Friday, April 19, 2024
With County Judge Ron Massingill out of town, the Commissioners Court was at first evenly split on a proposed property tax rate.
The four commissioners did eventually come to an agreement through compromise, but the agreed-upon proposed rate is different from what the county auditor recommended.
In a separate vote, the court was unanimous in proposing a five percent pay increase for elected officials.
Neither the property tax rate nor the budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year have been formally adopted. That will happen in September.
The votes by the court on Tuesday, Aug. 9 were needed so that a proposed tax rate could be published ahead of a public hearing.
That public hearing will take place during the next regular meeting of the Commissioners Court, scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23, at the Ralph H. Walton, Jr. Justice Center, 1200 W. Pearl St.
Where the split vote was concerned, Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle wanted a property tax rate lower than the $0.331129 per $100 valuation proposed by County Auditor Becky Kidd. He cited inflation and average household debt that is at “an all-time high.”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Kevin Andrews agreed with Eagle.
Kidd’s recommendation represents a 9-cent reduction from the current rate of $0.420345. With property valuations up by 28%, she said that it would increase the amount of county property taxes paid by the average homeowner by about $7.
The rate she recommended is lower than the no-new-revenue rate of $0.343150 per $100 valuation.
However, Eagle preferred the “zero sum” property tax rate of $0.328800 per $100 valuation, which would bring in slightly less revenue for the county than the current fiscal year.
He called for departmental budgets to be slashed further in order to find the approximately $200,000 that Kidd said would be needed to fund county operations if that rate is adopted.
Eagle expressed confidence that the money can be found and said that his preferred rate represents only a $0.00233 difference from Kidd’s proposed rate.
Kidd, as well as Precinct 2 Commissioner Ron Cotton and Precinct 3 Commissioner Jack Wilson, indicated that there are other factors to be considered.
Kidd, who works with the county judge each summer to create a new budget, said that elected and appointed officials have been complaining that they will not have enough money for their departments.
“I was instructed to cut everywhere I could,” she said. “I have cut a lot.”
Wilson agreed with Eagle that all department heads should review their budgets and reduce them even further, if possible, but he noted that the county’s growth means that county offices are serving more people.
Cotton said that there are fixed costs and that the only variable cost is personnel and salaries.
Adequate pay for employees has long been a concern among elected officials. For example, Sheriff Roger Deeds and District Clerk Tonna Hitt have complained of high turnover in their offices that they said is due to low pay.
Cotton also expressed concern about burdening future courts by hindering their ability to raise needed revenue.
Counties can increase their revenue by only three-and-a-half percent each year.
Andrews countered that the money can be “banked,” and that the property tax rate can be increased the next year, but Kidd urged caution.
“You go backwards, and you pay for it for a long time,” she said.
Referring to the property tax rate she proposed, Kidd stated, “We worked hard to get this rate. This is a good rate.”
Eagle made a motion for the published proposed tax rate to be $0.328800 per $100 valuation — the “zero sum” rate that he favored.
Andrews seconded it.
It failed with Cotton and Wilson voting nay.
Andrews then proposed a rate of $0.3291640, which he remarked is “halfway” between Kidd’s and Eagle’s preferred rates.
Eagle seconded the motion and it passed 3-0 with Wilson’s vote.
Cotton abstained because he will be leaving office Dec. 31, just a few months into the new fiscal year.
ELECTED OFFICIALS
Kidd said that elected officials are worried that they will once again be denied a salary increase. They haven’t had a pay raise since 2019.
“You will get to a point where appointed officials are making more than elected officials,” she said. “They’re asking. And they grow weary.”
The four commissioners unanimously favored including a five percent increase in pay for elected officials in the upcoming budget.
Wilson, who made the motion, stated that he donates at least 10% of his own pay to local charities and that if any elected officials feel they are being overpaid, they have the right “to give it back.”
In addition to members of the Commissioners Court, county elected officials include the district attorney; the district clerk; four constables; the county attorney; the county court-at-law judge; the county clerk; four peace justices; the sheriff; the tax assessor-collector; and the county treasurer.
