Thursday, September 26, 2024
Several residents spoke out about a proposed 10-cent tax rate increase during a Coryell County Commissioner Court public hearing on Thursday, Sept. 5.
County commissioners originally approved a proposed tax rate of .47370 cents per $100 valuation, a nearly 30% increase from last year’s tax rate. During the public hearing, the Commissioners Court presented an amended budget that lowered the proposed tax rate by 2.5 cents.
Coryell County residents, Krisna Isham and Rephena Graham, attended the meeting with two of their friends to share their concerns and, hopefully, make a difference.
“We felt like they were taxing us without giving us any information – timely information – or opportunities to help them rethink it,” Isham said in an interview with The Messenger.
Residents asked the Commissioners Court for explanations about what led to the increase, including one who questioned how the budget became so “bloated” that the county needed additional funding.
Commissioner Scott Weddle noted that one of the largest impacts on the budget comes from salary increases. Most of the raises targeted clerical positions such as county clerks and executive assistants. He said county clerks would receive a raise from $25,800 to $31,000.
County Judge Roger Miller added that at least 10 new positions were also added to the budget this year, but three of them are funded by grant money out of Senate Bill 22.
“I hope that helps kind of maybe explain what would be called the ‘bloating of the budget,’” Weddle said. “But a vast area, I believe last time I looked at our total expenses, 65-70% (is) of salaries (and) the rest is operating costs. So, people are very important, and they're also very expensive.”
During the meeting, Graham shared that she agreed with giving raises to clerks or those in lower-level positions but felt that some of the costs needed to come off the “top” areas that hold most of the expenses.
“I don’t think anybody in that meeting was not behind giving them a little bit of a raise,” Graham told The Messenger. “I think what every one of us was behind was taking something off the top instead of the bottom.”
Residents called out elected officials who approved salary increases for themselves – $3,000 for the commissioners and other elected officials, $7,000 for the county judge, and $15,000 for the county attorney.
Commissioner Ryan Basham noted at the meeting that he denied his raise.
“There's a requirement of the state statute that the commissioner's court vote on those elected officials’ salary increases,” Miller said. “There was a meeting held, discussions held, and those salary increases as they relate to the elected officials were adopted by this court.”
Isham said one of her biggest concerns was the spending of grant money that appears to have led to the budget’s increase. “When you get grant money, it’s temporary, and you don’t make permanent positions with grant money,” she said.
In a previous public meeting, Commissioner Kyle Matthews explained that the largest factors in the proposed budget increase is the county not planning for the depletion of around $14 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funds that were distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The county used the money to fund salaries, county departments, broadband technology, and more.
Some residents also called out that the proposed tax rate fell just below the voter approval rate, leaving some to wonder if the county was attempting to avoid an election. The first proposed tax rate (.47370 cents) fell just under the voter-approval tax rate of .47376 cents; therefore, the county was not required to hold a special election where voters can approve or reject the rate.
Miller responded to the concerns.
“With respect to the voter approval rate, the proposed budget did come in under the voter approval rate, and I knew in submitting that proposed budget (that) it was very, very likely that expenditures were going to be reduced, which would in fact reduce the property tax increase,” Miller said.
Another attendee, Matt Dossey, asked the court why the hearing was held in the morning rather than the evening when more members of the public could attend and provide input.
“This is the one level where citizens should have a say in their local government, and, I think the way the citizens are feeling right now is, that they don’t have a say,” Dossey said.
In an interview with the Messenger, Miller blamed part of the increase on two major construction projects that went over their initial budgets – the jail expansion and new 440th District Court building. He said almost three cents of the tax rate increase is to offset the overspend.
“The taxpayers are having to absorb the tail end of our over expenses in construction projects,” Miller said.
The county used about $7 million in ARPA money to help fund the two projects.
“When people are asking ‘Where did this ARPA money go? Well, more than half of it went to this project down here,” Miller said.
Budget and tax rate approval
The Commissioners Court eventually approved the amended budget and a tax rate of .44824 cents per $100 valuation at the end of the meeting, which will raise taxes by 7.5 cents, an approximate 22% increase from last year’s tax rate of .37328 cents.
At first, Matthews made a motion not to adopt the proposed budget so the commissioners could make additional cuts. However, County Attorney Brandon Belt referred to a local government code 111.008 that requires the court to approve a budget following a public hearing.
Before approving the budget, the Commissioners Court made last-minute cuts to funds in several areas, including in the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office and Road and Bridge Department budgets.
The largest cut was in the emergency management fund, a position that has been vacant for about two years and was budgeted for nearly $116,000 in the county’s original proposed budget for fiscal year 2025. With the amendment, the space now holds $10,000.
The funds in emergency management were previously used for the recent flood disaster and preparations for the total solar eclipse. Miller, who oversees emergency management, opposed defunding the department, claiming that it saves the county only 1/5 of a penny.
“From my standpoint, it impacts me directly, and it will be a decrease in the level of service to the county,” Miller said. “What we’re saving from a financial standpoint, I think we are losing tremendously.”
The amended budget passed by a 3-2 vote, and the tax rate passed by 4-1. Basham voted “no” to both the budget and tax rate, while Miller voted “no” to the budget.
The first proposed budget raised more revenue from property taxes by $4.3 million, which is about a 33.24% increase from last year. Matthews said the new, approved tax rate reduced revenue by about $1.1 million.
Weddle said, during the meeting, that any additional cuts in the budget would go to the county’s reserve fund, which serves as a savings for any unexpected costs.
Despite the increase, Graham and Isham told the Messenger that they appreciate the county’s effort in listening to the public trying to cut spending where possible.
“I’m really happy that our appearance made a difference,” Isham said.
“I appreciate the work that they did to get it down that far, but 22% is still a pretty hefty amount.” Graham adds.
As of press time, the approved budget for fiscal year 2025 has not been filed yet on the Coryell County Clerk website.
