetings they consider legally tainted, or three Republicans pass a budget whose validity the county attorney has warned could be challenged in court.

County services already stalled include road projects, job postings and the sheriff's training facility. Fulshear's mobility projects, including widening FM 1093 and FM 359, rely on county dollars and county votes.

The court case and what comes next

On July 23, Visiting Judge Jeth Jones heard nearly an hour of arguments over whether Wong's appointment automatically ended when the removal lawsuit was dismissed. "This is very complex and complicated," Jones said, according to Covering Katy News. He took the matter under advisement. As of July 29, no ruling had been issued.

Wong and McCoy are the Republican and Democratic nominees for the permanent county judge seat in the Nov. 3 election. The two men disputing who runs the county this summer are the same two asking voters to decide it this fall.

Residents can watch commissioners court sessions at fortbendcountytx.gov. The next key date is the Aug. 27 proposed tax rate meeting.