Interested citizens packed the first-floor courtroom Monday for a busy Lampasas County Commissioners Court session.
The Lampasas County Commissioners Court agreed to lower its tax rate by one cent for the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year. Action came during Monday’s regular meeting of the court.
Also during the meeting, commissioners denied a request from the district clerk’s office to maintain its three-member staff amid alleged mismanagement. Other action items concerned funding for the Saratoga Underground Water Conservation District and a new staff member for the sheriff’s office.
County Auditor Tragina Tallant recommended a proposed total tax rate of 54 cents per $100 in property value. That rate includes $0.338829 for the county’s maintenance and operations, $0.061171 for the interest and sinking fund, and $0.14 for the road and bridge fund.
The county will hold a public hearing on the tax rate and 2025-26 FY budget on Sept. 8. The Commissioners Court will adopt the tax rate and budget in its regular meeting that follows the public hearing.
“That is a proposed rate,” County Judge Randy Hoyer said. “We cannot go up any higher than that, but we could lower it if we deem it would be appropriate.”
STAFFING FOR DISTRICT CLERK’S OFFICE
District Clerk Edith Harrison expressed frustrations that her office is set to lose one fulltime employee in the new fiscal year. Under the county’s proposed budget, Harrison would have only two employees in her office.
“In reality, my office has been short-staffed since I came into office in 2019,” Harrison said. “Most district clerks’ offices in counties our size have four to five people plus the district clerk. That can explain why I lose people because we are working 60-plus hours a week, or I am, and the office staff overworks itself.”
Harrison told commissioners the district clerk’s office cannot operate with only two employees.
“A lot of the files we deal with daily are timesensitive and must be completed in a timely manner,” she said. “There have also been an additional 16 court dates added this year by a visiting judge.”
The district clerk noted her office has experienced more condemnation cases due to road construction and gas lines. Harrison said her office brings in non-tax revenue and claimed no other county official must justify his or her salary.
Harrison said her office staff was trimmed previously when her predecessor removed the chief deputy position more than seven years ago. The district clerk felt she deserved an explanation why the staff reduction was necessary.
“Lampasas County voted for me in office to start something better than we currently had,” Harrison said. “I am the district clerk now, and I should be able to run my office as I see fit. I follow the rules as an elected official of Lampasas County, as I hope the rest of our elected officials would do the same.”
Following Harrison’s comments, Hoyer read a lengthy statement that outlined why a staff position was being eliminated from her office.
“For several years, you have requested a court coordinator position for the district court to assist and help with the workload from the district clerk’s office,” Hoyer said. “We now have this position for the district court, thus reducing your workload in your office by a full-time employee.”
At the court’s previous meeting, independent auditor Patillo, Brown, and Hill LLP said the district clerk’s office failed for the third consecutive year to match documentation for each transaction relating to passport transactions.
Hoyer told Harrison her office was the only one to receive such findings from the independent auditor.
“As the elected official, it is your responsibility for establishing and maintaining effective and timely internal controls over the receipts of funds, including passports, to prevent or detect errors, whether intentional or unintentional,” he said.
Hoyer said the district clerk’s office has placed a focus on passports over its primary functions.
“Your office is significantly behind projected revenue for fees collected,” Hoyer said. “Projected revenue has been budgeted at $75,000 annually. To date, you have collected only $38,467, with less than two months remaining in this fiscal year. In previous years, fee collections have exceeded $80,000.
“Additionally, attorneys and individuals have expressed concerns with the district clerk’s office for failure to receive proper notice, failure to issue citations, incorrect information being listed, delayed or delinquent communication,” Hoyer read from his statement. “You failed to invest proceeds from the district clerk’s trust fund into an interest-bearing account.
“Since 2019, 22 employees have either been terminated or left your office, citing such reasons as a hostile work environment,” the county judge said.
Hoyer encouraged Harrison to focus on the office’s primary functions, to get her office complaint with legal requirements and to conduct an internal audit as to why fee collections are down. He also recommended the district clerk attend training to reduce the county’s potential liability.
Harrison was not granted the opportunity for a rebuttal after Hoyer made his comments, which appeared to speak for the court.
SARATOGA UWCD FUNDING
Saratoga Underground Water Conservation District General Manager Tasha Bates asked the county for an increase of $7,500 on top of the $12,500 it already receives for the new 2025-2026 fiscal year. Since the SUWCD shifted its policy on exempt wells from two to 10 acres a year ago, the district is subject to more oversight, she said.
Also, SUWCD is seeking additional funds to hold more community events for water conservation and ensuring those with wells are compliant with regulations.
“We also want to implement some rainwater harvesting incentive programs where we would actually invite the public, go over rainwater, how to do it, how to capture, and then possibly even provide barrels for citizens,” Bates said.
Commissioners indicated the request for additional funding had come too late in the budget season to garner a “yes” from the court.
SUWCD board member Stan Wilson said the water district will be required to carry out more stringent regulations soon, requiring more funding. Although eligible, the SUWCD is not a taxing entity.
“Growth is a real issue in the county, and there is legislation coming down that is going to compel us to more accurately monitor our groundwater, and that is going to require infrastructure and cost money,” Wilson said. “Ten years ago, it wasn’t an issue. It is an issue now and going into the future.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Shad Hill told SUWCD representatives to make their request earlier in the budget season and rely on savings for added expenditures in the upcoming fiscal year. Hill hinted the county would approve additional funding next year if approached in a more timely manner.
LCSO STAFFING
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved a new full-time maintenance/ landscaping position that will replace the services of Jerry Harrison, the county’s previously contracted landscaping professional.
Sheriff David Parker described the need for the position to commissioners.
“Since I took over in January, there has been a lot of plumbing issues every day that we have,” Parker said. “We are trying to get a maintenance position to get someone in there to prevent maintenance issues that are going to arise, like [airconditioning]. This position will be from custodial all the way through preventive maintenance to plumbing.”
Parker told commissioners this position would also be responsible for landscaping needs at the county courthouse and annex buildings.
The position will pay $20 per hour, with most of its funding coming from Harrison’s canceled landscaping contract of $36,000.
The county has earmarked $20,000 for a trailer and equipment for a future hire.
Hoyer thanked Jerry Harrison for his service to the county.
“I’ll be the first to say, Jerry, you have done an outstanding job,” the county judge said. “The yards look awesome, no doubt about it.”
