1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Friday, August 22, 2014 11 9:00 a.m. 12 Commissioners' Courtroom 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: TOM POLLARD, Kerr County Judge 23 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 24 BOB REEVES, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 2 1 I N D E X August 22, 2014 2 PAGE 3 4 1.1 Public Hearing on proposed Kerr County 2014 Tax Rate 3 5 1.2 Consider/discuss, take appropriate action 6 regarding any proposed changes to FY 2014-15 Kerr County Budget 4 7 --- Adjourned 45 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Friday, August 22, 2014, at 9 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 POLLARD: All right, let me have your 8 attention, folks. Attention, folks. It's 9 a.m., August 9 22nd, 2014. Kerr County Commissioners Court is now in 10 session. There is an item on the agenda, 1.1, a public 11 hearing on proposed Kerr County 2014 tax rate, and I declare 12 the public hearing open. 13 (The regular Commissioners Court meeting was closed at 9 a.m., and a public hearing was held in open 14 court, as follows:) 15 P U B L I C H E A R I N G 16 JUDGE POLLARD: And, Diane, would you tell us what 17 the tax rate is? 18 MS. BOLIN: The tax rate will be .4443, same as 19 last year. 20 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Is there anyone that 21 wishes to speak in the public hearing on this matter? 22 (No response.) 23 JUDGE POLLARD: Gee, a lot of public interest, huh? 24 All right. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Maybe we're not spending 8-22-14 4 1 enough. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. There being none, I'll 3 declare the public hearing closed. 4 (The public hearing was concluded at 9:01 a.m., and the regular Commissioners Court meeting was 5 reopened.) 6 - - - - - - - - - - 7 JUDGE POLLARD: We'll go back into the regular 8 session of the Commissioners Court. First of all, let me 9 make an announcement, that judge -- Commissioner Baldwin 10 called me and said he had an emergency come up. He's got 11 water system problems and a leak, and he's involved in an 12 emergency out there, which is typical for anybody that's got 13 real estate and animals. And so he won't be here today. We 14 apologize for that. I got things out of order here. It's 15 Commissioner Reeves' day to lead us in our beginning prayer 16 and the pledge of allegiance. 17 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 18 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Next item on the 19 agenda, then, is consider, discuss, and take appropriate 20 action regarding any proposed changes in the Fiscal Year 21 2014-2015 Kerr County budget. Is there anybody that wishes 22 to address any particular issues? 23 MS. BOLIN: I do. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: Yes, ma'am? 25 MS. BOLIN: Start out here. Something came to our 8-22-14 5 1 attention this week, and I've given it to Jeannie and James. 2 The liquor petition has started again, so we had to add that 3 money to next year's budget because they're going to try to 4 get it on the May election, and we have to pay for it. Also, 5 if the jail bond is on the May election, that's county-wide, 6 so the total of it was a little over $22,000 that we had to 7 add into the elections budget. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we -- there's no November 9 elections next year either, are there? 10 MS. BOLIN: There is; it's a constitutional 11 amendment election. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Is there a problem with 13 deferring both of those items potentially until -- well, let 14 me rephrase it. If we defer those to November, would we save 15 $22,000? 16 MS. HARGIS: This year, yes. 17 MS. BOLIN: This year, yes. The only problem is -- 18 is that if they request it for the May election, you have to 19 honor that, because it has to be done at the next uniform 20 election date, which is May. And that's what -- my 21 understanding is that's what everybody's shooting for, is 22 May. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And I think, just talking with 24 you briefly, if you separate the two, okay, the jail is 25 county-wide, and that's going to cost some amount. 8-22-14 6 1 MS. BOLIN: Correct. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And if it's just for the -- 3 MS. BOLIN: Liquor petition. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- alcohol liquor sales, 5 that's a precinct-unique -- 6 MS. BOLIN: Correct. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- thing. And so what are 8 those two amounts? Because that -- 9 MS. HARGIS: Well, I'm sort of wondering if we can 10 combine something here, but I wasn't here yesterday. Because 11 if we have the election workers here and here, couldn't we 12 combine them? 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I don't know what "here and 14 here" means. 15 MS. HARGIS: Well, we've got copies for you. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh. 17 MS. HARGIS: Diane, would you -- looks like two 18 separate elections to me. I mean, I'm just trying to see if 19 we can save a little. 20 MS. BOLIN: Well, it is, but it isn't -- the 21 ballots cannot be combined because of the additional cost 22 that it would cost us to have one precinct -- one J.P. 23 precinct only with the liquor part on it. When I talked to 24 Nadene about it before I gave this to Jeannie, then she said 25 that it's -- it's much safer to do it on two separate, 8-22-14 7 1 because it's not a county-wide liquor petition, and that's 2 why you want two separate ballots on that. 3 JUDGE POLLARD: Why is it much safer? 4 MS. BOLIN: Because of the counts, because of the 5 people that may go to Ingram from Precinct 2 to vote for the 6 bond, and it's not going to -- they're not going to have that 7 on their ballot out there, 'cause generally we don't put 8 Precinct 2 ballots out there. If it's -- if it's a general 9 election where everything is the same within the county, then 10 everything's -- they can go out there and vote, but we have 11 many Precinct 2's that go out there just because it's easier 12 to get into. It sounds weird, but I promise you, I'm not 13 joking. 14 JUDGE POLLARD: So that's -- that's a reason to do 15 it in November? Is that correct? 16 MS. BOLIN: No, that's the reason for the two 17 ballots, the two separate amounts. 18 JUDGE POLLARD: I don't follow that. 19 MS. BOLIN: I can go get Nadene, and she can 20 explain it easier than I can. 21 JUDGE POLLARD: I don't follow that. It seems to 22 me that combining it and doing it in the November election is 23 the best way to do it. 24 MS. BOLIN: Okay. But if they -- if they present 25 it to you for the next uniform election date, and they 8-22-14 8 1 have -- like the liquor petition, they have the required 2 number of signatures, Rusty has the required number for the 3 bond, by law you have to do it on the next uniform election 4 date, which is in May. If they don't make it, then it can be 5 November. 6 JUDGE POLLARD: So it's a matter of when it's 7 presented? 8 MS. BOLIN: Correct. 9 JUDGE POLLARD: Maybe we could talk to those 10 people. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, I can -- 12 I can certainly talk to the people about the liquor sales. 13 MS. BOLIN: I've talked to Mike Blackledge many 14 times, and they want it in May if at all possible. If they 15 don't get enough signatures this round, they have enough time 16 to do it again to get it in May, and that's what they're 17 pushing for. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What I'm saying is I can talk 19 to him and see where they are. I know that they want to do 20 it as soon as possible, but they have to get -- they have to 21 get 1,800 signatures -- 1,841, as a matter of fact, 22 signatures. And when we did it last time, we got 800 23 signatures. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: You had a short period of time, 25 though, didn't you? 8-22-14 9 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: No, it's all -- you have to do 2 it within 60 days. Once the petition is filed, then you only 3 have 60 days to get the signatures, so same amount of time. 4 Same amount of time. 5 MS. BOLIN: But my understanding is there -- they 6 are working on a media blast to start from the beginning. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Well, all I'm saying is 8 I can talk to the group that's doing that. 9 MS. BOLIN: Mm-hmm. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And I kind of had an oar in 11 the water on that thing last year, so I think they know if 12 they're going to do it, what it's going to have to be. It's 13 -- it's going to take a lot of knocking on doors to do it. 14 So, I don't know how strongly they feel about May versus 15 November, but I'll be happy to do that. 16 JUDGE POLLARD: Sounds like it could save us some 17 money -- 18 MS. BOLIN: Mm-hmm. 19 JUDGE POLLARD: -- if they could do it in November 20 instead. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Correct. Correct. Now, then, 22 I don't -- so that -- 23 JUDGE POLLARD: I know they control when they 24 present it to us, but -- 25 MS. BOLIN: Right. 8-22-14 10 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's the first thing, and 2 there's two things. That's number one, and she has on here 3 the potential for -- for -- well, that's all she says. 4 That's just the liquor part, okay. There may be something 5 else in Precinct 2, but let me work on both of those things. 6 But then the jail bond thing, I know Jonathan Letz and I 7 talked to Rusty about that the other day. I think that was 8 his thought, so -- Jonathan, I don't remember what his -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I don't -- obviously, I 10 think the Sheriff's view was to move it forward, but I don't 11 think either of us looked at the cost of moving it forward. 12 It would -- I mean, I don't think that entered his thought 13 process or mine, frankly, at the time. I mean, if we can -- 14 it's a lot of money to put on an election. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. That -- 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I don't know that it 17 changes that much. And, quite honestly, you know, even 18 though we're pretty far along -- you know, I guess it could 19 be done by -- you know, by May. You know, have it ready by 20 May. But -- 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think that's his schedule; 22 that's what he laid out. Now, if he delayed till November, I 23 don't know what that would mean. You know, it's back to his 24 jail issue. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What are we -- is this just 8-22-14 11 1 another hearing? We're doing this budget next week? 2 MS. BOLIN: Monday. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Monday we're approving the 4 budget? 5 MS. BOLIN: Supposed to. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd rather get input from the 7 Sheriff. On both of these, we can defer a decision until 8 Monday. 9 MS. BOLIN: Okay. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: And I'll do the same thing 11 with the -- with the folks looking at the liquor thing. 12 I'll -- I'll go talk to them between now and then, okay? 13 Good. 14 MS. BOLIN: Works for me. 15 MS. HARGIS: I just -- 16 JUDGE POLLARD: Anybody else wish to address the 17 Court on this -- anything to do with the budget? If not -- 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I have -- 19 JUDGE POLLARD: I'm going to ask for comments from 20 the Commissioners. Go ahead, Jeannie. 21 MS. HARGIS: I do have -- since there was 22 discussion about the raises, we do have those to hand out so 23 you can remember the different ones. I was requested. And 24 then here's a new summary page for the salaries that have 25 been put in now. There was a little bit of savings. You can 8-22-14 12 1 see that the rate actually went up because of -- we do an 2 estimate on the salaries, so when we go to actually put them 3 in, then generally we -- it's a little bit less. 4 JUDGE POLLARD: When you said the rate went up, are 5 you talking about the -- 6 MS. HARGIS: The 25.45. We were down to 25.12; now 7 we're at 25.45. 8 JUDGE POLLARD: I don't understand how that happens 9 when you add salaries in and the rate goes up. 10 MS. HARGIS: No, it went -- the percentage of money 11 that we still have in the bank is more than it was, because 12 the estimate was higher than the actual salaries themselves. 13 When we -- when we do an estimate on a block, -- 14 JUDGE POLLARD: I see, okay. 15 MS. HARGIS: -- it tends to give you a larger 16 estimate. And some of the people have changed since we 17 originally did the estimate, so we try to keep that a little 18 bit high. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that's about $30,000 more, 20 ballpark, than what it was before? 21 MS. HARGIS: About 20,000, 25,000. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, okay. 23 MS. HARGIS: So we did get a little bit of savings 24 there. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- I have a -- this is kind 8-22-14 13 1 of a policy question, and I think someone explained it to me 2 one time and I forgot. I don't think I agreed with it then, 3 and I probably won't agree with it again, but when we do 4 salary increases -- not the COLA's, the salary increase -- we 5 give the increase and then we give a COLA on top of it, as 6 opposed to those people don't get the COLA; they just get the 7 increase. 8 MS. HARGIS: That was -- 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And I know it was a policy the 10 Court set. To me, if you're giving a raise, I don't know 11 that you should get the raise first and then another 2.5 12 percent on top of it. To me, that's -- I would rather do it 13 the other way where you -- those people who are getting 14 raises don't get a COLA added to it. They'd get it in future 15 years. But that's just a -- but that's the way -- the 16 Court's always done it this way. I'm not disagreeing with 17 that. I'm just -- to me, it doesn't seem to make sense. 18 MS. LANTZ: There is no policy; it's just whatever 19 the Court -- 20 MS. HARGIS: That was -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 22 MS. HARGIS: -- Judge Tinley's. 23 MR. REEVES: I tend to agree with you, 24 Commissioner, that, you know, it's an either/or. If the 25 raise exceeds the COLA, then don't give the COLA. Is that 8-22-14 14 1 the way I understand what you're saying? 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 3 MS. HARGIS: Now, the bulk of these, remember, on 4 the very top of your list there, the Juvenile Detention, 5 those are to get them up to par, so we have to give those or 6 they would drop back down again. It's the center -- the four 7 or five in the middle there. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. The -- yeah, all the 9 Juvenile Detention were part of our -- 10 MS. HARGIS: It's part of the study. 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Part of the study that we at 12 least verbally committed to do last year. 13 MS. HARGIS: That's correct. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: To complete that process to get 15 everybody where they get -- 16 MS. HARGIS: There were five steps in Juvenile. I 17 think it was five. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the first one, the 19 Assistant County Attorney, that's the one we discussed 20 earlier this year where we made that approval, and this is 21 just the annual impact of that decision we made earlier? 22 MS. HARGIS: That's correct. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The Treasurer, you know, I'm 24 not going to -- and I think I mentioned this to the Judge a 25 little bit ago. There was a reason that the Treasurer was at 8-22-14 15 1 a lower salary than the Tax Assessor, County Clerk, and 2 District Clerk. Originally, -- "originally" being before I 3 was a commissioner -- those four positions were the same. At 4 that time, the Treasurer was also head of H.R. When Mindy 5 Williams became the Treasurer, at that point, then we spun 6 H.R. off into its own department and we reduced the salary -- 7 or as my recollection is, I don't think -- I don't know if we 8 reduced the salary or we didn't give the increases, so one or 9 the other. But either way, there was a disparity there. 10 And, you know, to me, I still think that is the right 11 decision. I think that there was a -- a change in job 12 descriptions substantially at that point, and the salary was 13 adjusted. And, you know, that's just my -- so I don't know 14 that there -- that I agree with that increase. That's just 15 my feeling. On Ray's, I don't -- you know, I hate to ask 16 things in court, but did we commit to that, or was that part 17 of a deal where we gave you that position and said we were 18 going to look at it again the second year? 19 MR. GARCIA: Look at it again, see what I did -- 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 21 MR. GARCIA: -- in the year. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I mean, I can't -- I don't 23 remember our conversation where we combined all those 24 departments. I mean, but was this part of that, that we were 25 going to relook at it at that point? 8-22-14 16 1 MR. GARCIA: You were going to take a look at it 2 again, and a couple of the members stated to see what happens 3 throughout that year. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. On the Auditor -- 5 MS. HARGIS: There's no COLA in mine. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. COLA's not there, just 7 the increase, which is basically a -- 8 MS. HARGIS: 2.5. The COLA's 2.5. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So you have a 2.5 percent 10 increase there. 11 COMMISSIONER REEVES: You have more than 2.5, don't 12 you? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: She -- 14 MS. HARGIS: The COLA's 2.5, and I requested a 2.5, 15 so that would be 5. 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. And I told the Auditor 17 and I've told the District Judges, I don't have a strong 18 opinion one way or the other on that one. I don't believe 19 the rest of the staff should get an increase. Road and 20 Bridge, what are those two? 21 MS. HARGIS: Those were actually licenses, and 22 they've already taken place, and we had to show the increase 23 for that. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's kind of -- looking at 25 those, that's my opinion, for what it's worth. 8-22-14 17 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Can we go back to the 2 Treasurer again? Because I understood what you said about 3 the job description and that kind of stuff, so how does this 4 reflect to those decisions made back then? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, as I understand the 6 increase, this is bringing the Treasurer up to those other 7 three offices -- county-wide offices. And the -- 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So it's -- there's an increase 10 to bring it back up -- 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- now. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I see. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Nothing against the Treasurer 15 and the job. It's just that I think there was a job -- and, 16 I mean, as I told the Judge earlier, you know, every elected 17 official is important and critical for the operation of the 18 county. It's not -- you know, it's hard not to look at 19 salary as ranking -- grading, but the reality is, I don't 20 think that's a good measure. You kind of look at the 21 combination of the workload and responsibilities and all that 22 together. And we all have responsibilities. We can all get 23 the county in a heap of trouble if we don't do our jobs 24 according to the Constitution. So, you know, just to 25 equalize it because there's three other offices -- 8-22-14 18 1 county-wide offices that have a higher salary is not the 2 justification, in my mind, to do it. We don't pay all 3 precinct offices the same. We don't pay all county-wide 4 offices the same, and I don't know that -- you know, that's 5 just how it is. And I was probably one of the ones that 6 advocated lowering that salary when we took those job 7 descriptions away, and that was part of the justification for 8 creating the H.R. Department at the time. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Makes sense to me. 10 MR. REEVES: On the Juvenile Detention, this was 11 adjusted with the salary study before, and we're having to 12 bring these up? 13 MS. HARGIS: Yes. Yeah, there were a lot -- they 14 actually had five steps, and when we plugged in three, that 15 was about as much as we could afford last year. 16 MR. REEVES: And so we're doing the balance of it 17 this year? 18 MS. HARGIS: Right. And they have to get their 19 COLA to get them up to the others, because they would still 20 be behind. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 22 MS. HARGIS: So this is -- so that brings that 23 entire department up. Their officers -- jailers were not the 24 same as the jailers in the jail, and the study said they 25 should be the same because they perform the same function. 8-22-14 19 1 COMMISSIONER REEVES: So that's not a problem with 2 me. I understand on the Assistant County Attorney. The 3 Treasurer, that's a pretty substantial jump in one year. And 4 not anything to your ability to perform, but that's a very 5 substantial jump over one year. I do have my concerns over 6 that. Animal Health -- or Environmental Health/Animal 7 Services, Ray's putting in a lot of time; he's doing a lot of 8 good. I really don't see a problem there. I understand the 9 Indigent Services and the Road and Bridge. And my concern on 10 -- with the Auditor is an increase of that much versus what 11 everybody else is getting. I can see 2.5 one way, such as a 12 COLA, but I can't support anything above that. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I guess my comment on that 14 would be -- is for consistency. I agree that Ray's doing a 15 great job out there, but when you're looking at a percentage 16 increase, that's -- that's a big percentage increase, whereas 17 before you said the one for the Treasurer was too high, too 18 big an increase. So that's about the same percentage 19 increase, and Ray's got more responsibilities. He's doing a 20 good job. The percentage increase for the Auditor, though, I 21 think in addition -- and I said this in court earlier. In 22 addition to what the Auditor does for her regular duties, she 23 brings a lot to the table for background on -- on contracts 24 and grants and everything else, which we've got a lot of 25 stuff going on right now. So, that -- that input is 8-22-14 20 1 extremely valuable, and she doesn't have to do that. And if 2 we have a job description looking for a person to hire, we're 3 not going to require that that person have it, so there's 4 some real benefit to the county for that. So, that's my 5 comment on that. 6 MR. REEVES: And what I would recommend is the 2.5 7 percent, and let's see what the District Judges feel like on 8 Tuesday. 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, we'll find out. But 10 when we finalize on Monday, do we -- 11 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- adopt the budget? 13 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. So, Tuesday will be 15 after. 16 MR. REEVES: But we have to go by what the Judges 17 say. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, but you won't find that 19 out until -- 20 MR. REEVES: Maybe we can't adopt the budget if 21 that's not approved. We don't meet with the judges until 22 Tuesday; is that correct? 23 MS. HARGIS: That's correct. I don't meet with the 24 Judges. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The -- do we have to adopt the 8-22-14 21 1 budget on Monday? 2 MS. BOLIN: My understanding is that regardless of 3 what you adopt, whatever the District Judges say on Tuesday 4 is what it will go to. 5 MS. HARGIS: Yeah, it doesn't -- even if the 6 District Judges gave to it me on Tuesday, you'd have to adopt 7 it. If they don't, then I don't get it, so it's -- 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So it would be a budget 9 adjustment, then, -- 10 MS. HARGIS: Right. 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- if we didn't put it in. 12 But that's all that would amount to, right? 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 14 JUDGE POLLARD: So you're saying adopt it Monday, 15 and then if the Judges don't give it to her, there's going to 16 be an adjustment to it? 17 MS. HARGIS: Just reduce it. 18 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Be an adjustment if you don't 19 do the 5 percent. 20 MS. HARGIS: The same as the Juvenile Board. He 21 always asks for 5 percent, and then he lowers it to whatever 22 the County gives. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I guess what I'm saying is, 24 either way it'll be an adjustment, adjustment up or 25 adjustment down, depending on what the Judges say. If I'm 8-22-14 22 1 understanding that -- 2 JUDGE POLLARD: I think Jonathan's question was, do 3 we have to adopt the budget Monday? Or can we -- 4 MS. HARGIS: We don't have to adopt -- 5 JUDGE POLLARD: -- defer that to a subsequent 6 meeting? 7 MS. HARGIS: It's better to adopt the budget and 8 then the tax rates. Just -- it just falls in order. You 9 know, I would -- I don't know how many other people are 10 objecting, you know, to -- to the raise. I mean, it's not 11 that important to me. 12 MS. BOLIN: My understanding is that you have to 13 adopt the budget before the tax rate. We've already 14 published when we're doing our public hearings and the 15 adoption of the tax rate. I would have to check with the 16 State and with our legal counsel on taxes to know what we 17 would have to do. 18 MS. HARGIS: We would have to republish if we do 19 that. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So, a lot of money -- or not a 21 lot, but several thousands. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: To republish it? 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: We can make -- 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we can make a decision 8-22-14 23 1 on Monday. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Make an adjustment. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Make adjustments. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: If we have to, right. 5 MS. HARGIS: I need an answer on the others, 6 though. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On the -- 8 MS. HARGIS: The first one, I got an okay. The 9 second one -- 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, on the Assistant County 11 Attorney, I don't think that person should get a COLA added 12 to that increase. 13 MS. HARGIS: Okay. 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Just my feeling. The 15 Treasurer, I made my comment on that one. 16 MS. HARGIS: Then what do I need to make her at? 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'll -- I mean, this is my 18 opinion. I know the Treasurer wants to say something. 19 MS. SOLDAN: I just want to also say that two years 20 ago, we terminated the contract with the investment advisers 21 that were hired at that same time as all of that. I have 22 since taken that responsibility on. And we were paying -- 23 that last year we paid over $20,000 to that investment 24 adviser to advise us on investments, and the raise that I'm 25 asking for is not even half of that. So, that's another part 8-22-14 24 1 of that request. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: What certification -- or I 3 guess you get certifications; that may not be the right 4 term -- do you have that, you know, I guess you need or have 5 for the investment, I guess? Does that make sense? 6 MS. SOLDAN: I have a -- an investment adviser -- a 7 County Investment Officer certification through TAC that I 8 did two years before taking office, and I've maintained that. 9 That was something that I went through in the Auditor's 10 office, and I've maintained that every year. I still go to 11 that training and get recertified every year. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And there's -- as I recall, 13 there's an investment committee that's made up of you, the 14 Auditor, and the County Judge? 15 MS. SOLDAN: Yes. 16 MR. TROLINGER: Aren't you also on the board -- 17 another board now? 18 MS. SOLDAN: Oh, yeah. 19 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: You're on the dotted line on 21 that one, too. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that's -- that's the real 23 justification, is the investment -- 24 MS. SOLDAN: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- credentials? And our 8-22-14 25 1 return on that investment is a half -- 2 MS. SOLDAN: More than it was when we had the 3 investment adviser. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: That's not a tough decision. 5 Of course, it could get more complex in the future. 6 JUDGE POLLARD: Well, all right. Any other 7 comments from any of the Commissioners? 8 MR. REEVES: I would -- perhaps the COLA's on the 9 Assistant County Attorney, Treasurer, and Animal Services. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Say it again, Bob? 11 MR. REEVES: The COLA's. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: What were you saying? COLA 13 what? 14 MR. REEVES: Cost-of-living. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, I know, but -- 16 JUDGE POLLARD: In other words, they get this raise 17 and not a COLA on top of that. 18 COMMISSIONER REEVES: That's right. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Oh, I see. So, what would 20 that amount to in dollars? 21 MR. REEVES: Well -- 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: About $6,000 -- $5,000, based 23 on this, those three. 24 JUDGE POLLARD: So we're talking about no COLA on 25 Animal, Environmental Health, and -- 8-22-14 26 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Assistant County Attorney. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: -- Assistant County Attorney. 3 They're still up in the air about the Treasurer and the 4 Auditor. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Let me ask a question on 6 Environmental Health and Animal Control. Before -- and I 7 don't know if Jeannie would have the answer to this, but 8 before we combined those two departments, -- 9 MS. HARGIS: Mm-hmm? 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- the salaries for -- 11 MS. HARGIS: For both? 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- for both, yeah, how did 13 they compare, then and now? And I'll just say relative to 14 the supervisors' salaries. 15 MS. HARGIS: Right. I believe that when the Animal 16 Control -- I think it was around 46,000. And at that point, 17 I think Ray's was a little bit more than that, around 49. 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 49 or 50. 19 MS. HARGIS: 50, so we were actually paying out 20 almost 100,000. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Now we're at 74. 23 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Well, that's -- that's 24 important to me. Okay. 25 MS. LANTZ: Well, I think at the time that he took 8-22-14 27 1 over, the Animal Control Director was close to 60,000 a year. 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: 60 and 50? 4 MS. LANTZ: And he was lower than the Animal 5 Control. 6 MS. HARGIS: No, that's too high. 7 MS. LANTZ: No, it was, Jeannie. 8 MR. TROLINGER: It had just gone up. 9 MS. LANTZ: They stayed at about 60,000. 10 MS. HARGIS: That's in overall benefits. The 11 salary itself was only 45. 12 JUDGE POLLARD: What do you feel about no COLA on 13 that? 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we're giving another -- 15 I still go with no COLA. I think we're giving an increase. 16 I don't have a problem. 17 JUDGE POLLARD: To be consistent? 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: To be consistent. 19 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, let's see. The COLA for 20 him is 1,900, and the requested salary is -- 21 MS. HARGIS: Five. 22 COMMISSIONER MOSER: -- is five. So, I don't have 23 a problem with doing both of them, just because of the logic 24 of eliminating the position and him taking on more 25 responsibilities. 8-22-14 28 1 COMMISSIONER REEVES: Leave him with the COLA? 2 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah. 3 MR. REEVES: For Animal Control? 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we need to be 5 consistent on that, how that's -- to me, that's a policy 6 thing if you give a raise and a COLA, or you give a raise and 7 don't give a COLA. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, but part of the policy 9 is you combine two supervisory positions into one, at a 30 10 percent reduction in the cost to the county so that's a 11 positive too. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right, I agree. I'm -- like I 13 said, I'm giving my opinion. You know, these -- I can argue 14 either side of all these. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree. 16 JUDGE POLLARD: Yeah. Well, okay. On the 17 Treasurer thing, I think she has taken on some additional 18 duties. I think some raise is justified there, but I don't 19 know -- I'm a mediator, Tracy. Mediators believe in 20 compromise. Do you suppose there's some figure that we can 21 compromise on that's not quite that high that would be -- 22 that you think would be acceptable? 23 MS. SOLDAN: It's up to the Court, really. I've 24 made my recommendation. 25 JUDGE POLLARD: Well, what if I just threw out a 8-22-14 29 1 figure, say 5,000? Instead of 7,842. What would you think 2 about that? 3 MS. SOLDAN: That's fine. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Done. 5 JUDGE POLLARD: Done. All right. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: You ought to be a mediator. 7 JUDGE POLLARD: I am. (Laughter.) Jeannie? 8 MS. HARGIS: Yes. 9 JUDGE POLLARD: Would -- is there some compromise 10 figure that's less than your requested one that you might be 11 able to live with? 12 MS. HARGIS: I'm just going to go with the COLA, 13 because -- 14 JUDGE POLLARD: Two and a half percent, and what 15 does that amount to? 16 MS. HARGIS: Half of the 46, which is 23. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, she's saying she's 18 willing to get out of the discussion by only taking the COLA. 19 Then she's off the table; she's just a regular employee. Is 20 that what you're saying? I mean, there's no discussion. She 21 just gets the same two and a half percent everybody else 22 does. 23 JUDGE POLLARD: What do you think about that, Bob? 24 MR. REEVES: Fine with me. 25 JUDGE POLLARD: Tom? 8-22-14 30 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So that would be 2,300, as 2 opposed to 4,600? 3 MR. REEVES: Yeah. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: She's been -- she's been 5 extremely valuable to some of the things that I've had this 6 last year. But -- 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that's -- I said the same 8 thing. That's -- my comments to the Judges when I talked to 9 them were the same. 10 JUDGE POLLARD: I have the same observations. I 11 think she's a valuable employee. 12 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So I would go with the 46. 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I think we defer to what the 14 Judges want to do. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: Yeah. How about 35? Going once? 16 Going twice? 17 MS. BOLIN: Can I make a little suggestion? 18 JUDGE POLLARD: Yes. 19 MS. BOLIN: Why don't you leave it where it is now 20 and go ahead and adopt it that way, and then see what the 21 District Judges say. Because if they grant her the 46, then 22 you're going to have to go up on your budget, where if they 23 don't, if they go by y'all's recommendation, then it'll go 24 down. 25 JUDGE POLLARD: Let's do that. Is that okay with 8-22-14 31 1 you, Jeannie? 2 MS. HARGIS: Well, I don't want to present 3 something to the Judges to put them in a controversy. 4 JUDGE POLLARD: So you're wanting to just go with 5 the COLA? 6 MS. HARGIS: Yes. That's what's I did last year; 7 that's what I'll do this year. 8 JUDGE POLLARD: All right, so be it. And I don't 9 feel good about that one. I really don't. All right. COLA 10 it is, then, the two and a half percent. All right. Are 11 there any other issues? 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: On the -- on the two that are 13 left, the Assistant County Attorney and the -- Ray, is he 14 getting a COLA or not? Just to clarify. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: No COLA. He gets the raise, but no 16 COLA on it -- on top of it, in addition to. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 18 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Does that resolve 19 everything? 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think on the salaries, it 21 does. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Is there anything else 23 that we need to talk about besides the salaries? 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I would like to bring up the 25 library again. I don't know; did we receive anything from 8-22-14 32 1 the City? 2 JUDGE POLLARD: Not yet. But -- 3 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 4 JUDGE POLLARD: -- I did see the Mayor night before 5 last, and he told me that he had signed a letter, and that it 6 would be in the mail; he thought we'd get it today. Now, we 7 haven't received it, of course, today. No mail delivery yet. 8 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 9 JUDGE POLLARD: But it formally turns it down, just 10 like it was reported in the newspaper. So -- 11 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 12 JUDGE POLLARD: But we haven't received it yet. No 13 formal response. 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, we could -- I could even 15 make the comment assuming what the letter says, if it has 16 some other option in there, or wait till Monday and bring it 17 up at that time. 18 JUDGE POLLARD: He didn't mention that, so it's 19 probably a good thing just to wait till Monday to see what 20 the letter does say. 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. Let's hold off till 22 Monday, then. Okay. All right, good enough. 23 JUDGE POLLARD: Anything else? 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A question. The -- 25 MS. HARGIS: Indigent -- the question that's being 8-22-14 33 1 asked of me, the Indigent Service person went up a step and 2 received a COLA, so is that okay? 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I look at that as a merit 4 increase. 5 MS. HARGIS: Okay. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And if you don't give the merit 7 increase, then you basically are taking away the COLA. 8 Otherwise -- I mean, 'cause it's -- 9 COMMISSIONER REEVES: No gain. 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's the way I look at that, 11 as being a merit increase for that individual. And I think 12 that, you know, as people -- you know, we've allowed that 13 type of thing in the past. I think it's fine. 14 MS. LANTZ: Same with Road and Bridge, just so we 15 can make sure our schedule's right? 16 COMMISSIONER REEVES: And same with the Juvenile 17 Detention, correct? 18 MS. HARGIS: Right, those have to have it. 19 COMMISSIONER REEVES: Right. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: At the last workshop, you said 21 the budget shortfall was, like, about 370,000, and maybe we'd 22 go out of the year with a positive 500,000. Are those 23 numbers about the same in light of all these adjustments? 24 MS. HARGIS: I want y'all to keep in mind, I 25 already take that surplus shortfall -- 8-22-14 34 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I'm just trying to repeat. 2 MS. HARGIS: I know. That's what was said in the 3 courtroom. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. I'm just saying, is 5 there anything different? 6 MS. HARGIS: No. 7 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Did those numbers change? 8 MS. HARGIS: But that's -- 9 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I understand what they are. 10 MS. HARGIS: The surplus is already in that ending 11 number. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I got it. 14 MS. HARGIS: We're at 318,000 now. 15 COMMISSIONER MOSER: $318,000 shortfall? Okay, as 16 opposed to 370? That's what I'm asking. 17 COMMISSIONER REEVES: Does that include the change 18 to the election? 19 MS. HARGIS: No, it does not. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So it's going to be a little 21 bit -- okay. And the projected is still about -- that's 22 still the 500,000 estimated? 23 MS. HARGIS: Yeah. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. 25 MS. HARGIS: I haven't checked it. 8-22-14 35 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: All right, thank you. 2 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the discussion on the Road 3 and Bridge increase, is that is included? 4 MS. HARGIS: Yes, all the increases are in here. 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I know, but the -- what did the 6 right-of-way -- 7 MS. HARGIS: The right-of-way is not in here. The 8 Road and Bridge is not included in this, because Road and 9 Bridge has their separate fund. If we put that 50,000 in 10 Road and Bridge, their -- their ending surplus on here on 11 your summary sheet's about 307; that's going to put them down 12 to 250. He hasn't come up with anything to give to me, and 13 he's not going to have that much at the end of this year 14 because he took on an additional employee, and they've had 15 some other costs in there. So, his fund balance has really 16 never dropped below four, but this year -- 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: If we moved -- and as we've 18 done in the past; this is nothing new -- a small piece of the 19 tax rate from -- we can't move a small piece down there? 20 MS. HARGIS: No, we can't. We already gave him his 21 3.22; he's at the effective rate. We did that last year, and 22 he's remained the same, so you'd go above the effective rate 23 if you changed it on him. We can change the components, but 24 it's going to affect the general fund. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. But the general fund, 8-22-14 36 1 we have a -- on the projected, we're slightly over 25 percent 2 for next year, so if we were able to just take a -- a small 3 amount over and put it into Road and Bridge, it will lower 4 our reserves here, but it will increase reserves in Road and 5 Bridge a little bit. 6 MS. HARGIS: Keep in mind, you're asking for 50 7 plus the 22,5; that's $75,000 we're going to be moving out. 8 You'll go below the 25 percent. 9 MS. BOLIN: Actually, last year on their tax rate, 10 per Judge Tinley, the Road and Bridge went from .0322 to 11 .0323. We actually lost some on the general fund. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Right. 13 MS. HARGIS: They're up -- 14 COMMISSIONER LETZ: In prior years, we went the 15 other way, because he had a big surplus. 16 MS. HARGIS: Right. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So we've adjusted that. 18 MS. HARGIS: A little bit. 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And that's what I'm basically 20 saying. What does that do if we -- I don't want to get Road 21 and Bridge in a pinch, and if we move that same bit down to 22 Road and Bridge, take it off of our -- the general fund -- 23 MS. HARGIS: I'd just rather transfer it from the 24 general fund rather than play with the components. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 8-22-14 37 1 MS. HARGIS: 'Cause we've already got the M & O 2 really low because of our debt service rates. 3 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 4 MS. HARGIS: So we can just set up a transfer to go 5 to Road and Bridge, and that would take care of that. 6 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. I just think it's 7 important, okay. 8 MS. HARGIS: And then the elections, do you want me 9 to go ahead and put it in? Would it be better to have it in 10 on Monday? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I'd rather have it in. It's 12 something that if we have a foreseeable knowledge that it's 13 going to happen, I think we should budget for it. If it 14 doesn't happen, then we can still encourage the -- you know, 15 have input. It may not, but if we have kind of like a -- if 16 we think it's going to happen, we're not doing our job if we 17 don't include it. 18 MS. HARGIS: What I would propose, though, since we 19 don't know that this is going to happen, is to put it in 20 there as one line item for those two elections. And then -- 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's fine. 22 MS. HARGIS: -- if that happens, we can distribute 23 those numbers. That way it's easier for us to hold onto as 24 surplus. 25 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Good. 8-22-14 38 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: All right. 2 MS. HARGIS: But I'd rather have it in there than 3 not have it in there. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Right, I agree. 5 JUDGE POLLARD: All right. Now, kind of looking 6 down the road, we've struggled quite a bit with this budget. 7 It's been a real tight budget. Looking maybe at the 8 following year after that, you can anticipate that expenses 9 are going to go up -- keep going up, and our -- I don't see 10 much improvement in the revenue side of it. Jeannie's been 11 whispering in my ear, sometimes hollering in my ear, for 12 several months now that we were going to have to raise the 13 tax rate. That's something that I know that I'm opposed to 14 as much as possible, if we can avoid that, and I know the -- 15 probably the Commissioners are all -- all feel the same way. 16 What this means is that probably next year, it's going to be 17 even more difficult to try to hold that tax rate without an 18 increase. And so if we -- the only way I know of to try to 19 avoid that kind of a problem is to adopt some kind of a plan 20 to shrink us -- shrink our costs somehow. And what that 21 means, and what we're -- what I'm considering -- I want to 22 run this by the Commissioners -- is maybe a -- we're not 23 going to be able to hire many people extra, and -- and when 24 people leave, retire or quit or move, we may not replace them 25 all. And we got to try to shrink to try to anticipate. That 8-22-14 39 1 would give us about a year to try to adopt this plan, general 2 -- have a general plan. I've announced this -- talked to 3 three department heads before today about this, and I just -- 4 I want to use this as my -- I think we're going to try to 5 adopt something like that, and I'm going to recommend that we 6 do adopt something like that, because I don't see any other 7 way. 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Well, I think the other 9 addition to that wonderful news is, if the jail goes 10 through, -- 11 JUDGE POLLARD: Yeah. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- our M & O goes through the 13 roof. We're going to have to do -- I don't see any way 14 around a tax increase if we build a jail, because we're 15 going to have to increase our payroll substantially in that 16 department. But, I mean -- and that's -- you know, that's 17 just a reality. I mean, we can cut -- you know, we can do 18 without a person here, a person there, but we have to -- if 19 the voters vote to approve that and/or expand the jail, 20 which I think probably needs to happen, you're probably 21 looking at -- 22 JUDGE POLLARD: I think it needs to happen too, but 23 it may not happen. 24 COMMISSIONER LETZ: -- 10 to 20 employees, you're 25 looking at. 8-22-14 40 1 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I think what you said, Judge, 2 is a perfect thing to say now, because everybody can start 3 looking at the following year with -- with an open mind and 4 seeing what we can do. And I think that's good, 'cause 5 everybody has advanced warning, from department heads to 6 elected officials. We can -- there's always creative ways to 7 find things. I -- and I don't take issue with what Jonathan 8 is saying about the jail, but I remember the last time we 9 looked at increasing the size of the jail, Rusty had a plan, 10 and I don't remember the details of it, what he could do 11 without increasing the jail staff. So, that would be -- you 12 know, that would be a -- you know, an incentive for him to 13 try to look back and dust that off, what he's proposed to do 14 more specifically. But that's a -- 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It goes into -- I think it goes 16 into how -- and it may not be like having a completely new 17 jail, because I think, like, with the females, we'll have the 18 problem -- one of the problems we have now is that we have to 19 close down a whole male section when we get two extra 20 females, and that causes a lot of issues if we -- 21 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, he had other things 22 where people were going out -- he had other things where 23 people were able to go out, work during the day, come in back 24 at night. With the reconfiguration of the jail, that was 25 saving him some too. But, anyway, that's something the 8-22-14 41 1 Sheriff can look at, I agree. But I think you're right on, 2 Judge, about looking at next year. 3 JUDGE POLLARD: Well, I think the jail thing is -- 4 if it passes -- and I don't guess we have much of a choice 5 about that, because we're pretty close to not being -- not 6 being certified at that jail -- not be certified, and if that 7 happens, we're really looking at a bad situation, having to 8 house our -- house our prisoners out in other places. That 9 will raise our cost substantially, so if that happens, we're 10 going to have to take a whole new look at it. But for -- but 11 generally, I want -- I think a plan like what I was talking 12 about ought to be considered generally, and that's -- let's 13 just say that what that means is that people are going to 14 have to have more cross-training. And more people -- we're 15 going to have to be more efficient, offer the same services 16 to the public, and just have to be more efficient. So, kind 17 of keep that in mind in your plans along the way. 18 And we're going -- we're going to do the best we 19 can. I want to tell you that I -- I and I think the 20 Commissioners would agree with this. I think our most 21 valuable asset is our employees, okay? I always want to try 22 to take care of our employees. And one of the two things 23 that makes it kind of nice to work for the county is our -- 24 we have a good retirement plan, and we have an excellent 25 health care plan, and I intend to do everything I can to try 8-22-14 42 1 to protect those and make sure that it's -- it remains that 2 way. And I do want to recognize and consider all the 3 employees as our most valuable asset. Does anybody else want 4 to address any of that? 5 MR. REEVES: I agree with you, Judge, on the 6 employees, and we're fortunate to have the ones we have. 7 They work very hard. And in that respect, if you'll recall, 8 back in June or July, when I asked the department heads to 9 find a way to help us get this budget down lower, they 10 stepped up and did what they could to trim it out of their 11 budget, but still maintaining it. I know Ray came to me with 12 some recommendations. Tim did. They found the ways to trim 13 what they could, and they understand the need to keep 14 expenses down. So, I applaud each and every one of them for 15 that. 16 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Well, I echo that 100 percent. 17 They did it last year; they did it this year, so -- and 18 they'll probably do it next year. So -- 19 JUDGE POLLARD: May be worse next year. 20 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Yeah, right. 21 JUDGE POLLARD: Sure looks like it might be. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I guess one comment on that, 23 'cause I know we have some of the press in here. The -- I'll 24 emphasize again, the reason that our revenues are going down 25 is not to do really with the local economy; it's not to do 8-22-14 43 1 with anything locally. It's a problem that the State has -- 2 or the Legislature has cut sources of revenue that used to 3 come to the county through the registration fees, the Road 4 and Bridge tax, you know, funds, some of those funds. And we 5 have a lot of -- for whatever reason, through D.P.S. writing 6 the number of tickets, that revenue, it's out -- it's 7 revenues that we don't have as much control of. The State 8 has modernized a lot of their technology where you can now 9 get birth certificates, death certificates, all that stuff 10 over -- off, you know, websites. They used to be all the 11 fees that we don't collect any more. So, the problem is that 12 the -- the world has changed the way they do business, and we 13 need to be able to adjust as well, and that may mean less 14 people in some areas. 15 JUDGE POLLARD: Okay, thank you. Does anybody else 16 want to address the Commissioners Court? 17 MS. BOLIN: I just have a note on this year's tax 18 rate. The M & O on this year's tax rate is the lowest it's 19 been since 2007. The I & S is higher than it's ever been, 20 which is our debt rate, so that's a part of this also where 21 we're coming into issues. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: It is. 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And in two years, that will -- 24 or -- two years? Three? 25 JUDGE POLLARD: I think it's '18. In '18. 8-22-14 44 1 MS. HARGIS: '18 and '19. 2 JUDGE POLLARD: We'll retire a lot of that. And, 3 of course, that depends on what we do between then and now. 4 I mean, we may replace some of that. We need to kind of hold 5 that down too, if there's any way to hold new obligations 6 down as much as possible. Just -- it's -- we're tight; we 7 got to tighten up our belts. All right, anybody else have 8 anything? 9 MS. HARGIS: Yeah, I do have one other thing. I am 10 in the process of trying to get that lease agreement for Road 11 and Bridge, and I'm running into -- I've got one commitment, 12 but I haven't gotten anything else yet. I called, and I put 13 out two other feelers, but I haven't gotten a response, so it 14 may -- you know, he may have to get a larger capital lease, 15 because some of the items that he has are going to go up. 16 But I -- until we get a fairly decent interest rate and a -- 17 you know, a lease that we feel like we can live with, I'm not 18 ready to, you know, present it to the Court. 'Cause it's 19 coming in too high with fees attached to it, which we've 20 never paid before. 21 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Okay. 22 JUDGE POLLARD: Anybody else have anything? If 23 not, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 24 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So moved. 25 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8-22-14 45 1 JUDGE POLLARD: Been moved and seconded. Those in 2 favor, signify by raising your right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote, 3-0.) 4 JUDGE POLLARD: It's unanimous. Thank you. 5 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 9:51 a.m.) 6 - - - - - - - - - - 7 8 9 STATE OF TEXAS | 10 COUNTY OF KERR | 11 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 12 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 13 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 14 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 15 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 22nd day of August, 16 2014. 17 18 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 19 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 20 Certified Shorthand Reporter 21 22 23 24 25 8-22-14