1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Thursday, September 29, 2011 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 GUY R. OVERBY, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X September 29, 2011 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to approve contract between the Office of Court 4 Administration and Kerr County for Presiding Judges Assistance Project; allow County Judge 5 to sign same 5 6 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to adopt Position Schedule, Step and Grade Schedule, 7 and General Provisions for FY 2011-2012 6 8 1.3 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to adopt proposed salary increases, expenses, and 9 allowances for elected officials of Kerr County, in accordance with public notice 14 10 1.7 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to 11 consider appointment of interim Kerr County Treasurer pending appointment of Kerr County 12 Treasurer to serve until next general election 15 13 1.4 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to adopt FY 2011-2012 Kerr County Budget 19 14 4.1 Pay Bills 28 15 4.2 Budget Amendments 29 4.3 Late Bills -- 16 4.4 Monthly Reports -- 17 1.5 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to adopt 2011 Lake Ingram Estates Road District 18 tax rate 36 19 1.6 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action to adopt 2011 Kerr County Tax Rate, to include 20 Maintenance and Operations, Interest and Sinking, and Lateral Roads tax rate 38 21 --- Adjourned 40 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Thursday, September 29, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., a 2 special meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was 3 held in 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 date and 10 time, Thursday, September 29th, 2011, at 9 a.m. It is that 11 time now. Is there any member of the public that wishes to 12 be heard on any matter which is not listed on the agenda? 13 Any matter not listed on the agenda. Seeing no one coming 14 forward, we'll move on. Commissioner Baldwin, do you have 15 anything preliminarily for us this morning? 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, sir. Thank you. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Just glad to be here? 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I am glad to be here. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. Commissioner Overby? 20 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Yeah, I just wanted to say 21 one thing. On Tuesday this week, we did have a fire out in 22 the Center Point area, and I did talk with Danny Smith this 23 morning, and it appears that the structural damage out there 24 at the house was about $30,000 or $40,000. But we had a lot 25 of good response, from what Danny told me today. We had four 9-29-11 4 1 -- four fire departments that were there; three volunteer. 2 Comfort, Center Point, Elm Pass, and Kerrville firefighters 3 were there, and I appreciate all their response. Danny said 4 that they were there on a quick time. And, again, the damage 5 was -- was minimal. It is still -- 30,000 or 40,000 is a 6 lot, but I'm glad that it wasn't any worse, and it could have 7 been. So -- 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Where was it? 9 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Pecan -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Valley? 11 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Pecan Valley. So, I 12 appreciate our volunteer fire departments and everything, and 13 I appreciate the City's response too. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Anything else? 15 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: That's it. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I don't believe I have 18 anything, Judge. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: We just had a couple of small 21 fires out west, one off Fisher Road and one out toward Mo 22 Ranch, I believe, and both were caused from lightning 23 strikes. 24 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Yeah. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Another one, I think, on Faltin 9-29-11 5 1 Ranch yesterday, lightning strike that hit. Elm Pass, 2 Comfort, and Center Point were fighting it. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think the only fire I've 4 had in my precinct is my barbecue pit. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that's gas, I'm sure. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah, I'm sure it is. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Absolutely. Okay. Let's get on 8 with our agenda, if we might, please. The first item on the 9 agenda is to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action 10 to approve the contract between the Office of Court 11 Administration and Kerr County for Presiding Judges 12 Assistance Project, and allow County Judge to sign the same. 13 I put this on the agenda at the request of the Administrative 14 Judge upstairs -- upstairs and elsewhere, I guess, wherever 15 he goes about the state, all the way to El Paso. It provides 16 assistance to the support personnel for the presiding judge. 17 I believe generally that's a good characterization, is it 18 not, Ms. Henderson? 19 MS. HENDERSON: Yes, sir. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Do I hear a motion for 21 approval? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So moved. 23 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 25 approval of the contract between Office of Court 9-29-11 6 1 Administration and Kerr County for Presiding Judges 2 Assistance Project, and permission for County Judge to sign 3 same. Questions or discussion? All in favor, signify by 4 raising your right hand. 5 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 7 (No response.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's go to 9 Item 2 on the agenda; to consider, discuss, and take 10 appropriate action to adopt the position schedule, step and 11 grade schedule, and general provisions for Fiscal Year 12 2011-12. This is a usual and normal item placed on our 13 agenda for -- to launch a new budget year -- fiscal year. I 14 assume that the step and grade has been adjusted 15 appropriately to conform to the action taken by the Court in 16 prior meetings dealing with the -- with the increase? 17 MS. HARGIS: At 4 percent. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Tell me -- tell me about 20 that. Who gets what and all? 21 MS. HARGIS: You mean on the step and grade 22 schedule? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, ma'am. 24 MS. HARGIS: On the step and grade, we plugged in 25 the 4 percent, and it automatically moved the step and grades 9-29-11 7 1 forward with the 4 percent. And that's really all we did 2 with the step and grade, was just to put the 4 percent in, 3 which just moved the steps accordingly all the way down, and 4 so they all reflect a 4 percent increase. So the steps 5 pretty much remain the same; they just have -- they start 6 higher. The 14-1 is a higher -- would be higher, because 7 it's 4 percent higher than it was. So those people that will 8 start at 14-1 will automatically start higher by 4 percent 9 than they did -- you know, October 1 than they would today. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Because of the 4 percent -- 11 MS. HARGIS: Right. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- salary increase? 13 MS. HARGIS: Right. 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And so there's still a 14? 15 MS. HARGIS: There is still a 14. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And the -- the folks that -- 17 where'd you go? 18 MS. HARGIS: I'm just getting my -- 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The folks that -- that is 20 making that move are the employees only. There's no -- not 21 executive, but elected officials? 22 MS. HARGIS: There's no elected officials included 23 in the 4 percent. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is there -- but all 25 department heads got it? 9-29-11 8 1 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And is that step and grade 3 chart in here? 4 MS. HARGIS: Yes, sir, it is. It's in the very 5 back of your book. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Would you take me to that, 7 please? 8 MS. HARGIS: It's a yellow tab, next to the last 9 tab in your book. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, I got it. I'm there. 11 MR. HENNEKE: Judge, could I ask a question? There 12 was discussion early on about adding additional grades beyond 13 12 for employees that were maxed out at their step. Was 14 that -- 15 MS. HARGIS: It was never approved, so I wasn't 16 authorized to do that. We talked about increasing the steps 17 from 12 to 15, but the Court never made that motion. I mean, 18 we can do it; there are three people involved that are maxed 19 out. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think, really, you know, I'm 21 not opposed to doing that, but we've kind of -- to get the 4 22 percent to everybody, we didn't do any of the others. And I 23 think it's kind of -- I hate to start -- start picking one 24 and picking one. We're just going to be right back undoing 25 what we just kind of accomplished dollar-wise. I think that 9-29-11 9 1 that's something that I will be really in favor of looking at 2 a lot of these adjustments next year. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And I remember that -- I 4 remember you trying to cover a big area in your motion the 5 other day, and it was -- part of it was the eliminating 6 everything, the 14 goes to the 15 and all that -- all that 7 stuff. So, we eliminated that, and we eliminated anything 8 past the 12, and I don't -- what else? 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: There were some other 10 adjustments that were made, and I don't know how many there 11 were, but there were some departments that had moved people 12 up a little bit, or over or around, and -- 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: The 12 -- that 12 step, that 14 number will be increased by the percentage of increase, so it 15 doesn't -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They still get an increase. 17 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: They still get the increase. 18 That 12 all of a sudden becomes that higher amount. 19 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Right. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It becomes a 13-5. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Whatever it is, all of them 22 have been adjusted up. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 24 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So it really has a net effect 25 of what, I think, we're looking for. 9-29-11 10 1 MS. HARGIS: So they got the 4 percent; they just 2 didn't -- they just don't have anywhere to go higher. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: See, I agree with 5 Commissioner Letz about the -- you know, if we start 6 tinkering with it, we're going to redo what we actually did. 7 So -- 8 MS. HARGIS: Perhaps we could look at this midterm, 9 when we have a little bit more time to study things like 10 that. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Good idea. 12 MS. HARGIS: And the effects of it, the financial 13 effects of it. 14 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Okay. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay, thank you. 16 MS. HARGIS: The position schedule is the tab right 17 in front of the step and grade. It's an orange tab. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I guess maybe this is the 19 time to bring up this policy issue with the Sheriff and the 20 chief deputy. 21 MS. HARGIS: We did not change it. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: We didn't give Clay a raise? 23 MS. HARGIS: We gave Clay a raise. 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. 25 MS. HARGIS: We didn't -- as the Court told me on 9-29-11 11 1 Monday, we just -- we gave Clay a raise, but no elected 2 officials, so that's where it's at. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. So that -- that 4 breaks the policy that the County has, which I'm -- this may 5 be history right here, but I'm agreeing with you on that, 6 that I think -- I mean, I'm glad you're doing that. That's 7 what I would do, but I would also, I think, come along -- we 8 need to change the policy. I mean, why have a policy if 9 we're just going to tinker with it back and forth and make it 10 fit, make us all feel good and all that? But -- 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think it's unclear whether we 12 actually have a policy. 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh, is it? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think somewhere -- 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that something that Rusty 16 invented? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Probably. (Laughter.) But I 18 think it's a -- you know, Rob -- someone told me that there 19 was -- they couldn't find a court order that did it. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It was discussed a lot. 22 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: A myth? 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: But never voted on formally. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But I think -- 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Done deal. I'm happy. 9-29-11 12 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it's another one of those, 2 I think, that needs to be brought up, you know, whenever we 3 look at all these issues. And we either -- you know, someone 4 needs to remember to put it on our agenda, probably around 5 February, and take a half-a-day workshop to kind of look at a 6 lot of these, at least identify what we need to look at. And 7 so we've done an awful lot of tinkering since the Nash study 8 was adopted, and I don't know that we need to -- I'm not in 9 favor of hiring another consultant to go back and look at it, 10 but I think that we do need to kind of step back and look at 11 how much tinkering we've done, and are we still in line with 12 what our -- you know, what we should be doing? By that time, 13 the H.R. Director will be fully up to speed, and we can 14 assign this task to her. 15 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: There you go. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Or, Commissioner, we could put a 17 specific agenda item on a regular agenda to eliminate that 18 policy if it, in fact, exists. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Be a good idea. 21 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And that should take care of 22 it, shouldn't it? 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, it would. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I see the Sheriff -- I visited 25 with the Sheriff on this yesterday. His pay is now about -- 9-29-11 13 1 what, 2,500-something, plus or minus, above the chief deputy. 2 I think it probably should be higher, but I -- I just don't 3 want -- I kind of put it in the category of tinkering. I 4 really don't want to go into all these, 'cause I think it 5 would be a different approach right now. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, are you saying that -- 7 what are you saying? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'm saying we leave it the way 9 it is right now in the budget. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: All right. I can't find the 11 one that I'm looking for. 12 MS. HARGIS: Mine? 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Here's one, the County 14 Attorney. Oh, he's an elected official, that's right. Okay. 15 Okay. Okay. Okay, I'm happy. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions or comments? 17 Any question about the holiday schedule? The one that is the 18 floating holiday will allow you to take Texas Independence 19 Day if you so desire. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's exactly right, and I 21 will. I'll show y'all. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Do I hear a motion for approval? 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Approval of what? 24 JUDGE TINLEY: The -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Position schedule, step and 9-29-11 14 1 grade schedule, and general provisions. So moved. 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 4 approval of the agenda item. Further question or discussion? 5 All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 6 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8 (No response.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Let's go to 10 the next item; to consider, discuss, take appropriate action 11 to adopt the proposed salary increases, expenses, and 12 allowances for elected officials of Kerr County, Texas, in 13 accordance with public notice published in the Kerrville 14 Daily Times. Obviously, in view of -- the only reason that's 15 on here is because we published the notice. And in view of 16 the Court's action that was taken, both at the Monday meeting 17 and as affirmed here today, those salary increases, expenses, 18 and allowances for elected officials will not occur. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Not sure what "expenses" 20 means. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: That's the language out of the Local 22 Government Code statute. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Okay. Do you need a -- 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, I guess I need a motion to -- 25 that those proposed salary increases, expenses, and 9-29-11 15 1 allowances for elected officials of Kerr County for 2 FY '11-'12 will not occur. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Zero is the number. 4 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: That's correct. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So moved. 6 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second that. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded. Question 8 or discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by 9 raising your right hand. 10 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 11 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 12 (No response.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Well, let me 14 see. We got some items here that are timed items. We've got 15 an addendum item. Let me drag it up here. Consider, 16 discuss, and take appropriate action to consider appointment 17 of interim Kerr County Treasurer pending appointment of Kerr 18 County Treasurer to serve until next general election. 19 That's an appointment pending the appointment. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I think you put it on there. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Wasn't me. But that is 23 wise. I mean, you got to have somebody to sign the checks 24 and -- until we get -- 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, you know, I wasn't aware if 9-29-11 16 1 the Court was thinking about having a special meeting before 2 our regular meeting on October the 10th. The -- the closing 3 date for persons to file resumes or express interest is 4 tomorrow afternoon at 5:00, so we -- obviously, it would not 5 be appropriate for us to make the appointment of the 6 Treasurer to serve until the next general election until 7 after that. But, you know, if we're going to have a special 8 meeting fairly quickly, early part of next week, we can 9 forego this, I would think. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, but if -- I mean, I don't 11 know what -- what functions may be required, possibly even in 12 that interim. And my first thought would be, would the 13 current Treasurer agree to stay on for a little bit longer? 14 No? 15 MS. WILLIAMS: Sorry, gentlemen, no. I'm -- my 16 last day is tomorrow. But I would encourage you to probably 17 have a special meeting as soon as possible next week when you 18 make your decision, because whoever that person is, they 19 still have to be bonded before they can be sworn in to take 20 office. In the meantime, Beth has agreed to fill in 21 interimly, but just short interimly. So, the office will 22 still be open, and it will still be functioning. But if 23 y'all can make a decision pretty quick, that would be the 24 best thing for everybody, I believe. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Sure a big smile on your face. 9-29-11 17 1 MS. WILLIAMS: Her or me? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, Judge, I think I heard 4 you say, and it seems right to me, if we had a special called 5 meeting next -- early next week, -- 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Mm-hmm. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- Tuesday or Wednesday, 8 then -- and we appoint a Treasurer to fulfill the unexpired 9 term, I'm assuming the language is, then we don't need to do 10 this interim-interim thing today? 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I'm going to hear something. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Oh. 13 MS. HARGIS: We -- we need to appoint Beth as an 14 interim director -- deputy, anyway, because if the 15 Treasurer's out, she really can't make decisions. And we -- 16 and the biggest problem we have is a signature on the checks. 17 Until the new person is bonded, they can't sign the checks, 18 and it takes us about three or four days to get the template 19 changed that -- you know, the signature. So right now, you 20 know, as of tomorrow, really, we can't sign checks, so if we 21 needed a check, we'd be in a bind. So, if we assign the -- 22 you know, the deputy, we can get her name on the plate, and 23 then at least we can sign checks until such time as we get 24 everything done. That's the main reason. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: And then we could probably wait 9-29-11 18 1 until the regular meeting on the 10th. 2 MS. HARGIS: Right. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: That's twice I'm agreeing 5 with her. This is -- where's this going? 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: This is unusual. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It is. (Laughter.) Don't 8 get any ideas, though. It's about over. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Twice in one year; that's 10 pretty good. 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, I think she's right. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, of course, the deputy's 13 already bonded and is covered, so that, -- 14 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Makes sense. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: -- you know, for the interim period, 16 that would solve the problem if Beth Taylor were appointed. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, I move that we appoint 18 Beth Taylor as the interim Kerr County Treasurer, pending 19 appointment of a Kerr County Treasurer. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded. Question 22 or discussion? All in favor, signify by raising your right 23 hand. 24 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 9-29-11 19 1 (No response.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion does carry. 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Somebody did talk to Beth, 4 didn't they? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: She kind of nodded. 6 MS. TAYLOR: Interim-interim. 7 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Which is it, sideways or up 8 and down? 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, it appears that we're 10 hung on the hook for a few minutes here. Anybody got their 11 soft-shoe ready? Apparently not. I would think that maybe 12 Clay, after he got rid of his collar, he might be up to 13 showing us what his physical capabilities are, but maybe not. 14 Why don't we take a short recess. We'll reconvene at 9:30 or 15 shortly thereafter. 16 (Recess taken from 9:22 a.m. to 9:33 a.m.) 17 - - - - - - - - - - 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, let's come back to order, if 19 we might. We have a 9:30 timed item. Item 4 is to consider, 20 discuss, and take appropriate action to adopt the Fiscal Year 21 2011-12 Kerr County budget. This is on the agenda pursuant 22 to the Court's setting this matter for this date and time for 23 consideration and possible adoption. Ms. Hargis, with regard 24 to the budget that's been tendered to the Court this morning, 25 does that include the adjustments and corrections and other 9-29-11 20 1 items that the Court has directed in the prior meetings and 2 so forth? All those are incorporated in this one that you've 3 given us today? 4 MS. HARGIS: Yes, including the one that we did 5 Monday. All of the changes that you've requested. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: All of the cuts that we 7 proposed and all of the increases and everything that are 8 reflected in that budget? 9 MS. HARGIS: Yes, sir. 10 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I've got a quick question 11 with regards to the insurance. I see on your little budget 12 summary here, your footnote down there about the 493,000. I 13 understand that, and thank you for putting that on there. 14 But there was another amount that I think was 157,000 -- 15 MS. HARGIS: 157. I haven't included that. 16 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Have not? 17 MS. HARGIS: Have not. So, I have a $650,000 18 window. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Well, let me ask my 20 question; then we'll go from there. I just think that -- I 21 remember Mr. Looney saying, "Here is this chunk of money, and 22 I recommend that you apply it to the savings card program." 23 MS. HARGIS: I was absent that day that he 24 presented that, and so I've left that money for you to make 25 that decision. And that's why I've not included -- it's 9-29-11 21 1 included in the budget, yes, but I haven't designated it to 2 anything. And I didn't show it as savings, 'cause I didn't 3 know if you were going to -- to do the HRA card or do 4 something else with the insurance. So, the -- all of the 5 premium is the same as it was last year, which, depending on 6 what you do, gives you $650,000 to buy HRA and to make the 7 savings in fund balance. So, I'm leaving the door wide open, 8 and then once you make that decision, the contract is done, 9 then we'll go in and make -- make the budget adjustments. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Certainly, on that -- are you 11 finished, Commissioner? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yes, sort of, but go ahead. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We've kind of talked about two 14 options to improve the insurance for the employees. One is 15 the buy-up plan, that we could fund the buy-up, or two would 16 be the HRA card. Or -- you know, and those -- and the -- I 17 don't know -- if you have it now, fine, but if not, I think 18 we need to get this on the agenda. And probably, Dawn, we 19 need to have the cost of both of those -- you know, what 20 those would be. I don't know that we need to make that 21 decision today. I think that's really sometime in October, 22 or -- but as to what the cost of the HRA card is, the cost of 23 the buy-up plan, if we -- if the County pays for that, as 24 opposed to employees paying for it, and then kind of a 25 recommendation. I'd like to get a recommendation from you as 9-29-11 22 1 to what you think, you know, is the better way to go. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Also, we've got the month of 3 November -- I mean October; that they're tentatively trying 4 to schedule the enrollments beginning in early November. 5 MS. LANTZ: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Of course, the policy year -- 7 contract year does not begin until January 1, so we've got 8 some time to work on this. Also, if -- if the employees have 9 a particular preference -- for example, the HRA funding or a 10 buy-up being provided -- they can let Ms. Lantz know that, 11 and she can kind of give us the poll on that so that we'll 12 have the benefit of that information also, as well as knowing 13 what the various costs are that are involved, and we can make 14 a decision sometime during the month of October. 15 MS. HARGIS: It's my understanding -- and, again, I 16 wasn't here on that Monday meeting, but we do need to tie the 17 actual premiums down. TAC has given us basically an 18 estimate, and those -- those premiums could actually 19 decrease, but we need to get them in here to tell them just 20 exactly -- because we don't really have a true cost on that 21 HRA card from them as of yet. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's why I'm asking Ms. Lantz 23 to go ahead and get with TAC, find out what the cost to the 24 County would be on those two options. They're the ones that 25 have to give us that number. And, you know, like the Judge 9-29-11 23 1 said, get an idea from the employees as to what direction -- 2 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Do we do it on the 10th or on 3 the 24th? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we can get it done by the 5 10th, it would be good, but if we can't, the 24th. 6 MS. HARGIS: I think they can get it done by the 7 10th; they're pretty much ready. 8 MS. LANTZ: I think Kelly is also wondering about 9 the life insurance. She's e-mailed me, and I e-mailed 10 that -- forwarded that to the Court this morning, to make 11 sure if that's something else that the Court is wanting to 12 include in their proposal or not. Because she's going to be 13 out until Wednesday next week, so that's just another option 14 that she has. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: I didn't think that was an open 16 decision. I thought that that 20,000 that has been 17 employer-funded is -- we were just trying to get the rate 18 nailed down, and Gary was looking at the -- at the rate and 19 comparables. Some of that we just got this past week, as I 20 recall. 21 MS. LANTZ: And that's my understanding, 'cause I 22 just got an e-mail this morning from her, and I guess her and 23 Gary have been talking back and forth. But they're just 24 trying to get it all where they have it all together to 25 present or get finalized for the Auditor on the figures. 9-29-11 24 1 MS. HARGIS: We have the -- we have the -- I think 2 Gary's bid, and as well as in the budget, we have the life 3 insurance figure down. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, it's included. Sure. 5 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So the contract, the 6 insurance contract, where -- where does that come -- does 7 that come from TAC? 8 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And so we need to provide 10 them with all the -- 11 MS. HARGIS: What you want. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Excuse me? 13 MS. HARGIS: What you want. What policy you want, 14 what variables you want. And I think then, you know, if 15 there's any additional things you want to provide, or -- you 16 know, I'm not an insurance person, but I know there's quite a 17 bit of variables in there that are little, but they add up to 18 the cost of the premium. So, I think they pretty much have 19 everything, but there's those little questions, like she just 20 asked about the life insurance, the HRA card. Do we want to 21 do it? Do we not want to do it? And, again, those are all 22 decisions that y'all need to make, so we're not even trying 23 to get involved in that. And that's why we're asking your 24 permission to have Dawn go ahead and authorize them to work 25 with Gary and finalize those numbers. And then if there's 9-29-11 25 1 something you still want, then we still have plenty of time 2 to make those changes. That's why it would be best if we can 3 meet on the 10th, and then if there's any additional changes 4 that you want, and then the final document come back, because 5 I'm sure Rob will want to go over the contract. 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: "Final document" meaning the 7 contract? 8 MS. HARGIS: Mm-hmm. 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And when do you -- when do 10 you see that being -- coming through here for us to approve 11 and sign? When do you -- 12 MS. HARGIS: I have no idea. I mean, I would 13 assume -- 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that before -- before 15 January 1? I'm assuming. 16 MS. HARGIS: I would assume it would have to be 17 before open enrollment, which would be by the end of October. 18 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Last meeting in October. 19 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: And enrollment starts 20 November 1st. 21 MS. HARGIS: Well, we'd have to set it -- I don't 22 know when she's got it set. 23 MS. LANTZ: TAC had asked us if we could get it 24 done early because of the holidays, and that way everyone 25 will have their new cards come January 1st, and there's no 9-29-11 26 1 rushing or anything like that. Right now, they're doing all 2 their open enrollments, so they're just trying to plug us in 3 their calendar to make it work. 4 MS. HARGIS: Since they haven't been here before, 5 there's only, like, 15 computers over there that we deal 6 with, so it's only 15 people at a time. We have to get the 7 shifts in, so it takes a full week to get everybody through. 8 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: All right. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Sounds like the second 10 meeting in October, we need to be ready to sign a contract. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Finalize. 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: It's definitely not 13 something that we want to just lay down and not pay attention 14 to. We got to keep -- keep bumping on it, and just -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Looking -- look at things like 16 brokerage commissions and things like that. 17 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. Like they say out at 18 Mountain Home, "Get 'er done." 19 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I think they say that other 20 places, too. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other questions? Comments? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So, tell me where that 23 157,000 is. 24 MS. HARGIS: It's in the premiums that we -- 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just sitting there, neutral. 9-29-11 27 1 And -- 2 MS. HARGIS: We budgeted -- 3 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: -- if we want to make these 4 big decisions, it's going to be fairly simple to reach in 5 there and pull it out and do what we need to with it. Okay, 6 thank you. 7 MS. HARGIS: It's just very difficult for us to -- 8 it's like the pay raise; it's every employee line item, and 9 so until we make a decision, it's easiest to wait and then go 10 in with a -- with a correct figure. Otherwise, we're 11 monkeying with the budget after the fact, and I don't think 12 you really want us to be doing that. It's too confusing. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Judge, we need a -- I make a 14 motion that we adopt the 2011-2012 Kerr County budget as 15 submitted today. 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Second. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion and a second for the 18 adoption of the Fiscal Year 2011-12 Kerr County budget as 19 submitted. Question or comment? All in favor, signify by 20 raising your right hand. 21 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 23 (No response.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. We've got a 25 few minutes before our next item. Why don't we go to Section 9-29-11 28 1 4 dealing with the bills. 2 MS. HARGIS: We did have a few bills that came in, 3 and because it's the end of the year, we're trying to make 4 sure that they all hit. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: There was another one that came 6 yesterday that I gave to the Tax Assessor to pass along to 7 you that we may want to consider including here, if you're 8 desirous of getting that in this fiscal year's budget, 9 dealing with the attorney's fees with regard to the 10 redistricting. There's an additional bill here. 11 MS. HARGIS: We do have -- we will be taking bills 12 that are dated 9/30 through the 15th of October, and -- and 13 so they're fine. These were just bills that were -- some of 14 these were, like, overdue. One of the attorney's bills, 15 apparently we didn't get it; it's dated in August and July. 16 And to have them wait another two weeks we just didn't think 17 was... 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. 19 MS. HARGIS: Apparently, it got lost. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: No problem with this one that I got 21 to you this morning? 22 MS. HARGIS: No. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Is that this group here? 24 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I move for approval. 9-29-11 29 1 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second that. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 3 approval of payment of the bills as presented. Question or 4 discussion? All in favor, signify by raising your right 5 hand. 6 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 8 (No response.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We've got 10 some budget amendment requests, and then this morning I was 11 given a -- a Road and Bridge suggested budget amendments, 12 which apparently are not included in the one that came from 13 the Auditor. Is that correct? 14 MS. HARGIS: Yes. We didn't receive that till 15 about a quarter to 9:00, so we weren't able to put it in the 16 format, but we wanted you to have it in front of you so that 17 we can make those adjustments. I think it's pretty 18 self-explanatory on theirs as well. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Let's first go with the proposed 20 budget amendment requests as furnished by the Auditor, 21 Numbers 1 through 6. Do I hear a motion that those budget 22 amendments Numbers 1 through 6 be approved as presented? 23 MS. HARGIS: Does everyone understand the health 24 insurance one -- budget amendment that we have been talking 25 about all along? That's the big one at the bottom. 9-29-11 30 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Why don't you explain it? 2 MS. HARGIS: Okay. We basically spent $3,491,019, 3 and we only collected, with insurance premiums, employee 4 contributions, and refunds on the UMR claims that we had, and 5 the stop loss, of 3,153,691, which left us a $337,000 6 shortfall. However, we had also advanced some money from the 7 general fund transfers, so the net result of that is 457,000. 8 When we do the group insurance, it's connected to our payroll 9 system, and so if there is an empty seat or someone is not 10 employed in that particular job position and a payroll check 11 is not issued, then those funds do not automatically go up to 12 pay the premium, because there's no one sitting there. So, 13 what we did is we have -- Tess has designed a program where 14 we can go in and find the premium amounts that we didn't put 15 into our group insurance, and that's the $235,000 number. 16 So, we were able to offset some of the -- of the shortfall 17 with the group insurance budgeted amount. 18 So, really and truly, the unbudgeted amount that we 19 are stuck with is the 222,000, which I think is a whole lot 20 better than what we originally had intended that it would be. 21 We -- we still have -- and I would suggest that we consider 22 this. We set up a reserve when we were on the stop loss type 23 of a plan so that we could start building a fund. In order 24 to further help our budget for next year, we have 183,000 25 sitting in this health reserve account, which is one of those 9-29-11 31 1 accounts that I kind of told you about that's not really set 2 up by law. It's really tracking, and our auditor's already 3 having a problem with it. I would suggest that we pay our 4 advance premium to TAC out of that. 5 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Out of the 183? 6 MS. HARGIS: Mm-hmm. Because that way, it will 7 give us even more funds to work with, and it will also give 8 us more fund balance. 9 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Got you. 10 MS. HARGIS: So we've got kind of a little bit of 11 help there by folding that into the general fund. It's now 12 sitting in a little fund all by itself, just like a cash 13 account. 14 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Buster, that's three times 15 today. 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Forget Buzzie's; let's go 17 straight to the liquor store. (Laughter.) 18 MS. HARGIS: I wish I could have this during the 19 budget process. But that's where we're at. I'm pleased that 20 we don't have to have an emergency amendment. We have funds 21 in our account to be able to cover this. So, I will say 22 Mindy has been very diligent in keeping all kinds of records 23 on this so that we -- we're where we need to be, and I really 24 appreciate her expertise in this, in helping me with it. But 25 in the end, it didn't come out as bad as we thought. Now, 9-29-11 32 1 when we finished one of the hearings, I was speaking with the 2 broker that we no longer are going to pay in the hallway, and 3 he said that there may be another $150,000 sitting out there 4 that the stop loss carrier hasn't paid us. I think we need 5 -- I spoke with the Judge about this. If we can define that 6 for us, and we maybe need to go after it legally, I would 7 suggest we do so. But I don't know that to be a fact; that 8 was just kind of a hearsay comment, but I do want the Court 9 to be aware of it. That's another 150,000. He said they 10 were giving us a hard time about getting it back. It's 11 153,000 or something like that. So, if it's out there, I 12 think we ought to try to get it. But we need to quantify 13 that with that representative, so that could end up being 14 another premium we save. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: The -- they were carrying -- they 16 were handling the run-outs for us, and I think what was 17 suggested in view of what has occurred with regard to the 18 commissions and the changing that the -- the folks that are 19 currently -- what's that three initials? 20 MS. HARGIS: Three initials? 21 JUDGE TINLEY: EMR? 22 MS. HARGIS: UMR. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: UMR. They -- they may not have a 24 real keen interest in pursuing those. But at a minimum, if 25 we can get them to identify those, and if -- if those are not 9-29-11 33 1 responded to appropriately, it may be that we'll have the 2 County Attorney make an effort to recover those funds. You 3 know, it may come to that anyway, but we -- we certainly want 4 to pursue it. We don't want the ball to be dropped. And at 5 a minimum, we want them identified so that we know which 6 potential reimbursements we might be entitled to. 7 MS. HARGIS: So it's kind of like found money 8 today. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Any other questions or 10 comments? 11 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I don't think we have a 12 motion on that yet, do we? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: I don't think we have a motion. No? 14 MS. HARGIS: No, we had an explanation. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, we had the long 16 explanation, which was good. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. Do I hear a motion to 18 approve the budget amendments as shown by the Request Numbers 19 1 through 6 as submitted by the Auditor's office? 20 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: So moved. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 23 approval of those budget amendments. Question or discussion? 24 All in favor, signify by raising your right hand. 25 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 9-29-11 34 1 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 2 (No response.) 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Now let's turn attention to the 4 suggested budget amendments by Road and Bridge. There are, 5 it appears, four different amendments with multiple accounts 6 being involved. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I move we approve the 8 amendments as submitted. 9 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 11 approval of the Kerr County Road and Bridge suggested budget 12 amendments. Further question or discussion? All in favor, 13 signify by raising your right hand. 14 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 16 (No response.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. 18 MS. HARGIS: Okay. Just as an F.Y.I., these are 19 the last budget amendments for this year. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Question -- I do have a 21 question. And Road and Bridge is here. On carrying -- is 22 everyone aware about carrying anything -- or any money that 23 we need to carry out of this year's budget into next year for 24 things that may not have been done, such as road work at 25 Hermann Sons? You know -- 9-29-11 35 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Downtown Comfort. 2 (Laughter.) 3 MS. HARGIS: Basically, it rolls up in the fund 4 balance remaining, and we just have to reidentify some of 5 that fund balance remaining. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But isn't there -- but, I mean, 7 it's approved. If it's identified, can't they -- 8 MS. HARGIS: No, you have to either have it 9 started, a contract or something in that year. And -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It's kind of started. 11 MS. HARGIS: It's kind of started. 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, it's not. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It is too. I was out there the 14 other day with Leonard. 15 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You take your shovel out 16 there, throw a little dirt around? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I was almost hit by a car. We 18 were out there starting -- 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Shovel-ready, huh? 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Yeah. 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Shovel handle broke; it 22 didn't get fixed. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Nice try, Letz. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I was just trying to help 25 Road and Bridge get it out of this year's budget instead of 9-29-11 36 1 next year's. I could have brought up the fence we need to do 2 over there too, but I figured that wasn't far enough along. 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: You just waited too late to 4 get started. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. TexDOT. 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: TexDOT. Oh, I know that. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: They're still over there. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. I assume we don't have any 9 late bills. Do we have any reports? 10 THE CLERK: No. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Okay. Let's go back to our 12 9:50 timed item, then, to consider, discuss, and take 13 appropriate action to adopt the 2011 Lake Ingram Estates Road 14 District tax rate. Now, in that respect, let me -- do you 15 need one of these? 16 MS. BOLIN: No, sir. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. You got one? 18 MS. BOLIN: I do. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: The Tax Assessor has presented us 20 with information on this and requested a motion establishing 21 -- adopting the Lake Ingram Estates Road District tax rate of 22 .2756 per $100 valuation for the 2011 tax year. 23 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Move approval. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded as 9-29-11 37 1 indicated. Question or discussion? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A question. Diane, do you 3 recall what that tax rate was originally? 4 MS. BOLIN: It was over 40. 5 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: That's kind of -- 6 MS. BOLIN: It had come down. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know. It just kind of shows 8 -- but it has come down quite a bit. 9 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: I understand there's three or 11 four new homes in there. One of them, I got a call from a 12 guy that just went on the tax rolls this year for the first 13 time. So the values are building. They're going to bring 14 the rate down for everybody. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Good deal for everybody. 16 MS. BOLIN: Yes. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: There was an effort made to 18 refinance because of the rate and because of the amount 19 involved and so forth. They didn't meet with much success, 20 but -- 21 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yeah, that didn't work. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah. The Tax Assessor has 23 indicated a desire to have a record vote on this matter. 24 Accordingly, Commissioner Baldwin? 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Precinct 1 votes aye. 9-29-11 38 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Overby? 2 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Precinct 2, aye. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 6 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Aye. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: And the chair votes aye. 8 MS. BOLIN: Thank you. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We are now to our 10 a.m. 10 timed item; to consider, discuss, and take appropriate action 11 to adopt the 2011 Kerr County tax rate, to include 12 maintenance and operations, interest and sinking; i.e., debt, 13 and lateral roads tax rates. And, again, the Tax Assessor 14 has provided us with information dealing with this particular 15 issue. The rate as set forth, being a total rate of .4443 16 per $100 valuation, is the same rate as this immediate past 17 year. And so the chair will entertain a motion with regard 18 to the adoption of the Kerr -- 2011 Kerr County tax rates. 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I move for approval. 20 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: I'll second. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Is your motion to adopt a total tax 22 rate of .4443 per $100 valuation for the 2011 Kerr County tax 23 year, being broken down as maintenance and operations as 24 .3639 per $100, interest and sinking fund, .0482 per $100 25 valuation, and lateral roads, .0322 per $100 valuation, for a 9-29-11 39 1 total combined tax rate of .4443 per $100 valuation? 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And my question is, all of 3 these numbers are exactly the same as they were last year, 4 right? 5 MS. BOLIN: Yes, they are. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: I have a motion. Do I have a 7 second. 8 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Second. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. We have a motion and 11 second as indicated. Question or discussion on the motion? 12 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Is this a record vote too? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: The Tax Assessor has requested a 14 record vote, so we'll start down at the other end this time. 15 Commissioner Oehler? 16 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Aye. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Letz? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Aye. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Overby? 20 COMMISSIONER OVERBY: Aye. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Baldwin? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Aye. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: And the chair votes aye also. 24 MS. BOLIN: Thank you. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Any other business to come before 9-29-11 40 1 the meeting at this time? We will be adjourned. 2 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 10:01 a.m.) 3 - - - - - - - - - - 4 5 STATE OF TEXAS | 6 COUNTY OF KERR | 7 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 8 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 9 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 10 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 11 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 5th day of October, 12 2011. 13 14 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 15 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 16 Certified Shorthand Reporter 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 9-29-11