Brown County Commissioners Court approved $1.55 million in tax notes for infrastructure improvements during Monday’s meeting of the court.
According to Precinct 2 Commissioner Joel Kelton, commissioners approved the tax notes to “save a few roads before they wear out.”
Initially much larger notes were considered; however the court decided to lessen the burden on taxpayers by implementing a series of notes over several years rather than having a large tax increase on tax payers implemented in a single year according to County Judge Ray West.
“The initial proposal was $10 million, but because of the timing and significant burden to tax payers, we considered a series of tax notes,” said West.
The notes will be issued by Citizens National Bank of Brownwood at an annual percentage rate of 1.488% and will be for a 5 year term. Average annual payments on the note will be $324,279 according to First Southwest representative Eric Macha who presented the court with figures and final documents prepared by the county’s financial council. $1.5 million dollars will be funded to the county for use on infrastructure improvements. The additional $50,000 debt incurred with the notes pays for the fees related to the issuance of the notes.
Macha stated that First Financial went out for bids on issuance of these tax notes and that the low bids were Regions and CNB. The bids were very close in interest rates; however the fees were the deciding factor. Overall, CNB’s bid was less in fees, making it the more attractive bid according to Macha.
“I’m happy that a local bank was able to bid and compete for these notes,” said Kelton. “We’re hoping to set aside a small amount for general building repair as well.” He explained that things such as air conditioners at the jail were a surprise to last year’s budget and hopefully this will help to fund any similar and unexpected repairs for county buildings in the future.
The effect of the tax notes on county taxpayers will be an additional 1.5 cents per $100 valuation in the 2014 tax rate or about $11 per year for the average home valuated at $75,000.
The notes passed with a 4-1 vote, with West voting no. According to West, he voted against the notes because he didn’t think the county needed to enter into any further debt at this time.
“I disagreed that the county needs to incur any more debt at this time,” said West. “It imposes an additional burden on taxpayers.”
West further explained that he anticipates the county’s general fund budget to increase for the fiscal year 2014, which will mean additional unknown taxes on the county’s property owners.
“I don’t disagree that our roads need a significant amount of work,” West said.
There are 743.6 miles of roadways within Brown County according to the county’s annual road report, which was presented in June. According to West, the amount each precinct will receive from the $1.5 million notes probably won’t go far enough.
“I just don’t know how much they’ll get done with just $250,000 per precinct,” said West. “It wasn’t a vote taken without a lot of thought. It was a very close issue for me, not one taken arbitrarily. The alternative is easy to say but hard to implement – put more work into them.”
The problem with this implementation is that the county budget is already strained without the cost of road repair according to West.
West said that the county will face increased budget needs as it does every year such as increased property and health insurance premiums, proposed salary increases, increased indigent health care expenses and state mandated functions that have to be paid for that the county has no control over.
According to West, department heads have been given a copy of their 2013 FY budget and have been asked to cut their budgets by 5% in 2014.
“The cost of business keeps going up. The cost for the county is an $8 million business as far as the general fund is concerned,” said West. “You never can have a solid grasp of the budget because there are so many variables when you go into budget workshops.”
“We’ll have to increase revenue to meet those demands,” said West.
Pictured above: (left to right) County Auditor Nina Cox, Commissioner Gary Worley, Commissioner Joel Kelton, Judge Ray West, Commissioner Larry Traweek and (Eric Macha of First Southwest.
In other matters on Monday’s agenda:
*The burn ban remains in effect in Brown County.
*County Auditor Nina Cox received approval for a replacement employee in the auditor’s office. Melissa Blanton was hired effective July 2, 2013 to replace Amber Mungia who left the position in June.
*Commissioners approved the interlocal agreement between Brown County and the West Central Texas Council of Governments for emergency 9-1-1 automatic location information maintenance services. According to Commissioners Court Administrative Assistant Amy Hamrick, the agreement has to be renewed every 2 years to continue a grant which provides mapping and software for 9-1-1 mapping for emergency responders. The equipment used belongs to the WCTCOG according to the agreement.
*Brown County Sheriff’s Office received approval of employee changes. Joel Moran was hired as a jailer to replace Teresa Hodge. The jail count was reported to be 144 with 114 males and 30 females in custody as of Monday morning.
