1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Monday, September 29, 2008 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X September 29, 2008 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, adopt Tax Rate of 2008 Lake Ingram Estates Road District tax rate 3 4 1.2 Consider/discuss, adopt 2008 Kerr County tax 5 rate; Maintenance and Operation rate, interest and sinking rate, total tax rate, and Lateral 6 Roads tax rate 10 7 1.3 Consider/discuss, approve replacement of election judges and alternates for term of 8 one year in accordance with Texas Election Code, Section 32 27 9 4.1 Payment of bills 28 10 5.1 Reports from Commissioners/Liaison Committee 11 Assignments 33 12 5.2 Reports from Elected Officials/Department Heads 34 13 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 14 amend Sheriff and Constable fees that were previously adopted in Court Order #31002 37 15 --- Adjourned 40 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Monday, September 29, 2008, at 9:00 a.m., a special 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in 3 the Commissioners' Courtroom, Kerr County Courthouse, 4 Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in 5 open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 8 Let me call to order this meeting of the Kerr County 9 Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this time and 10 date, Monday, September 29th, 2008, at 9 a.m. It is that 11 time now. Because the agenda provides for visitors' input, 12 at this time I will ask if there's any member of the public 13 or the audience that wishes to be heard on a matter that is 14 not listed on the agenda. If so, you may come forward now. 15 If you wish to be heard on matters that are specified on the 16 agenda, we ask that you fill out a participation form at the 17 back of the room. While that's not necessary, if you'll get 18 my attention when that item comes up, I'll see that you're 19 given the opportunity to speak. But right now, if there's 20 any member of the public wishing to be heard on any matter 21 that is not a listed agenda item, please step forward. 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Seeing no one coming forward, we 24 will move on. The first item on the agenda is to consider, 25 discuss, and adopt tax rate of 2008 Lake Ingram Estates Road 9-29-08 4 1 District tax rate. Ms. Bolin? 2 MS. BOLIN: Okay. I conferred with Ms. Hargis on 3 this. They are not a regular road district that we can 4 charge 15 cents to. We did a bond on it several years ago, 5 so we adjust the tax rate every year. This year we're 6 proposing .3926, which is down from .5300. They apparently 7 owed us some money, so that's why the difference in the tax 8 rate, and this will cover what we need to pay out this year 9 on the bond. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: What do you mean, they "owed 11 us some money"? 12 MS. BOLIN: That's what Tommy explained or told -- 13 oh, good. Thank you. 14 MR. EMERSON: I can explain all that. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you. 16 MR. EMERSON: Because I had to write an opinion on 17 it about two years ago. There were a couple property owners 18 who were not paying their taxes, the road district taxes, and 19 the rate went up to cover the difference of them not paying. 20 And it looks to me like -- I strongly suspect maybe they've 21 come into compliance. 22 MS. BOLIN: Mm-hmm. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Okay. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And we have the authority to 25 just move that thing anywhere we want to -- 9-29-08 5 1 MS. BOLIN: Yes, this one. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- to cover our tails? 3 (Ms. Bolin nodded.) 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: What's the rate? 5 MS. BOLIN: 3926. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: From 5300? 7 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I move that we establish a 9 tax rate for Lake Ingram Estates Road District at .3926 -- 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: -- for year '08. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and a second as 14 indicated to establish the Lake Ingram Estates Road District 15 for 2008 tax rate at .3926. Any question or discussion on 16 the motion? All in favor of that motion, signify by raising 17 your right hand. 18 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 20 (No response.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. We'll move 22 to the next item on the agenda. Consider, discuss, and adopt 23 2008 Kerr County tax rate; the maintenance and operation 24 rate, interest and sinking fund rate, total tax rate, and 25 lateral road tax rate. Ms. Bolin? 9-29-08 6 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Does it have to be a record 2 vote, the last one? 3 MS. BOLIN: The last -- no. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It doesn't, okay. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: All the rest of them do, 6 don't they? 7 MS. BOLIN: Yes. We need to adopt all the tax 8 rates for Kerr County, and when I say "all," I mean 9 maintenance and operation, interest and sinking, the one just 10 for the county, and the one just for Road and Bridge -- or 11 lateral roads, and then the combined rate. The first one 12 that we need to do is maintenance and operation of .3592. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: And there is some specific language 14 that needs to be included in each of these motions that 15 you're speaking of, is there not? Because of the increase 16 above the effective tax rate? 17 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. And I believe on the form 18 that I gave you, Commissioner Williams, A is the only one 19 that we need to use, because the other part went into the -- 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How about the B portion 21 that talks about the amount that is increased on a $100,000 22 home? 23 MS. BOLIN: That's a part of the publication that I 24 did, and I don't have anything showing that we have to do 25 that. 9-29-08 7 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's -- 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Wouldn't hurt. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Wouldn't hurt. So, do we 4 have the number? 5 MS. BOLIN: No, I don't. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Grinstead, would you go pull the 7 proposed 2008 budget, '08-'09 budget? I believe all that 8 information is on the cover sheet of that budget. 9 (Discussion off the record.) 10 MS. HARGIS: I think you need the publication 11 itself that you put in the paper. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 13 MS. HARGIS: Do you have a copy of that? 14 MS. GRINSTEAD: I don't think I do. 15 MS. BOLIN: I do. I just don't have it here. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's get that on its way down here. 17 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Don't you read it that way 18 Judge, A and B together? Don't you have to have that? 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "And," yeah. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, "and." 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Maintenance and operations rate. 22 And -- yeah, I read it that it does. Sure do. It's got an 23 "and." 24 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And not an "or." 9-29-08 8 1 MS. BOLIN: I'm very sorry, gentlemen. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Don't be calling us 3 gentlemen. (Laughter.) 4 MS. BOLIN: Well, I consider all of you gentlemen, 5 so -- 6 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Well that's neat. That's a 7 nice way to start the morning. 8 MS. BOLIN: And off the subject, I want to thank 9 you all for doing this for the employees. 10 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 11 JUDGE TINLEY: This shows for a $100,000 home, the 12 publication talks about the average, and so these taxes are 13 based upon a $162,828 home. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Take the rate times -- 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, I'll figure that out. I will 16 figure that out. 17 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Not quite $80. 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah -- no, 40. On 20 100,000. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: $100,000. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, that's right. I was 23 thinking over 200,000 for some unknown reason. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 'Cause that's what the 25 average is in -- 9-29-08 9 1 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: -- Kerr County. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Maintenance -- 4 MS. BOLIN: Okay. The difference would be $94.60. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: That's on a $100,000 home? 6 MS. BOLIN: Yes, sir. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: 94.60? 8 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: How could that be? 10 MS. BOLIN: It's on a 162,000 -- 11 JUDGE TINLEY: No. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The statute says a $100,000 home. 14 MS. BOLIN: Okay. I need a calculator. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I've got one here, and that's what 16 I'm doing. 17 MS. BOLIN: Okay. 18 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: What was the M & O rate last year? 20 MS. BOLIN: 3592. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: For last year. 22 MS. BOLIN: Point -- 23 JUDGE TINLEY: That's what we calculated off the 24 M & O rate. 25 MS. BOLIN: 3592 is this year? 9-29-08 10 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Uh-huh. 2 MS. BOLIN: Hang on. I have .3592 for last year. 3 (Discussion off the record.) 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: On M & O. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: On M & O. 6 MS. BOLIN: No, I'm sorry. I don't know what the 7 split is, because I -- 8 MS. HARGIS: I've got it. Hang on. 9 MS. BOLIN: You want to try this at 10:00? 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Pardon? 11 MS. BOLIN: That was supposed to be a joke, sir. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't we be in recess for about 13 15 minutes. 14 MS. BOLIN: There we go. 15 (Recess taken from 9:17 a.m. to 9:35 a.m.) 16 - - - - - - - - - - 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's come back to order, if 18 we might. We were in recess. The item under consideration 19 is Item 2; consider, discuss, and adopt 2008 Kerr County tax 20 rate, being maintenance and operation rate, interest and 21 sinking rate, lateral road tax rate, and the total tax rate. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: You ready? 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I move that we adopt 25 the Maintenance/Operations tax rate of .3592 for the tax -- 9-29-08 11 1 2008 tax year. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion as to the M & O tax 3 rate. Do I have a second on that motion? 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second. 6 Question or discussion on that motion? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Where is it coming from? Is 8 that the 3154? 9 JUDGE TINLEY: 3154 was last year's M & O tax rate. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. That's what I mean. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Any further question or discussion 14 on that motion? All in favor -- this will be a record vote. 15 We'll start with Commissioners in order. Commissioner 16 Baldwin? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Aye. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Aye. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Chair votes aye. Motion does carry. 25 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I'll offer a motion 9-29-08 12 1 to adopt the interest and sinking debt rate of .0379 for the 2 2008 tax year. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to adopt 5 for the 2008 tax rate -- tax year rate, interest and sinking 6 debt rate of .0379. Question or discussion on that motion? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Where is it coming from? 8 JUDGE TINLEY: 0438. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's going down a little 11 bit. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It's sinking. It's a 13 sinking fund; it's supposed to. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's what it's supposed 15 to do, sink. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Further question or discussion? We 17 will take a record vote on that motion. Commissioner 18 Baldwin? 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Aye. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 21 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Aye. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Aye. 9-29-08 13 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Chair votes in the affirmative. 2 Motion does carry. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I'll offer a motion 4 to adopt the lateral road tax rate of .0322 for the 2008 tax 5 year. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second. 9 Question or discussion on that motion? 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Where is it coming from? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: 0304. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: 0304? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Right. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Further question or discussion? 16 Again, a record vote. Commissioner Baldwin? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 19 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Aye. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Aye. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Chair votes in the affirmative. The 25 motion does carry. 9-29-08 14 1 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Okay. Judge, I offer a 2 motion to adopt the combined tax rate for Kerr County of 3 .4293. I move that these taxes be increased by the adoption 4 of the tax rate that I just said, .4293. This will be 5 applied to the total taxable value, and it will impose an 6 amount of taxes to fund maintenance and operation 7 expenditures of the taxing unit that exceeds the amount of 8 taxes imposed for that purpose in the preceding year, 9 including the resolution this tax rate will raise more taxes 10 for maintenance and operations than last year's tax rate, and 11 exceeds the effective maintenance and operations rate. The 12 tax rate will raise taxes for maintenance and operations on a 13 $100,000 home by approximately $43.80. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second. 16 Question or discussion on that motion? 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I do have a couple of 18 comments. First of all, where is the number coming from? 19 JUDGE TINLEY: 3896. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: 3896 to 4293, and that 21 generates -- I mean, that's $43.80 more on -- 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: A $100,000 home. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- $100,000. 24 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Taxable value. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: On maintenance and operation portion 9-29-08 15 1 of the tax rate only. That's figured only on the -- 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: -- M & O tax rate. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. The comment I 5 wanted to make on that is, all the things that we've recently 6 done, the raising this tax rate, the raising taxes and giving 7 salary increases to the worker bees, and salary increases -- 8 cost-of-living across the board and those kinds of things, 9 Commissioner Oehler has been talking pretty loud about it 10 being too much all at one time, and I want you to know that I 11 agree with him 100 percent. He's exactly right. However, 12 the experts in our system tell us that our employees needed a 13 raise, and we give -- we give that to them. Plus, our -- our 14 adviser, Mr. Henderson, suggests that we do things in this 15 way for future purposes. So, you know, I take the advice of 16 the experts, and whether I agree or disagree that we're doing 17 the right thing or the wrong thing, I go along with it. And 18 we've -- here's the point, though. We've done it and it's 19 over, in my opinion. Now, next year, or the few remaining 20 years that I have left on this Court, we will not do that 21 again, in my opinion. You will not get a vote out of me to 22 raise taxes, to raise salaries or anything related to that. 23 You're going to have a hard time getting new pencils out of 24 me from this point on. 25 Hold on, I've got a thought. Just give me a minute 9-29-08 16 1 here. It's actually related to this issue. You know, the -- 2 this theory that we talk about of -- or this reason that we 3 talked about, we have to give people raises because of the 4 competition in the marketplace and those kinds of things, you 5 know, if we have to -- Fort Smith, Arkansas' Maintenance 6 Department is giving their people a raise, so we've got to 7 give ours a raise. Well, I never have believed that. I 8 never have understood that, and I never have agreed with 9 that, and I never -- probably never will. I -- I feel like, 10 you know, we're -- we're here to empower our people to -- 11 that make our employees, to give them the opportunity to be 12 all that they can be. If someone -- if an employee chooses 13 to leave Rusty's department and go to the City of Kerrville 14 Police Department, God bless them. Go. Have a good life. 15 Better yourself. So, what I'm saying is -- is I don't think 16 that we should hang our hats so much on this competition in 17 the marketplace issue. If people want to go and better 18 themselves, they need to go and better themselves, and we'll 19 pray for them as they go. That's about it, Judge. I just -- 20 you know, I -- with a smile and a happy heart, I voted for 21 these things this year, but I will not from this point on. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Further question or 23 discussion? 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'd just like to -- I'd like 25 to say a little bit, and I do -- and I have, you know, been 9-29-08 17 1 opposed to the increases in elected officials' and department 2 heads' salary being at the level that they were passed this 3 year. However, I do support and have supported the hourly 4 people in their -- their raise that was approved. I believe 5 that was the time to come up to an acceptable level of pay 6 for them that would at least allow them to be able to have a 7 good living or have a decent living and a decent wage. I 8 also believe that next year, the increases will be very 9 limited, and I don't think -- don't believe that we can 10 approve another deal like this. It was too costly this year, 11 and two years in a row is way too much, especially any level 12 close to 12.881 percent for hourly people, in my opinion. 13 We also -- and I -- you know, I do know that the 14 increase was inevitable because of increased costs and 15 because of lost revenue. And the big loss of revenue, of 16 course, is tied to the 65 and over tax freeze, which is the 17 way it is, and we have to live with it. But, at the same 18 time, we have to fund it to even -- to just stay even with 19 what our budgetary requirements are each year. And I believe 20 next year, we're going to have another increase of probably 21 anywhere from three-quarters to one cent, just to cover the 22 loss of revenue that we'll incur next year, and that's going 23 to happen for several more years before it comes to a point 24 where it levels off. Once it levels off, maybe things will 25 settle down a little bit, but there's no way that I believe 9-29-08 18 1 that this county is going to be able to make massive cuts in 2 dollars without cutting a huge amount of service. It's just 3 not going to happen. Costs continue to go up, and that's 4 just the way it is. 5 And I believe that -- and I want to say, too, that 6 I believe that we have probably the very best staff that Kerr 7 County has ever had, from top to bottom. I believe that the 8 employees are doing a fine job. They're doing it with a 9 smile in most cases, and the change that I've seen after kind 10 of being gone for eight years is -- has been really good, and 11 I want to compliment our employees and our staff for doing 12 what they do. But, at the same time, we do have to watch the 13 dollars. We're the ones that actually have the final say 14 over it. And it's real easy for some elected officials to be 15 a little harsh, maybe, on us, but they're not the ones making 16 those decisions. Once they get a pay -- pay increase 17 approved by us, well, they don't -- nobody says anything to 18 them. We're the only ones they talk to and the only ones 19 that are talked about, because we're the ultimate authority 20 and the ones that approve those things. So, anyway, I -- I 21 feel like that this has been a -- been a mixed year. And I 22 have no hard feelings toward anybody on this court, and I 23 hope they don't have any hard feelings toward me. We have a 24 difference of opinion about levels of increases that I felt 25 like should have been given, and I was outvoted. So what? 9-29-08 19 1 Move on down the road. Anyway, I'm through. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Much of what you say, 3 Commissioner, I agree with. And the reality is, I think in 4 the terminology of our current society, Kerr County and our 5 affairs as a government agency got caught up in what I guess 6 people would call a perfect storm, and I think the tax freeze 7 had a measured effect on what we do. It's not easy to take 8 $780,000 or $800,000 out of your revenue stream and continue 9 to maintain the same tax rate. It's next to impossible. And 10 I think that, coupled with inflation, which is 11 extraordinarily high this year and probably will go higher 12 before all this stuff levels out in America, those things 13 combined to make it a very, very difficult year. I agree 14 with you 100 percent. 15 With respect to our employees, we have a good 16 group, and that's one of the reasons why I believe it was 17 important to help our employees along. We have a good group 18 of people. I think it's important that we maintain the level 19 of service that we do for the citizens of Kerr County, and 20 the -- the cost is exorbitant to replace a good employee who 21 goes someplace else for whatever the reasons be. And as 22 Commissioner Baldwin says, if they go, God bless them, they 23 go. But that leaves Kerr County with a vacuum, and the cost 24 to fill that vacuum is a very difficult thing to do. So, I 25 think probably you're correct in your assumption that we will 9-29-08 20 1 not be facing this type of thing again, but the reality is, 2 we may face an additional tax increase in the future because 3 of continued costs and the continued erosion of -- of our 4 taxable income. 5 When you think about it in retrospect, if we had 6 been strong enough of our mind and our convictions when the 7 tax freeze was imposed on us three years ago, when we were 8 told, oh, that there would be a very modest effect on Kerr 9 County, something like $150,000, if we'd been strong in our 10 convictions about what the reality of that had been or would 11 be, we would have imposed about a 7 and a half then to keep 12 ourselves even, and then this year it wouldn't have been 13 nearly so severe. But we don't yet know; we haven't got our 14 arms around this totally in terms of what -- what the amount 15 is. The number of properties who are frozen continues to 16 rise. What we don't know is what the attrition rate is of 17 those going back into the -- in the market for increased 18 valuation, and those coming onto that tax freeze. We don't 19 know that yet. So, I think it's safe to say that before we 20 get our arms around this beast totally, it's going to come 21 close to a million dollars. That said, I will vote for it. 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, and there's one way 23 that we can slow this down. If the people that have that 24 exemption -- the tax exemption at 65, they can refuse to 25 apply for -- or to that exemption. They don't have to go 9-29-08 21 1 apply for it just because it's there. 2 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's true. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But that's -- 4 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's probably not going to 5 happen, but that's another way to slow it down, is for people 6 to say, "Look, this isn't fair on the people that we're 7 putting this tax on. I mean, we have resources that a lot of 8 them don't have, and why should we not pay our fair share?" 9 And that's the other side. That could happen, but more than 10 likely will not. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just a couple comments. I 12 generally agree with what was said previously, and I think I 13 told some of you already that yesterday evening I had the 14 pleasure of having dinner with a large group of my 15 constituents in the Cypress Creek area, probably about the 16 most conservative precinct, I'd say, 303. I spoke to the 17 whole group and went over what we talked about today. One 18 thing that I think hasn't been said is the reason we got into 19 this situation was the Juvenile Detention Facility, which 20 caused our withdrawals to take -- or reserves to take a huge 21 hit four years ago, three years ago, and our reserves have 22 been dangerously low ever since, and we're fixing that 23 problem as well. So, there -- you know, that reserve issue, 24 the tax freeze, employees' salaries, attrition, when I put 25 that case up before that group, I didn't have one person 9-29-08 22 1 really complain, and it was a pretty tough group to sell that 2 to. They agreed -- I think during our hearings, we put the 3 case out before the people. There -- I didn't hear a whole 4 lot of, you know, people that understood why we were doing 5 it, but most of them tend to agree. Some of them didn't want 6 it; they didn't want us to hurt business or hurt people that 7 can't afford it, obviously, but they also understood the 8 reason behind it. 9 I think we had a -- a very good budget cycle. I 10 think we had a lot of good discussions throughout the time. 11 Commissioner Oehler and I -- he was over there, and I was a 12 little bit, most of the time, trying to -- kind of voting 13 with him, and not voting with him sometimes. I think both of 14 us got outvoted, it seemed, but that's okay. I think the -- 15 the Commissioners' salaries is always an issue. People 16 always complain about us giving ourselves a raise, but I 17 think you just can't go down that road, because, you know, we 18 have costs like everybody else does, and I think we should be 19 treated as a group like other elected officials. I mean, the 20 raise may be a little bit too high there, but it wasn't way, 21 way out of line. I think that, historically, if you look at 22 how this Court has looked at elected officials, we have been 23 pretty conservative with their salaries. They have increased 24 over time, but everything else has increased. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Jon, one more comment that I 9-29-08 23 1 want to make. You said they didn't like it, but they 2 understood what it was about. And I think that is the 3 same -- I know Bruce, and so do I; I think everybody here, we 4 don't like doing it. I mean, this wasn't a joyful thing to 5 raise people's taxes. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And, yes, it caused some 8 pain for some people. But it was the right thing to do at 9 the right time, and we did it. And -- anyway, it's over. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner, your comment about 11 being the right thing to do, I think that sums it all up. I 12 too have -- 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Are you giving me credit? 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, sure, I'll give you credit -- 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, thank you. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: -- for that. Anybody that does the 17 right thing deserves credit for doing the right thing. But 18 that's what everybody should do. When, on the first day, the 19 first hour, our elected officials and department heads stood 20 before us shoulder to shoulder and said, "This is what we 21 must have for our employees," and explained the why, 22 explained their commitment to help us get there by doing 23 their part and trimming their own budgets, it was evident to 24 me from the outset that we were probably going to have a 25 significant tax increase this year, and I began talking to 9-29-08 24 1 business people, others in the community that have employees, 2 that have payrolls, that some -- that bear this tax burden, 3 and when you explain to them the why, I didn't find a single 4 one of them that didn't understand, because they've been 5 there. They know the issues. They know increasing costs. 6 They have the ability and -- and the benefit of being able to 7 adjust their pricing for their goods and services at any 8 point in time to adjust for these cost factors or additional 9 transportation requirements, all these things that drive up 10 their cost of doing business. We don't have the ability to 11 do that here, so we've got to project, and of necessity, we 12 work after the fact. And as I've said, we sometimes do so 13 only after a crisis strikes. 14 You can look at what's happening nationally now, 15 and bingo, that's government reacting to a crisis. That's 16 all that's going on up there. There were a number of things 17 that probably could have been done and should have been done 18 to prevent that from happening. The bottom line was, nobody 19 did, and it did happen. Now we got to live with how to -- 20 how to do the result. But, you know, our employees are our 21 most valuable assets, and the -- it's easy to be penny-wise 22 and pound-foolish and say, "Well, if they don't want to work 23 here, they can leave." A lot of them, I'm convinced, did not 24 want to leave, but left because of necessity, and that put us 25 in a position of having to fill positions. And you've got 9-29-08 25 1 the administrative setup cost; you've got the training cost 2 to get an employee up to the level of skill that the parting 3 employee had. That can be quite expensive. We don't operate 4 like the private sector does, and so there's a lot of 5 different applications that they may have to learn here that 6 they don't pick up out in the private sector, so the training 7 opportunities out there don't necessarily spill over into 8 our -- our sector. 9 We will continue to have erosion of our tax base 10 because of the over-65 issue. Retirees will continue to come 11 to this area. They're doing so every day, and we don't need 12 to try and attract those people. But there is a solution. 13 The solution is to distribute the tax base on a more 14 equitable basis, and you only do that through economic 15 development. And economic development, as some of you may 16 know, is near and dear to my heart. And I think we are 17 moving in a direction to be effective in readjusting that tax 18 base by virtue of encouraging and incentivizing economic 19 development in this community and Kerr County, but it's going 20 to take a while. Best case scenario, to bring this entire 21 tax base back into an equitable basis, you're probably 22 looking at 15 to 20 years. Best case. We've got a long way 23 to go, but we're not going to get there if we don't start. 24 And I think the efforts that we've made in economic 25 development policies and initiatives that we put in place 9-29-08 26 1 over the last two, two and a half years, is going to serve us 2 well in the future. Time will tell, but that's the only way 3 you're going to get there. We've got to get economic 4 development in order to get this tax base equalized to offset 5 both the overburden of our residential taxpayer, which is 6 exacerbated by that over-65 tax freeze. So, I would -- I 7 would encourage the Court and the citizens of this community 8 to be proactive in -- in economic development initiatives, 9 and I think that's the only way we're going to really get 10 there, but it's going to be tough, and it's going to take a 11 while. Further question or comments on the motion? All in 12 favor of the motion -- let's go by record vote. 13 Commissioner 1? 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Aye. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Aye. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Chair votes in the affirmative. The 22 motion does carry. 23 MS. BOLIN: Thank you, gentlemen. And I apologize 24 for my lack of knowing what to bring. I made notes, so it 25 won't happen next year. 9-29-08 27 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Let's go to Item 3 on the 2 agenda, if we might. Consider, discuss, and approve the 3 replacement of election judges and alternates for a term of 4 one year in accordance with the Texas Election Code, Section 5 32. Do you want me to read that in Spanish? 6 MS. ALFORD: Sure. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 8 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Can you read it to us in 9 Spanish? 10 MS. ALFORD: No, sir. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Oh. Well, then I won't. 12 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Judge, I would move that 13 for Precinct 211, that Jane Carbone replace Dee Speaker as 14 the election judge for Precinct 211. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 17 indicated. Question or discussion? All in favor of the 18 motion, signify by raising your right hand. 19 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 21 (No response.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. 23 Ms. Grinstead, the action for this afternoon is an amendment; 24 it's not a new posting. Is that correct? 25 MS. GRINSTEAD: Well, it's an amendment, but we did 9-29-08 28 1 an addendum, but it was timed for 3:15. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: It's an addendum, okay. Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's at 3:30? 4 JUDGE TINLEY: 3:15, I believe. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I'll be here. I'll be here 6 if -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I probably will not be here. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I'll be here; I'll take care 10 of you. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay, thank you. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: We do have some bills, so let's go 13 to Section 4 of the agenda, payment of the bills. I assume 14 the Auditor wanted to get this done, or we wouldn't have got 15 this big old stack of bills. These are -- 16 MS. HARGIS: We're trying to get -- 17 JUDGE TINLEY: -- year-end? 18 MS. HARGIS: Yes. We're trying to get as many of 19 the year-end so we know what our budget amendments need to be 20 so we can balance this out. Is there any questions? 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. I remember the day, 22 and so does Bruce, and I'm -- Letz too, growing up here, 23 where you could drive through Kerrville and you knew 24 absolutely everybody. I mean, you'd meet people; you knew 25 them, visited with them. And it just blows me away to see -- 9-29-08 29 1 I'll give you an example. On Commissioners Court, law 2 offices of Charles somebody. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Frigerio. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And the -- you go through 5 here and you see these attorneys in particular, and you never 6 heard of them, or I haven't. Who -- who are these people? 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Count your blessings. 8 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Are they -- are you telling 9 me they moved to Kerrville on purpose? 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: They replaced all the ones 11 you thought you knew. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, maybe. It's just -- 13 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: If it'll make you feel better, 14 Buster, a lot of them actually live in San Antonio, the 15 attorneys, and come up here -- 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: That's wonderful. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's even better; we're 18 subsidizing San Antonio lawyers. 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That's right. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Keep San Antonio green, 21 right? 22 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, we don't have enough in 23 Kerr County; we have to get them out of San Antonio. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner, a lot of my 25 contemporaries are no longer practicing, for a variety of 9-29-08 30 1 reasons. Some of them ain't even around any more to be 2 anywhere, and some of them have moved on somewhere or have 3 retired, but there's a new bunch. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Probably the bunch before you. 5 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: And their names are right 6 here. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Blows me away. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Ms. Hargis? 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: But I'm happy. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Under County Court, Laverne Lusk, is 11 that payment to an out-of-county on a diversion patient? 12 Court costs? 13 MS. HARGIS: Judge, I'm sorry, I don't -- I don't 14 remember that one. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I'll bet she's going to be the 16 County Clerk in Howard County or something. 17 MS. HARGIS: I believe that is where that C.P. -- 18 what do you call that? C.S.P. or whatever, I mean, that the 19 Judge has to pay. I believe she's the attorney for those 20 cases, the children. 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: C.P.S. cases. 22 MS. HARGIS: C.P.S. cases. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: That wouldn't be charged to County 24 Court; be charged to County Court at Law or District Court. 25 MS. HARGIS: Okay, I'll have to look that one up. 9-29-08 31 1 JUDGE TINLEY: I bet that's going to be some court 2 costs for a mental health case that went to Howard County, 3 Travis County, or San Antonio on diversion. 4 MS. HARGIS: I'll look it up. 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That may be. We have sent 6 some to Howard County, I think even lately. We had to 7 transport them up there. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. That's the only question I 9 have. Do I have a motion to approve the bills? 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So moved. 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 13 approval of the bills. Question or discussion? All in 14 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 15 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 16 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 17 (No response.) 18 MS. HARGIS: Judge can I -- just one moment. We -- 19 the format that you see in front of you, as you recall, is a 20 new format. We did get a cost for redoing this format for 21 y'all, but I think it's exorbitant. They want $2,500 plus 22 $625 a year for maintenance. I think that's a lot to add one 23 column to this report, unless y'all see a need for it. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Fine the way it is. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: One column to indicate -- what was 9-29-08 32 1 it that one column was going to indicate? 2 MS. HARGIS: Whether they were in or out of budget. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They won't be able to go out of 4 budget any more, will they? 5 MS. HARGIS: No, they won't. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So it shouldn't be a problem. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Anybody see a problem with that? 8 Anybody want to pay the 2,500 plus -- 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, I don't. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: -- six and a half a year? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 13 MS. HARGIS: And if I could, I'd like to do one 14 other thing. I would like to thank Eva Hyde and Rusty 15 Hier... Rusty, the Sheriff, for standing -- I can't pronounce 16 his name right, so I'll butcher it -- for being the ones who 17 were instrumental in getting the raises for the employees, 18 and all the hard work that they did. Because they did a lot 19 of work getting the elected officials together, getting 20 everybody to cut their budgets, so I think we as employees 21 need to thank them for all the work that they did. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Do we have any budget 23 amendments? 24 MS. HARGIS: No, sir, we didn't get them ready. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Late bills? 9-29-08 33 1 MS. HARGIS: No. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: No reports? 3 THE CLERK: No, sir. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Any reports from Commissioners? 5 Baldwin? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Aye. (Laughter.) No, thank 7 you. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Williams? 9 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: No, sir. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: No. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Only report I'm going to make 13 is that we're trying once again this year -- in fact, they're 14 doing it right now at Ingram Lake. Leonard went and rented a 15 pump, and we got a couple divers down trying to uncover the 16 infamous ball so that we can put a new chain onto the little 17 booger and see if we can get it out of there. We're not 18 going to drain the lake just yet; we're going to find the 19 ball first, and we will work on that in the next weeks, or 20 maybe -- no more than a month, so we give adequate notice to 21 everybody that needs to be notified. 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I think they'll have enough 23 experience at Ingram Lake so they'll know what to do with 24 Flat Rock. 25 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: By the time I get out there 9-29-08 34 1 in a few minutes, I will know whether it's working or not. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: I had a constituent over the weekend 3 inquire about, "Well, isn't that going to happen in the next 4 couple weeks?" I said, "I don't know." 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, that's why I'm 6 reporting it now. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Good. Appreciate it. I had no idea 8 that you had that one in the mix. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well -- 10 JUDGE TINLEY: That's something that's been laying 11 around now for what, a year and a half? 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Well, no, it's only been 13 about nine months since the last time we tried pulling this 14 thing. 15 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Yeah, the beginning of this 16 year. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This year. It's not quite as 18 cold outside as when we were trying to do it last year with a 19 huge flow in the river. This year the flow is down, so I 20 don't know. We'll see. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Good point. Any other reports? 22 We'll be in recess -- wait a minute. Hold it. 23 MR. EMERSON: One quick one. I have hired a new 24 attorney to start October 15th, a gentleman named Chris 25 Eaton. He's out of SMU's law school, practiced in Smith 9-29-08 35 1 County for about eight months with the D.A.'s office over 2 there. His wife graduated from physical therapy school. 3 They've relocated, so hopefully that will be a productive 4 addition to the staff. And -- 5 JUDGE TINLEY: She's going to be a physical 6 therapist here? 7 MR. EMERSON: No, actually in San Antonio. One of 8 the -- as he explained it to me, one of the physical therapy 9 companies picked up a significant portion of her tuition 10 fees, under contract, with a -- when she graduated, she would 11 go work for them for "X" amount of time. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 13 MR. EMERSON: So -- 14 JUDGE TINLEY: That's extending to the physical -- 15 to that group of the medical profession, then. 16 MR. EMERSON: Correct. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 18 MR. EMERSON: So, that's working out well for them, 19 and he's supposed to join us on the 15th. You were talking 20 about mental health earlier. I've been working with 21 Jannett's office. Maverick County owes us $5,500, $6,000, 22 somewhere around there. They passed it down to me. I'm 23 going to send off -- fire off a letter, see if we can't get 24 our money. Bexar County was in the same boat and decided 25 last week they would pay, so that money's forthcoming. 9-29-08 36 1 JUDGE TINLEY: On the Bexar County issue -- we're 2 not getting any patients, or haven't for some time, out of 3 Maverick. In the Bexar County case, occasionally a patient 4 will go down there on diversion, and the simple way to do 5 that would just be to offset it against what we had due when 6 they bill us for our court costs down there in -- in future 7 cases. But I'd like to get it back on a pay-as-you-go basis, 8 which is where you're going, and I appreciate that. Anything 9 else? 10 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: After the -- well, I got time. 11 Buster can attest to this, too. Friday -- Thursday? -- we 12 had court, district court. And one thing about it, they did 13 take care of about 30 inmates that were in jail. It was a 14 good side, either sentencing them to jail time or T.D.C. time 15 or something; at least took care of them. Bad part is, we're 16 one inmate higher in population today than we were Friday 17 night. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Every time the Grand Jury 19 meets, that happens, doesn't it? 20 MS. HARGIS: Just didn't help us greatly on that, 21 but I think it will in the -- in the long run. But it was 22 kind of chaotic up there in court. Everybody -- 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've never seen anything 24 like that. 25 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: They moved them through. 9-29-08 37 1 JUDGE TINLEY: It always is. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It was a circus up there. 3 My lord. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: There are lawyers involved, Buster. 5 What do you expect? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: There were lawyers involved, 7 coveys of them. Herding to and fro. Oh, it was horrible. 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And the last thing is, for at 9 least the 100 employees in my department, I do want to thank 10 this Court for -- for thinking about them this year. I think 11 the raises help them, and it was drastically needed. And as 12 a taxpayer, I -- you know, we all have to pay it too. But I 13 do appreciate what the Court did for the employees. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other reports? We'll be in 15 recess until 3:15 this afternoon. 16 (Recess taken from 10:11 a.m. to 3:43 p.m.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 (Commissioner Letz not present.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's come back to order for a 20 Commissioners Court meeting that we were in recess from this 21 morning, September 29th, 2008. It is now 3:43, which is a 22 bit after 3:15 that we were scheduled to come back, but were 23 delayed. The item on the agenda is consider, discuss, and 24 take appropriate action to amend sheriff and constable fees 25 that were previously adopted in Court Order Number 31002, 9-29-08 38 1 that court order relating to sheriff and constable fees for 2 October 1, '08, through September 30, '09, I believe. It was 3 brought to my attention that the -- under the heading of 4 Notices, the last item there, Forcible Detainer, rather than 5 be $200, it should be $65, since that's just a normal service 6 fee. And Processing Arrest Warrant under Other Service Fees, 7 which is shown as 65, -- 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Should be 50. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: -- is established by statute at 50. 10 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Which one are you looking 11 at, Judge? 12 JUDGE TINLEY: The third one -- second one down 13 under Other Service Fees. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: I see it. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: The third category. 16 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Fifty? 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Should be $50. But other than that, 18 all the rest of them are okay, Sheriff? 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Yes. What do you still -- 20 those were the only two I've been told. But on writ of 21 possession, what are we still showing, the 200? 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. Writ of possessions are where 23 the Sheriff -- the deputy has to go out and move somebody 24 out. 25 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 9-29-08 39 1 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the reason for the high 2 number on that fee. 3 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Plus 50 bucks an hour. 4 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. It was $200 last year. This 6 year, the change was to add the $50 an hour after the first 7 hour, because if you got to be refereeing a move, it's not a 8 good thing. 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Right. And the warrant fee, 10 that was my mistake, 'cause for some reason, Legislature 11 decided a long time ago not to let us get any more than 50. 12 I don't know, but all the rest of them can go up. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge, I move that we change 14 those two items as per your instructions. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: How about "suggestions"? 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I don't know if I can go 17 that far. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, suggestions. 20 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded to -- to 22 amend the prior court order, 31002, to make the two changes 23 as indicated. Further question or discussion on the motion? 24 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 25 hand. 9-29-08 40 1 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 3 (No response.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Further 5 business, gentlemen? 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Nay. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll be adjourned. 8 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 3:46 p.m.) 9 - - - - - - - - - - 10 11 12 STATE OF TEXAS | 13 COUNTY OF KERR | 14 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 15 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 16 County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 17 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 18 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 29th day of September, 19 2008. 20 21 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 22 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 23 Certified Shorthand Reporter 24 25 9-29-08