1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
Special Session
Monday, September 17, 2001
10:00 a.m.
Commissioners' Courtroom
Kerr County Courthouse
Kerrville, Texas
PRESENT: FREDERICK L. HENNEKE, Kerr County Judge
H.A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1
WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2
JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3
LARRY GRIFFIN, Commissioner Pct. 4
~I
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
3
On Monday, September 17, 2001, at 10:00 a.m., a special
meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in
the Ccmmissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse,
Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in
open court:
P R O C E E D I N G S
JUDGE f3ENNEKE: Good morning, everyone. It's
10 o'clock in the morning or. Monday, September 17th, Year
2001. We'll call to order this special Commissioners Court
meeting convened for the purpose of having a requisite
public hearing on the proposed tax rate, budget, and elected
official salaries for the coming fiscal year. In light of
the situation in our nation, I think we should depart
briefly from our standard procedure with these hearings. If
you'll all stand with me and join with me in a word of
prayer, followed by the pledge of allegiance, we'll commence
our business.
(Prayer and pledge of allegiance.)
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you.
DODGE HENNEKE: Commissioner Williams has
asked to make a comment regarding the candlelight rally that
was held yesterday evening. Commissioner?
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Thank you for the
opportunity, Judge, and thank you for the prayer. And, a
lot of things have happened to America since we last met on
1
_ 2
3
9
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
4
this dais a week or so ago. On Thursday, I received a call
at the office from a lady, Mrs. Doraloha Freeman, on behalf
facilities for the purpose o£ a candlelight service. As we
talked, I said -- obviously, I said, "Yes, please do." That
makes sense, and particularly if it's going to be conducted
by the students and organized and carried out by students.
She said she'd had -- they'd been trying the get hold of the
mayor or some official to be a part of the -- of the
service, and was unable to do so at that particular time. I
said, "Well, you know, I'm sure I can get ahold of the
CounCy Judge or another Commissioner, if that's what you
really want, but I ask you to think about it, the nature of
the request. And, if the students are truly doing this and
it's organized and carried out by them, wouldn't it be
better if the focus of the attention was the students, and
not an elected public official?" Not to shift the focus
from Chem Lo us. And, she thought about that and decided to
do that, she and her daughter, I believe.
The net result was, of course, that there was
a service here on the courthouse lawn last night, and I
think the newspaper reported somewhere between 300 and 500
people attended. It was handled beautifully by our young
people, and what was so good for me to see and witness, and
5
1
_ 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 ~
~ 10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
maybe Borne others of you did, was they taking the bull by
the horns, if you will, they conducting the service, they
saying to we adults and other youTh of their awn age in the
audience what exactly was on their heart. And I think
that's really encouraging, and they're Lhe ones that are
going to inherit this mess from us one of these days, and to
have them speak out about America, what it means to them,
their experiences and how it changed their day and the days
ahead, I took great comfort in. I just wanted to share that
with you.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Anyone else like to make any
remarks? Okay. Without any further ado, let's move into
the business at hand. The first hearing that's posted is
10 o'clock, hearing on proposed increases in elected
officials' compensation. We've had three or four people
sign up to address us on this issue. We'll first start with
Mr. Gilbert Weiss. Mr. Weiss, come forward, please, and
identify yourself.
MR. WEISS: I'm Gilbert Weiss. I'm a
resident of Kerr County. First of all, I would like to say
that I was happy to read a couple weeks ago what Buster
Baldwin had said about his pay scale; that he was satisfied
with it. Rosa Lavender had written that. Now, looking at
each one of you, I know that you're intelligent, and you
know when you took that oath, what -- what the pay scale was
ti
1
2
3
9
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
and what your package was. And, you have a big package;
your hospitalization, your'sick leave, paid vacation,
retirement, plus car travel and all those things. And, I
would say that there are a number of people out here in the
county who would like to have your jobs. If -- and I was
always told if you -- if you're not satisfied with what
you're making, resign, quit, and get you a better job. And,
that's what I'm thinking what maybe y'all could do if you're
not satisfied with your pay scale now. I know that there's
lots of people out there would like to have this job, 'cause
it is a cushy job. And you'll have to admit --
JUDGE HENNEKE: No, I will not admit that
under any circumstances. This is not a cushy job.
MR. WEISS: It's not? With all the benefits
and everything you're making?
JUDGE HENNEKE: No, it's not a cushy job.
MR. WEISS: You know what? I'll bet you, you
could find something out there a lot better than this where
you could make more money.
JUDGE HENNEKE: I would not --
MR. WEISS: And I would say that's what
the -- I would do if I was looking for another job -- I
mean, not satisfied with my pay scale. And you don't have
to worry about raising taxes, because we have an aggressive
board out there that raises taxes every year. Mine have

1
L
4
5
6
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
been, in the last five years, raised every year, so --
without any taxes being put on. So, without any other ado,
I thank you, and I just hope you'll take this in
consideration.
JODGE HENNEKE: Thank you, Mr. Weiss. The
next speaker is Robert Fry.
MR. FRY: We were here last week by mistake;
somebody told us that this was happening last week, and we
came and we had a very interesting review of what went on,
and we're pleased and touched with the work that you people
do. I have to agree with Giddy. He was a mayor of a town
two times, and he went by just fine and he kind of knows a
little bit about what you've been going through, and so he
knows what he's saying. I'm retired, and I've been all over
the world putting up platforms, oil platforms, and retired
here 10 years ago. And, the -- the cost-of-living here has
gone up, especially for interest rates, and also for what
the City charges us, and we are paying for business and
streets and things that all of the people around us that
don't pay are using it. And, so, we don't think that we
should have to pay more to the City from all of the people
that are being invited to come and build houses around here.
The County maybe makes money from them. We don't, but we're
supporting them, and so we'd like to let you know that we
think that there are -- is another way to raise money. We
A
1
C
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1B
19
20
21
22
23
29
25
can charge it from tYiem out there, or tell them when you
come in here, you pay. And, so, I would like to leave that
with you.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you, Mr. Fry. Next
person is Frank Davis.
MR. DAMS: Good morning. I think, as we
look at the big picture, we see our college kids are
bombarded with credit cards, and it's changed our values,
and we're kind of -- the value of consurnerism. And, this
causes us to change our -- our attitude from need to greed,
and I think we're all guilty of that. And, so, 1 think we
see at this time an emergency facing us as a nation, and I
think it's time for us to -- to speak up. You know, when
we're growing up as young men, we are sidetracked sometimes
by taking care of our families and those things, and we
trust our government, and we trust those people in office.
In the 1960's I saw a number of attorneys going to Austin; I
didn't understand why, and then I woke up about 15 years
later and realized that it was hard to trust our government
to do the job and do what's right. So, I think it's time
for us to look at -- at the big picture and see that it may
be time for us to tighten our belts and to do without and to
do with less. And, as John Kennedy said, don't ask what
your government can do for you, but maybe what you can do
for your government. And think about our Constitution and

E
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
how they sold all of their possessions, and some of them
even becoming bankrupt, to serve the people.
And, so, I think you look out -- and when I
look out, I see the Highway Department, the public schools,
and everything we build architecturally is kind of a state
of the art thing. It's not like it was, you know,
post-depression and during World War SI, you know, where we
did without and we did with what we had. We realized the
value -- we had friends. And now we've got the TV, and it's
come in and pushes all this consumerism, and also cuts out
our relationships with each other and communication. So, I
think, in the big picture, I would recommend that we do --
either work for less or reach out more, and also that we try
to give these young people a chance to do something besides
pay taxes. If they're paying taxes, 55 percent of the --
every dollar they make, we need to do them a favor and --
and find some way to relieve that burden so they can be with
their families. So, I think that, in my opinion, it ought
to be from the top of the ladder, as an example, and scale
down. So, I think this applies to all three of the
subjects, and I just appreciate your time, hearing me.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. Bill Stacy?
MR. STACY: Gentlemen, Bill Stacy. As you
know, I've sat in your chair and I made those tough
decisions. I would also remind you, as of last Tuesday,
1
2
3
9
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
10
that plane that hit the twin towers in New York hit the Kerr
County Courthouse. And, I think it is up to you men to take
that budget, look at your possible pay raises, as well as
the increase in other parts of your budget. In the private
world, if you do a good job, you deserve a pay raise. And
only -- I can review some of the things that this and
previous courts have done that -- where you've backed off of
the lawsuit on the jail building that was built, but not
according to the plans that were approved by the
Commissioners Court, and the County Attorney backed away
from that, and obviously y'all had to back away from iL,
too. But nobody asked any questions, and why, I don't
understand that.
You've allowed the Environmental Health
Department to go to the U.G.R.A. It used to be under the
County supervision, where the people could come to you
folks, and if they had a disagreement, they could maybe
adjudicate it, maybe not, but at least they felt they had a
hearing. Now they go to the U.G.R.A., and they could talk
to the wall and get about as much satisfaction. The
juvenile facility is now run by three lawyers or three
judges, if you want to, and should be run by the County.
It's my understanding that the lady that runs that facility
out there gets more money in salary than the Sheriff, and I
think that's reprehensible. The whole operation should be
11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
under the County. You had to do a tap dance to finance the
view of it, and we knew it was good for the county and would
be run by the County, instead of those high binders that
brought it to us.
The radio system, when I happened to be on
the Court, we had a similar problem. Nobody seemed to have
talked to the former Sheriff. I remember we solved it by
going to Motorola, and Motorola came up with several
options, and it wasn't going to cost us a million dollars.
I know times have changed, but I do have a son that's
involved in the technology business, and when you buy that
equipment today, it's going to be out-of-date tomorrow. I
think that you gentlemen should review the budget, and in
lieu of a tax increase, look at it in terms of your pay, and
where that today -- last week they might have walked, but
this week, is it necessary, or even is it patriotic?
I was concerned about -- when I was on
your -- in the Court, I said if I did a good job, I would
run for reelection and maybe then increase my pay, but I was
told when I ran for reelection that we needed a lawyer on
the court. And, in reviewing the history of this court in
my lifetime, we really need somebody that's been in the
private industry and has a B.B.A. behind their name, and not
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
a law degree. Gentlemen, I think you should spend time,
revise your budget, and don't increase taxes on the people
that are already overburdened. And our whole country is
going to have to suffer and -- and work ourselves out of the
problem that's happened to our country. Some of us joined
the navy at 17 to fight for our country, and I think that
y'a11 can do the least and help our country out of the
financial problems we're going to be looking at. Thank you.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Dave Nicholson?
MR. NICHOLSON: I'm Dave Nicholson. I'm a
taxpayer and a citizen of west Kerr County. i think I can't
add very much to what I've heard said already, except to
Mr. Gilbert Weiss that commented that there were a lot of
people in the county who would like to have these jobs at
the pay rate that is currently in place. I can just say
that I'm one of them that would like to have one of those
jobs. I provided Commissioners Court with some advice on
elected officials' salaries, and I'll do this within the
context of the proposed tax rates. Concerning the tax
rates, I'd like to make these points. Judge Henneke had
said that our taxes have remained the same for the past
eight years --
JUDGE HENNEKE: I have not said that. I have
said that the tax rate has remained the same.
MR. NICHOLSON: And, of course, what that
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
means is that the tax rate hasn't been increased in eight
years.
DODGE HENNEKE: Thank you.
MR. NICHOLSON: It's a somewhat specious
argument, because all of us have seen some consistent and
significant increases in our property taxes. Now, the --
let me say that the proposed budget is conveniently° about a
half of one percent below the rollback rate, and part of the
budget's financed by -- by debt, and so I think it's not
coincidence that we're bringing in the budget just almost at
the rollback rate. Commissioner Griffith has said that
we're going to have --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Griffin.
MR. NICHOLSON: Griffin? Excuse me. One of
the Commissioners has said that --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: That's not the first
mistake he's made.
MR. NICHOLSON: -- we're -- quote, we're
going to have to make better some things that this Court
really didn't have anything to do with. And, I guess that
implies that a previous Court left this -- left this Court
with a financial burden. I think that's not right, and I
think, in fact, this Court has spent down the contingency
funds left by the previous Court. Now, about the proposed
salary increases for elected officials, I say again that the
14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
r-- 13
19
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
department heads, the elected officials, other than members
of this Court, are career professionals with full-time jobs,
and the County must provide compensation levels that are
sufficient to attract and retain such highly qualified
professionals. The proposed pay rates for these jobs, I
think they range from 2.5 to 3.6 percent. That's modest at
best, and may not be sufficient. Their pay needs to be
competitive with industry and with other government
entities. The County Judge and Commissioner jobs are public
service jobs. Citizens should ideally seek these jobs in
order to contribute to the community and out of a sense of
duty.	High-level remuneration is	not appropriate	for these
jobs.	The Commissioners who were	elected in '98	have
seen -- or will see a 42.2 percent rise in their
compensation, including 12.2 percent that's currently
proposed.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Where did that number
MR. NICHOLSON: I got it off of this. The
elected department heads have not enjoyed such preferential
treatment. Their increases over this period of time have
been about 60 percent of what the -- the Commissioners Court
and Judge's increases have been. The County Judge has
enjoyed even better treatment than Commissioners. So, I
again urge this Commissioners Court to do the right thing,
15
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
freeze Che salaries of the County Judge and the
Commissioners, and use that money to either reduce taxes or
provide increased compensation for the other county
employees. Please be guided by principal and not
self-interest. Thank you for listening.
DODGE HENNEKE: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Just a minute, Judge.
If I may, I have a question for you.
MR. NICHOLSON: Yeah?
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: You had some specific
numbers that you quoted last time you thought a salary
officials -- or salaries for elected officials ought to be
set at, and I just wondered what basis you determined those
numbers on. I think what you did was pull them out of
your -- out of the air.
MR. NICHOLSON: No, I didn't pull them out of
the air. I pulled them out of the newspapers. If that data
was wrong, then the data I have is wrong. If it's correct,
then the data I quoted is correct.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: What did you compare
-- what did you compare those levels to?
MR. NICHOLSON: I compared the -- the current
level of compensation compared to the level of compensation
before the 1998 election.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So, you didn't compare
16
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1%
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
it to any other jobs, any other counties. You made no
comparison at all except on your own subjective value.
MR. NICHOLSON: I did pull up -- I did pull
up on the Internet the data that you used for --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We didn't use that.
If you'd been to all of the hearings, you would have known
that we discarded --
MR. NICHOLSON: I've been to as many hearings
as you have.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: We discarded the
information that was in the database that TAC had, and in
fact, met with TAC to make sure that they would correct
their data, which they've started to do.
MR. NICHOLSON: Let me say --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The question still is,
what did you base it on? The inaccurate data that was --
that was online?
MR. NICHOLSON: No.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: So, you didn't -- you
didn't compare it to any other county, you didn't compare it
to industry, you didn't compare it to the TAC database. You
didn't compare it to anything. You pulled them out of thin
air; is that correct'?
MR. NICHOLSON: I have not pulled the
increases that you've enjoyed in the proposed budget out of
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
17
thin air. That's public data. I can look at what your
compensation is.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: The whole thing is
public data, I would submit to you, but you still haven't
answered my question. You didn't tell me how you determined
the numbers.
MR. NICHOLSON: I looked at the data on the
Internet, 254 counties in Texas, and I concluded that I
could determine a -- an outcome of a survey that I wanted to
see, and then manipulate that data to produce that outcome.
I suggest to you that's what happened.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Which 154 -- I think
134, rather, are in the TAC database, so you didn't look at
all 254, so you're stretching that point to make -- to
demagogue this issue, is what you're doing. This political
candidate, I would submit to the Court, has used this podium
twice now to demagogue an issue because he doesn't have
anything to run on, and he's trying to create an issue. You
know, the public ought to be aware of that. If you've got
something that you want to add to the public discussion,
fine. Trying to flail around to make a political issue out
of it for your own self-interest -- and, by the way, I think
I'm getting a little bit tired of the integrity of this
Court now having twice been challenged by somebody who is
using this podium inappropriately for a campaign speech. I
1
2
3
4
S
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
18
don't have any more discussion. I'm through.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I have one comment.
You indicated that Commissioners' salaries have gone up
42 percent since 1998. That would mean that the basic
salary, which was around $28,000, would have increased by
$11,200 over the last three years. That is totally
incorrect. Your facts and figures are incorrect.
MR. NICHOLSON: The facts and figures I'm
using came out of the newspaper.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I don't care where
they came from, they're incorrect, and you are perpetuating
incorrect information.
MR. NICHOLSON: Well, you've got two
reporters here who will -- who will look at the information
they reported, I presume, and if my data is wrong, then it's
wrong.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: It's wrong.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Okay. Thank you,
Mr. Nicholson. Those are the only individuals that signed
up to address us on the elected officials' salary increases.
Anyone else who'd like to address us on that issue? Okay.
If not, we'll --
COMMISSIONER LE'I"L: Judge?
MR. HOLSTER: Excuse me. Can I speak?
JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes. Come forward, please,
19
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
sir, and identify yourself.
MR. HOLSTER: I'm Ross Holster. I live up
here on Earl Garrett Street.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I didn't catch the
name.
JUDGE HENNEKE: What is your name again, sir?
MR. HOLSTER: Ross Holster.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you.
MR. HOLSTER: At 832 Earl Garrett. I have to
kind of agree with you gentlemen. I'm a retired man; I'm on
a fixed income. I moved here in 1992. I moved from
Sisterdale, and since then, even with my exemptions, my
taxes right now are about one and a half times what they
were when I first moved here. City taxes have increased,
County taxes have increased. I'm paying more for sewer and
water and electricity. I'm paying more for every service I
get. The sidewalks in front of my house have been in
terrible shape. I walk around Kerrville, and the
infrastructure's in bad shape in Kerrville. My income is
about $25,000 a year. I pay my taxes, I help my family out
on that. I pay all my fees. And I have to agree that at
this time, and the way things are, you've lost Mooney; you
have no tax base left there. They're bankrupt. The V.A.
system is down by two-thirds on employees, from 600 to
200-something, I think, or maybe 300 at the most. The State
zo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
2c
2~
24
2`
Hospital is down at least half.
I don't know what counties y'all are
referring to. I would like to know what counties you're
referring to on this salary base, what the industrial base
of these counties were, military, anything, prison, such as
that, and the size of the counties. And, I honestly think
at this time, the way that -- the shape this county's in --
I'm not talking about the country, which is in pitiful shape
right now, but this county's not in too good of shape,
either. The average salary in Kerrville is about $7.50 an
hour, if you're lucky. You go down to Burger King or Dairy
Queen and flip hamburgers for $5.50 an hour, $6 if you're
lucky. There's lots of people out of work here. I think
you should think about just, for the time being, maybe
freezing your salary and leaving the tax rate like it is.
People get where they can't afford it. Thank you very much
for the privilege of speaking to you.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Let me address a few of the
questions you raised, Mr. Holster, because I think it's
important. First of all, this is the county. It's not the
city. We don't have anything to do with the sidewalks, the
infrastructure in the city.
MR. HOLSTER: Any tax you raise in the county
effects everybody in the city, Judge. You can say what you
want to, but it does.
zl
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
1~
2C
2"
2:
2:
2
2
DODGE HENNEKE: I agree with you. It affects
everybody.
MR. HOLSTER: No need to hide behind the
County; the County and the City are one entirety when it
comes down to paying taxes.
JUDGE HENNEKE: You pay taxes to both, but
the dollars you pay to the County are not spent in the city
for sidewalks, sewers, roads. By Constitution, by law, we
can not do that.
MR. HOLSTER: That's a good dodge.
JUDGE HENNEKE: It's not a dodge, it's the
law. It's not a dodge. You know, we are responsible for
the areas outside of the incorporated municipalities, which
in Kerr County are the city of Kerrville and the city of
Ingram. By law, we cannot spend your county tax dollars
inside the city of Kerrville.
MR. HOLSTER: I don't see that the county tax
dollar benefits very much outside the city of Kerrville,
either, to tell you the truth, Judge. I've been around the
county, too.
JUDGE HENNEKE: You probably haven't driven
any of the county roads recently, or you haven't seen the
Sheriff's Department out, or you haven't had to come and
E file anything in the courthouse. And we have mandated
i responsibilities, and our responsibility -- constitutional
22
responsibility as Commissioners -- I put myself in that
category for this discussion -- is to fund government
services. That is our requirement.
MR. HOLSTER: Does that include your salary
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1~
1~
1`
1~
1'
1
1
2
2
2
G
L
increases?
JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes, that includes the salary
increases. We are -- we are responsible for adequately
funding government services, which includes salaries for
employees as well as elected officials.
MR. HOLSTER: You're not taking care of your
employees; you're taking care of yourself more than
employees.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Last year, srr, we ~~au a
professional salary survey done.
MR. HOLSTER: Uh-huh.
JUDGE HENNEKE: And we raised all of the
employees' salaries to the aggregate total of about
$550,000.
3		MR. HOLSTER: Who	was -- who did the
	professional	survey? What did th	at cost?
1		JUDGE HENNEKE: Th	e survey cost $18,421. It
2	was done by	Nash and Associates,	a consulting firm, a
3	personnel consulting firm out of	Austin and, I believe, Los
4	Angeles.		
5		MR. HOLSTER: You	don't have anyone locally
23
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1L
1~
1~
1.
1~
1'
1
1
2
2
2
L
can do that kind of work?
JUDGE HENNEKE: We sent out a request for
proposals. We got three responses, one from Allison IIass --
Allison and Associates, one from the Nash Company, and one
from an outfit out of Dallas called Walters and Company. By
law, we are required to go out for proposals if we think
that the cost of the service to be provided is going to be
more than 525,000. Some of the other proposals were more
than 525,000, but by law we are required to go out for
proposals, and we chose the best and lowest of those
proposals, which was the Nash Company, and they did the
survey. They surveyed every employee position in the
county, made recommendations as to the proper classification
and salary, and as a result of those recommendations, we
spent approximately $550,000 this fiscal year to bring the
employees' salaries in line with where they should be. So,
~ I disagree with your statement that we have not taken care
3 of the employees. We took care of the employees first, and
~ we consciously put off the elected officials' salaries
~ before. We addressed elected officials this year, and in
1 addressing the elected officials' salaries, we got the
2 actual salary data from the 18 counties in the state of
3 Texas that are within 15 percent, plus or minus, of our
q population.
5 MR. HOLSTER: And who -- what are the
24

counties? You never put in the paper what the counties
were. You've never put what the salary base was for these
counties or anything else. You just said you got the
counties, is all you've ever done.
JUDGE HENNEKE: It's been provided to the
media. Here it is. If you want me to read the list, I'll
be happy to, but it is the 18 counties in the state of
Texas --
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
0
1C
17
1:
1:
1
1
1
1
1
7
0
7
8
9
0
1
'2
?3
24
25
MR. HOLSTER: I'd like to hear it.
JUDGE HENNEKE: All right. The counties that
we surveyed are Wise, Lamar, Van Zandt, Hardin, Rusk,
Maverick, Cherokee, Navarro, Val Verde, Rockwall, Wharton,
Polk, Hood, Jim Wells, Medina, Atascosa, Matagorda, and
Brown. Those are the 18 counties in the state of Texas,
according to the 2000 census, whose population is within
15 percent, plus or minus, of our population. We got the
actual elected officials' salaries, including benefits,
including supplements paid by taxpayers from those counties.
We compared those to the salaries that are paid elected
officials in Kerr County. What we are proposing to do in
this budget that we're debating today is to -- is to adjust
the elected officials to -- halfway to the average. Each
elected official in Kerr County is below the average. Not
the highest, not the 75 percent mark, but the average salary
for elected officials in these 18 counties. And, what we
25
propose to do with this budget is to fund half of the amount
necessary to bring our elected official salaries up to the
average of those 18 counties.
MR. HOLSTER: But you want the other half
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1~
l~
1`
if
1'
1'
1
2
2
2
2
L
L
next year.
JUDGE HENNEKE: The proposal is to bring them
up to the average by next year, or --
MR. HOLSTER: When are your pay raises going
to stop? That's what I want to know.
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: At the average.
JUDGE HENNEKE: When the average hits, then
we'll be in the position --
MR. HOLSTER: Have you taken the average
industrial -- the average tax base and the average income of
all these counties and compared them to Kerr County, or did
you just compare the counties for population?
JUDGE HENNEKE: We did it by population,
because that's --
~ MR. HOLSTER: That's not righe.
~ JUDGE HENNEKE: -- that's the best indicator
1 we could have of comparable ability.
2 MR. HOLSTER: I think you need to do it by
3 money.
q JUDGE HENNEKE: Well, that would be another
5 way to do it, but that's --
26
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: And there's some --
Judge, I should add that to the discussion, that there are
some counties that their budget's larger than ours, some
that have much smaller. This is -- and any statistician
will tell you that what you do is you -- you get a large
enough data sample that you wash out those effects the best
you can. Now --
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1~
1~
1`
li
1'
1
1
2
2
L
L
MR. HOLSTER: Do you take all the money --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: -- you either buy --
let me finish, please. You can either buy that, or you
don't have to, but that's the basis for -- any comparison
that you make has to be done on some -- on some statistical
basis.
COMMISSIONER LETZ: The comment I was going
to make, and it's a proposal that I made several weeks ago,
is that before we do anything else with salaries next year,
' we need to appoint a community commission, which will be
3 open to the public to come and see exactly -- and let people
3 do exactly what you're talking about, look at industrial
base, look at tax rate, look at budget size, employees,
1 whatever that committee decides to do. And that will be
2 open to the public, and you're welcome, whether you're --
3 MR. HOLSTER: I think, sir, that would be an
4 excellent idea, and I think you should advertise it a little
5 bit more ahead of time than you do, business such as that.
27
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: This has been
discussed twice -- three times in this court.
COMMISSIONER LETZ: My contention would be to
appoint it probably right around the first of the year, and
then let it be in place, and then by -- hopefully by June,
have a recommendation to the Court as to where the county
elected official salaries should be. Because I agree with
you, it's a very difficult thing for us to adjust it. I
mean, we obviously do our own salaries, but we also do every
other elected official. And, we -- you know, I've been a
Commissioner six years now, I guess, and up until now I've
had a cost-of-living adjustment each year, and that has
never been -- it's always been less than the inflation rate.
MR. HOLSTER: I haven't had that, sir.
COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know.
MR. HOLSTER: I haven't had nothing. All
' I've done is spent more, and doing on less. That's what I'm
3 doing. It's not only me. I could point out a whole lot of
3 people in town doing the same thing.
~ COMMISSIONER LETZ: All I'm --
1 MR. HOLSTER: I think I spoke long enough. I
2 thank y'all for your attention. I would like to make one
3 comment. The last gentleman up here that y'all all thought
4 was kind of funny because he might be a politician or
5 something, I think you kind of disgraced yourself by
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1.
l~
1`
li
1'
1
1
2
2
L
L
28
laughing at him and treating him like you did. He might be
a politician, but let me tell you something, he's a citizen
too, and he deserves the respect citizens get in this town
and this country. Thank you.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. Anyone else?
MR. DAMS: I'd like to make one more point,
if I could. I think it's a -- we're in a global --
JUDGE HENNEKE: Identify yourself again.
MR. DAMS: Frank Davis. We're in a global
situation which -- you know, all the media the last few
years, that you've heard of these other nations; they've
increased tax rates 80 percent, 70 percent. And I think we
can get deceived into thinking that we need to raise our
taxes here. And Thomas Jefferson himself said that in a
republic, a democracy can tax itself to death. So, I think
we have to watch out, you know, some things about this
global influence on our thinking. Thank you.
3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, can I just make
~ one general comment also? I think those who follow the
Court know that this has been a -- you know, I am about as
1 opposed to raising taxes as you can be, and I also made the
2 recommendation at the last meeting to raise the taxes to
3 cover the -- the debt on the renovation of the courthouse.
4 It's not something that I take, certainly, lightly, and I
5 haven't since I've been a Commissioner. But, in my opinion,
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
11
12
1~
1~
1`
li
1'
1
1
2
2
2
L
L
29
at this point, you know, it is not wise -- the option -- we
have two options. I hear a lot about cutting the budget.
Well, at the same time, where are we going to cut it? I'm
not willing to cut the communications system and risk law
enforcement lives. That's a million dollar expenditure that
we're going to do. I'm not willing to do that. I'm not
willing to cut out the additional law enforcement that I
feel this community needs to protect itself. That's another
large increase in the budget this year. If you get rid of
those items, I would think you would find we have a very
conservative budget. The large increases are primarily the
law enforcement.
And, I just think that it's -- the other
thing that I've also heard, some of the comments, and I tend
to agree with, in a way, is that the things regarding -- the
Judge and one of the gentlemen had a discussion about where
we spend money and things of that nature. Well, there's
S another body in the state, the Texas Legislature, that has a
3 lot to do with what y'a11 are talking about. By law, we
can't do some of the things that you're saying, and if the
1 changes need to be made, they need to be made in Austin.
2 And, I would think some of those ideas are good ideas. Some
3 of the changes need to be made, but it's something that, you
4 know, we don't have control over a lot of these things. We
5 are governed by law as to what we can do.
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
11
12
1?
1~
1`
lE
1'
1'
1
2
2
2
2
L
L
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
lE
li
1F
1~
2(
2
2,
2
2
.-~
2
And, I think the -- the final comment, you
know, that I would make is just regarding elected officials'
salaries directly. It's a very tough issue, and I recognize
that, and I -- you know, we need to look at it. But, at the
same time, we have raised other positions throughout the
county to what we think are somewhat competitive, taking
care of the employees, and we created a position where we
now have employees that are getting paid more than the
supervisors, and I don't think that's right either, and that
is one of the reasons that I think that we're looking at
adjusting salaries where we are right now. And that's the
only comment that I'll make, but I appreciate all the
comments. You know, I think it's a -- you know, we need to
hear it. I wish people would come to more of our meetings
and give us comments.
There was one other thing I want to also
state. If you do come during the year, one of the other
things I think you will find is that this is a pretty
conservative Court financially. we get requests almost
every meeting to spend money, and we do a pretty good job, I
think, of holding the line. The general community wants
more and more expenditures -- or more and more services, but
they don't want the expenditure side of it. And, I think
that shows that we really, you know, as a community, really
need to look at it. we get -- you know, I rarely get a call
31
from a constituent or someone in the county saying that we
can do with less government service. What I do get is
saying that I want this road fixed, I want this trash picked
up, you know, I want this dead animal off the road. And
when the community comes continually demanding more services
from government, they're going to get more services from
government. And, I think it's a community -- I think what
Frank is saying is very much correct, is that it's a way
of -- a state of mind that this country and this community
right now wants more services. And, you know, it's very
difficult not to give some more, so I think it's a -- a
state of mind that we all need to really look at. Thank
you.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
1_`
1F
1"
1£
1'.
2
2
2
2
2
2
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. That formally was
the hearing on the elected official salary increases. The
next scheduled hearing is on the actual proposed FY 2002
Kerr County budget.
(Discussion off the record.)
~ JUDGE HENNEKE: Is there anyone here who
would like to address us on the issue of the proposed FY
_ 2002 Kerr County budget? Mr. Fry, you signed up to speak
? about all. Do you want to make any specific comments on the
3 budget?
q MR. FRY: I think it all shows just about --
5 what I said before covers pretty well all of it. I think
32
that some of you are sort of ornery about this thing, and I
think that there are several of you in here that I admire
greatly; I think that you know what you're doing. And, some
of you don't think like I think, which is a professional
engineer that traveled over the world, so I think of many
things that you don't think of. But they don't attend to
helping people that come to you and -- if you'd excuse the
word -- bitch for fixing your driveway or fixing your little
road or doing this or doing that, some of the county work
that you're -- that you're required to do. Some of that
could be -- well, you have to listen to it. Just like some
of you fellas, we have to listen to that talk too much.
And, so, that's all I have to say.
We have feelings. We have -- us retirees, we
have pretty -- not much chance of our income coming up any
higher, and you've got a lot of people around here that are
making plenty of money. But you're going to have to raise
3 the tax to everybody when you raise the tax. All right?
3 Think about some of the people that are not paying taxes or
not paying much taxes that are asking you to do things for
L them, and you're spreading your money out to do it. And,
2 we've also got the police department or your police -- your
3 county police group that are just running like the dickens
4 trying to take care of people that are coming into this town
5 that are not doing what they're supposed to do. And we just
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1.
1~
1`
l~
1'
1'
1
2
2
2
L
L
33
had some of that happen starting last Tuesday. That's
costing this country money.
Now, are they going to raise our taxes?
They're going to raise our county taxes, they're going to
raise our city taxes to take care of all that? Are we going
to let the whole nation pitch in and help? You know, where
are you going to stop this doggone thing? And where are you
going to look at the people that live in this county and
what they're trying to do and what they're wanting you to do
for them and what you're having to spend on your police
department and your fire department, and whatever else you
have, that's having to take care of a lot of these people
that moved in here that got lots of money. And yet, when
their house burns down, they're hurt, and they want you to
come and do something about it. Now, we're -- the county
people and the city people have thoughts about all of that,
and so when you get hot and sassy about some of the things
you've got to say, remember that we've got a few thoughts of
3 our own that we feel like -- and we admire you for what
you're doing so far. And, so, let's all think of this and
L pull together like our president is trying to do with the
2 rest of the world. Let's pull together. Let's talk about
3 it.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
1_
1F
1~
li
1'
2
2
2
2
2
L
q		JUDGE	HENNEKE: Thank	you, Mr.	Fry. Is there
5		anyone else who wants	to address the	Court on	a specific
39
item of the 2002 proposed budget? Yes, sir?
MR. DUGGLEBY: My name's Norm Duggleby. I
was actually signed up for the last, but I think my comments
would probably be more appropriate for this section, so can
I exchange --
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
1_
lE
1'
1
1
2
2
2
2
L
L
JUDGE HENNEKE: Yes, you may, sir.
MR. DUGGLEBY: My name's Norm Duggleby. We
moved to Kerr County about a year and a half ago. We moved
from Dallas. I was in business about 15 years as a business
consultant, so I say that because I do think I have some
credibility in working with literally dozens of businesses
of various sizes. And our goal was always to do things
better, to do things more efficiently, to do things cheaper,
to satisfy the customer more, to solve problems, to create
opportunities, and I really see the -- the government as
really no different than those things that happen in the
secular business world. I want to just give you three --
and have I no problem with any of you. The few times that
3 I've been here, I've been actually impressed with the
quality of the leadership that we have. I was impressed
1 when I came across the parking lot, and having watched the
2 construction of the parking lot done by county officials, as
3 opposed to companies out of San Antonio or someplace. And,
4 I'm sure you saved some money there, and it's a good job.
5 It's not, maybe, 100 percent, but I think it's great. So, I
35
1
2
3
9
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
lE
1i
1£
1~
2(
2:
2:
2
2
2
appreciate you guys.
My goal is not to intimidate or not to
disparage or anything, but I want to give just three quick
examples. About three weeks ago, I ordered an 18-inch by
24-inch culvert from McCoy's at about 9:30, after I left the
doughnut shop down here. It was delivered at 1:30 the same
day. I called my friend Ken, who lives up at Live Oaks. He
came down. With he and I and my tractor, we installed that,
had it covered with about two and a half feet of fill, and
had it all done by about 4:00 in the afternoon, and did a
nice job. I say that as a comparison to -- I had a couple
lots up at -- up north here off of 16. When we first moved
here, I found out that the County would put in a culvert, so
I finally found out where we ordered one, got a 12-foot --
or 12-inch by 20-foot culvert. It took about a month before
they even got out to try to -- try to put it in. I had big
flags like this right where I wanted it. I said, "If I'm
not there" -- I gave them my telephone number.
Somebody evidently came out, couldn't eee my
flags, and so that took another week to be there by the time
the supervisor got out there from Road and Bridge. It was
another -- about a week and a half, and they came out with
3 more equipment than I've ever seen in my life. We had a --
1 a grader, the biggest one I've seen, front-end loaders,
i street sweepers, four workers, supervisor, dump truck,
36
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
trailer, and there was probably a couple other pieces to put
this 12-inch by 20-foot culvert in. At the end of the day,
when I thought they'd all be done, the guy comes up, the
supervisor, and says, "Can I park my equipment here
overnight? We've got to firrish tomorrow." I was
flabbergasted. My friend and I could have put it in in
maybe an hour or two hours aL the most. They parked the
equipment, and my neighbors were calling, "What's all the
equipment?" Must have been a million dollars worth of
County equipment sitting there. The next day, it was an
entire day. They showed up about 9:30 and worked till about
3:30 or quarter till 4:00, and they got my culvert in. They
did a beautiful job, did a wonderful job, but it's the same
thing I could have done myself in about an hour and a half
or maybe two hours.
So, I encourage you to not raise tax rates,
and just become more efficient. Get into these areas. We
tried to get an address through the 911 system. I was never
so frustrated in all my life. I've shared that with a
couple people, and I've -- it took probably four or five
phone calls. It took tkiree personal trips out. I never did
see this Mr. Sandlin, who I guess is in charge of it. I've
asked -- I'd asked at least four different times for him to
call me back to discuss it. It took almost five or six
months to gets a, quote, temporary address, which we have.
37
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
l8
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
And -- and maybe Lhat's an area that you could look at. I
think that's one of the most inept -- it's a waste of money.
My understanding is they've been at it, what, 10 or 12 or 13
years, and we have, what, 2,800 permanent addresses out of,
like, 40,000 people in the county. To me, you're wasting
your money.
One other example, my wife does the jail
ministry, helps and counsels young people out at the
juvenile center. And, there's a lady who started cooking
out there, everyone loved her cooking, and they ended up
firing her because she was using her judgment and trying to
save them money by buying things in bulk so that she could
make things instead of buying things, you know, already
made. And she told my wife, she said, "They could save so
much money if they would just let" -- you know, instead of
doing it the way that they're doing it. So, some of that --
that's just three examples. I could give you more. But, I
think -- you know, I have no problem with people making a
good wage. I have no problem with you guys; I think you're
doing a wonderful job. But, I tell you, things are
different since Tuesday than they were before, and I think
you have to take that into consideration.
	We'	ve got a	little	property	up here, and the
taxes just -	- the	property	taxes	on that are more, by about
$500 a year,	than	I made my	first	year out	of college at
38
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Purdue University, with a B.B.A. Now, that's been a few
years ago, but that's just my taxes on my property that are
more than I made as a college graduate out of Purdue
University. So, I would encourage you to sharpen your
pencils, get more efficient. If you got money to spend,
figure out how to get those county crews to do it in two
hours instead of two days, and to do it with two pieces of
equipment instead of eight, and to do it with two people
instead of a crew -- a crew of six or so. And I think you
would be leading by example and have the admiration of your
employees, and would have the admiration of your citizens.
Thank you.
JUDGE IIENNEKE: Thank you, sir. Anyone else
wish to address us on the issue of the budget? Budget, per
se? Seeing none, we'll be in recess until 11 o'clock for
our last public hearing on the tax rate.
(Recess taken from 10:53 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.)
JUDGE HENNEKE: It's 11 o'clock in the
morning on Monday, September 17. We'll open this public
hearing on the proposed FY 2002 tax rate. Mr. Fry had
signed up to address us on the tax rate. I believe he's
made the comments he wanted to. The other individual who
has signed up specifically to address us on the tax rate was
Mr. Frank Davis. Frank, do you have anything else you want
39
1 to say?
.-. 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
,--. 13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
MR. DAMS: Yeah. Just a little bit --
just -- I also want to say that I -- you know, that I
respect your position and your place here, and I don't want
to come here as attacking our system, because we have a
great system. And, I visited with each one of you
personally, and I respect each one of you. On the tax rate,
as -- I think, as leaders, what we have to look at is -- is
the attitude of our constituents. And, as you've seen this
morning, the people are depressed because of the burdens,
but the real people depressed are not so much us retired
people, but these young families and single moms and that
type of -- that type of our population.
And, so, I think that, you know, in lieu of
what's already been said, you know, I think we can look to
more -- like our other leaders have said, in being
accountable and holding people accountable. And, it's
working in public education, it's working in, you know,
other areas, from the Attorney General's office. And, so, I
going to have to look again, and as one person -- I think
Mr. Fry mentioned that these people come in, are not part of
the team, are not part of the system. So, I think those are
things that we can look at.
40
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
And, the last speaker talked about
efficiency, you know, and equipment and that sort of thing,
and new automobiles. And, you know, most of us guys, like
the old rancher back here, we have to do with a truck maybe
18 or 20 years, and -- or a house or a barn. We just have
to, you know, kind of patch it up here and there. We see
state of the art, you know, things going in. I know that
this bridge going in over here is going to have a special
place, you know, for a -- sort of a place to look out over
it, and it's going to look something really beautiful. You
know, and I know that's in the works for the Highway
Department. It's good to have things beautiful; we
appreciate that about our wives, you know, creating beauty
in the -- in our home and for our families, but I think we
have to again look at being practical and functional and --
in government, and, as one person mentioned, leading by
example.
And, so, I know we always get the runaround;
we feel like -- we get depressed, but we feel we get the
runaround when we go out there to talk about the -- the
values. They say it's Austin, and -- or they say it's
y'all, or -- you know, passing the blame is one of my
faults, too. So, I think we need just to, as Mr. Griffin
and I have talked about, get the communication clear, and be
more like Mr. Fry said, and work in unity and pull together.
41
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
And, so, I think we can each see what else -- what more we
can do, and also in helping another person that we know to
become more self-sufficient, more productive, and more
compassionate and showing more mercy and common sense.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Thank you. Anyone else have
any specific comments about the tax rate?
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I want an opportunity
to make some comments in general at some point.
JUDGE HENNEKE: We'll get right to you. Once
again, let's put out the call. This is a public hearing on
the proposed FY 2002 tax rate. Is there anyone else who'd
like to address the Court specifically on this issue? Okay.
Then, Commissioner, let's have it.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. I just wanted
to make a few comments. I noticed that all but two of the
speakers were from my precinct, and -- and I think that
that's just the picture of people that are interested and
involved in our government, and I appreciate them very much.
I think there's been some excellent constructive comments.
Frank, you and Mr. -- Hostel?
MR. DAVIS: Holster.
COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Excuse me, sir. Great
comments about -- about our government, and this is what
it's all about, is you. It's not about us. It's about you,
and your -- your ideas and your taxpaying. We represent you
42
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
as -- we have a representative government in the United
States, and this Commissioners Court is a part of that, and
I just wanted to say I appreciate you guys coming in here
and looking us in the eye and telling us what's on your
mind. I appreciate that very much. I tell you what I don't
appreciate. I saw a letter in the paper last week from a
pastor of a local church that called us names, and I
disliked that very, very much. He's a friend of mine, and
he and I will have a little come-to-Jesus meeting about that
at some point. But, that's all. I just wanted to say thank
you very much for coming to your government and expressing
your concerns. That's all. Thank you, sir.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Bill, do you have anything
you want to say?
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Just a couple notes,
Judge. We do appreciate -- express appreciation for those
who came out today and expressed their points of view on the
three aspects of the County's funding the necessary services
that we must do. I think it's important that people take
into consideration that the demands county government, as
one speaker indicated, continue to grow, but they don't
continue to grow just because some folks think that we need
to fix the entrance to their home or their driveway or the
road particularly in front of them. Over the last ten
years, Kerr County has grown by more than 7,000 people.
43
1
2
3
9
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
29
~-.
25
More than half of that .7,000 has gone into the county, and
the remainder have sought lodgings or bought homes inside
the city of Kerrville or Ingram. So, the demands on the
County are increasing, and they're going to continue to
increase over the next 10 to 20 years, and it will be this
Commissioners Court's duty and those Courts that succeed us
to find ways to service the needs that are constitutionally
brought about for us to provide, and they'll have to do it
out of tax revenues that are available to do that.
I think it's important to note, with respect
to the tax rate, that what this Court is attempting to do is
to rectify, if you will, or correct, if you will, whichever
word you like better, a situation brought -- brought to our
budgeting process by reason of trying to fund improvements
to county facilities out of the general operating budget, as
opposed to setting aside a tax rate for that specific
purpose. And, that's really where Lhe bulk of the tax
increase proposed is going, is to take care of that and to
take care of the needs of our law enforcement. And, I would
echo very forcefully the comments of other Commissioners
with respect to our law enforcement. It can't be "good
enough," and we need to do those things that are necessary
to make it the best possible.
And if, by refusing to spend the necessary
dollars to correct obvious wrongs in the law enforcement
94
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
system; i.e., communications, then we are derelict. And, I
believe that that -- that I can't look the public in the eye
and say, "Yes, I voted against the budget, because it was a
million dollars for a communications system," and a deputy
got killed or someone got killed or someone was injured
because law enforcement couldn't do its job properly. I
don't want to face that responsibility. I want to take care
of it before that happens. And, so, those are the two
issues that primarily have increased the budget the way it
is, correcting something that should have been done,
perhaps, a little bit differently. I'm not finding fault,
but when you add that kind of a large debt number into your
general operating budget, you then are depriving the general
operating budget of taking care of other things that must be
taken care of. So, we're correcting what the -- an obvious
situation to be corrected, and we're doing what we believe
is correct and right with respect to law enforcement.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Jonathan?
COMMISSIONER LETZ: The only additiorral
comment I would make to what I made earlier is a little bit
further on what Commissioner Williams said. The tax rate
increase is, like, 2.08, which is the amount to fund the
renovation of the courthouse annex, and that tax
anticipation note is paid off in five years. And,
certainly -- I may or may not be on the Court in five years;
95
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
who knows? But, certainly, it would be -- I hope the Court
at that time will retire that tax rate at that time, once
that debt is paid off. The way I look at it, that is the
reason for the increase, is to fund the balance of that
5-year note, and once that note is paid off, I would
certainly hope that the Commissioners Court at that time
would seriously -- hopefully would reduce the tax rate by
that amount.
JUDGE HENNEKE: Larry?
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yes. Just to echo,
particularly what Buster said, that it's really good to have
citizens come to us and communicate. Frank also talked to
the same subject. That is so important, but it's not a
once-a-year exercise. It's a -- we would like to have your
input throughout the year, and there are many people in the
public who -- who do that for us, and it's always a great
help. We can never all agree on all the issues. That would
be impossible. In fact, we wouldn't have a need for
government if we could, so there needs to be a discussion
that's based on the facts, as they are, the best we can get
them and determine them, and that then we have give and
take. We can disagree, we can agree, and then it falls on
this Court to have to make a decision, and that's the way
the process works. But, the more input we have from the
public, the better. It's not the worse. we want to hear
46
1
,., 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
from the public, because it helps us make a decision.
And, finally, I'd say that the whole function
of government -- of all government is primary budgetary in
many, many ways, and budgeting is the allocation of scarce
resources. No matter where you are, there's never going to
anywhere else. So, what you have to do is have some
structure set up where you can make a choice and prioritize
and do the things you think that are important, and then
there's some things that you have to -- you have to forego
or you have to reallocate or readjust and take a different
view on. So, the more input we get, the better. When it
comes down to final vote, then there's got to be something
that makes this decision, and that's how the process works,
and it's a good one.
JUDGE HENNEKE: It is the Constitutional
responsibility of the Commissioners Court to fund county
government and to fund essential services. We don't provide
any luxuries in our county government. We have a fine Road
and Bridge Department that keeps our county roads up. If we
want to go back to dirt and caliche roads, then we can
probably cut back on the amount of money we spend for Road
and Bridge, but I don't think the citizens would be happy
with the quality of the roads. If we want to go back to
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
19
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
•--
25
47
where we -- we provide law enforcement with antiquated
quality of their law enforcement. If we want to go back to
the situation where we don't have enough people to process
the voting requirements, the registration and actual
counting of the ballots, we can do that, but the citizens
are not going to be happy with the results. This
Commissioners Court responds to the demands of the citizens
of Kerr County for services. We don't go out of our way to
think up things to do in order to spend money.
The 2.08 percent tax increase that has been
amount necessary to amortize the tax anticipation note that
was used to refurbish the courthouse annex over here. Well,
let's stop and think about some of the additional expenses
that we have. The Sheriff is getting six additional
employees; four patrol deputies, a criminal investigator,
and a records clerk. Those salaries alone are approximately
$150,000. If you add the requisite 25 percent on there for
benefits, you're at about $185,000 for those six employees
alone. The cost of the radio project for the Sheriff's
Department, which is an absolute essential, is $160,000 a
year. Two and a half percent cost-of-living increase for
all of the employees is approximately $150,000. The cost of
48
1
,-. 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
the insurance premiums that the County pays for the
employees, which is a part of their benefit package, is
$120,000 a year. The cost in the increase -- the increase
One of the previous speakers made mention of
getting by with less. We are funding three new vehicles
this year for other than the Sheriff's Department. We're
replacing a 1985 pickup truck for the head of the
Maintenance Department, we're replacing a 1991 pickup truck
for the Animal Control Division, and we're replacing --
what? Probably a '95, '96 truck for Road and Bridge?
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Yeah
JUDGE HENNEKE: All of which have
substantially in excess of the amount of miles that you
would anticipate that would be quality equipment for
anybody, whether it's in private industry, private citizens,
or government. We're funding one additional employee in the
Road and Bridge Department. We're funding one additional
employee in the Tax Assessor/Collector's department. That
employee in the Tax Assessor/Collector's department will go
specifically to the voter registration. In 1998, when I ran
for this office, we had approximately 23,000 registered
voters in Kerr County. We're almost up to 32,000 registered
voters in Kerr County right now, with the same number of
49
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
people. Voting is such a fundamental function of government
that we cannot scrimp on resources in order to provide
quality voting and registration opportunity for the citizens
of Kerr County.
The list of add-ons is endless. When you add
all that up, you'll see that there is little left in this
budget that is discretionary. So much has been made of
elected officials' salaries. The total amount of the
elected official salaries is, what, $40,000? Approximately
$40,000, which is --
COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN: Point --
JUDGE HENNEKE: .30 of 1 percent of the -- of
the budget. If you took out the elected officials'
salaries, it wouldn't change the tax increase at all. It
would make no impact whatsoever on the tax increase. We do
a good job of budgeting. I'm proud of the work that we do.
I'm proud of the work the department heads do. We don't
question our department heads very much when they come in
for budgets. They've all had increases. All of our
telephone bills have gone up, all of our electric bills have
gone up, all of our postage has gone up because of cost
increases in those services. We have to pay for those
services too. And elected officials have cut and scrimped
and saved and adjusted, and they've come to us this year and
said, "We've got to have more." We've got to have more
50
1
,_ 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
postage. As Commissioner Baldwin mentioned, the State
Legislature lays on us requirements that we have to pay for.
A fairly recent requirement was that when a plat is revised,
all members of the subdivision must be -- must receive by
certified mail, return receipt requested, notices of those
subdi-vision -- of that plat revision. The Legislature did
not give county government the ability to charge the
developer for that. Those certified mail alone are about
$350 a month. That's a cost that we must absorb.
The Tax Assessor has, I believe, come to us
and said that the Texas Department of Transportation will no
longer pay for the computer equipment -- or the hookup for
the specialized voter -- tax license equipment that we are
required to use. That is an expense that we must absorb.
The Department of Public Safety has changed the equipment
that the Sheriff's Department used to do checks. That's a
cost that we must absorb. What I want the message to go out
to the people in Kerr County is that cost of government goes
up, and it's our responsibility to fund that cost of
government, and we do it as tightly and efficiently as is
humanly possible. We appreciate all your comments. we
appreciate your help. The best government we can have is a
government that's most involved with the citizenry, and we
thank you all for coming. We thank you all for your letters
and your phone calls. Together we'll make this happen.
51
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Together we'll do it so that we all can be satisfied with
the end result. So, thank y'all for coming, and we are
adjourned.
(Commissioners Court adjourned at 11:21 a.m.)
STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF KERR
The above and foregoing is a true and complete
transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as
County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County,
Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth.
DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 18th day of September,
2001.
JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk
BY: _ ~~-- __ _
Kathy ik, Deputy County Clerk
Certified Shorthand Reporter