Comal County commissioners Thursday approved a resolution asking the state to include $9.5 million in funding to pay for the operational cost of an extended observation unit at its new mental health facility for FY 2026/27.
The county used American Rescue Plan Act funds to build a 16,000-square-foot, $8.5 million mental health facility, which also includes a crisis residential unit.
The project is scheduled for completion by year-end.
Krause said the county built the New Braunfels facility “with the idea that if we build it, they will operate it, and the Hill Country Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Centers is trying to get funding for those operational costs for the 2026-27 biennium. And it’s not part of the current budget that has been approved by either the House or the Senate.”
Commissioners passed Resolution No. 2025-12 at the request of Rep. Carrie Isaac, the Republican who represents Canyon Lake in House District 73, and Sen. Donna Campbell, the Republican who represents Canyon Lake in District 25.
Texas Senate Bill 1, the budget bill, was unanimously passed by the Senate on March 25 and by the House on April 11.
County Judge Sherman Krause said Isaac attached a rider asking legislators to include the funding in the budget, which is now headed into conference committee with the Senate.
He did not know whether Campbell also attached a rider.
