County budget gets preliminary okay; jail election slated
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

Lampasas County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a preliminary county budget Monday with a 3.14-cent proposed tax increase.

If commissioners approve the budget in their final vote Sept. 24, the total tax rate would rise to 58.9 cents per $100 taxable value, up from 55.76 cents for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The road and bridge rate would not change, and the general fund rate would rise from 40.02 cents to 44 cents.

The proposed tax hike will balance the more than $300,000 general fund deficit the county faced at its most recent budget workshop, County Auditor Jack Clark said.

Prisoner housing expenses, judicial costs -- particularly those associated with five capital murder cases -- and increases in indigent health care that the state mandates counties provide have created the need for a tax increase, the county auditor said.

County fire departments also will receive money for trucks. Kempner Volunteer Fire Department will receive $26,000, and Lampasas Fire Department will get $20,000. The Adamsville and Lometa fire stations will receive $12,500 and $6,500, respectively.

"The things that caused the budget to go up are mandated, and we can't cut them," said Clark.

Other than spending on fire equipment and state-mandated expenses, the preliminary budget includes no departmental increases of more than $2,200, Precinct 3 Commissioner Lowell Ivey said.

"There is no fat in this budget," he said. "Every department head needs to be commended."

The preliminary budget does not include longevity pay increases for commissioners or the county auditor.

The preliminary budget sets a fiscal ceiling, as commissioners in theory could vote for a lower tax rate at their Sept. 24 meeting. The Commissioners Court will hold public hearings Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 14 at 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Commissioners said they tried to avoid Friday hearings but could not find enough available times for the state-required public meetings.

In a 5-0 vote, the court set a Nov. 6 date for an election on the issuance of $20 million in certificates of obligation for a proposed new county jail. Commissioners noted state ethics rules prohibit them from stating a position on the election and from using county time, faxes, telephones, e-mails or funds to advance their position.

County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse said county employees' best safeguard may be to avoid voicing opinions on the jail at all, even if they think they are doing so in a private capacity.

"I don't want someone to file a complaint and [for commissioners to find out] we're doing something unknowingly to generate a complaint," the judge said.

In other business Monday, the court denied a request for a tax freeze at River Park Village East Apartments. The owner of the Central Texas Expressway property requested a tax freeze at the 2006 level of $11,290 because improve- ments -- including new windows, heating and air-conditioning systems, doors, dishwashers and garbage disposals -- likely would increase the apartment complex's taxable value.

Because the apartments are available to low-income families through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, they are paid for through bonds and tax credits.

The federal government pays a share of the rent to keep renters' rates constant, Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Vincent said, so the property owner would not lose money even if taxable values increased.

Clark also noted the property owner's request did not indicate how long the freeze would apply.

"This appears to be openended," he said. "You certainly don't want to give up your tax (revenue) for 30 years."

The court tabled discussion of cleanup of John Woodruff's property in and around Adamsville. Commissioners plan to reconsider the issue at their next meeting after reviewing a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report that explains how the county will have to dispose of hazardous materials on Woodruff's land.

Woodruff owns property in Adamsville and another tract of about 13 acres approximately four miles north of Adamsville off U.S. Highway 281.

Piles of car batteries, oil drums, motors, transmissions, and old boats and cars at both sites violate the county's nuisance abatement ordinance, County Attorney Larry Allison said.

Because of environmental hazards, the county probably will have to transport the materials to a permitted landfill.

Allison said the county could pay for some of its expenses by placing a lien on Woodruff's property.

The county could receive between 10 and 12 percent interest on the lien, he explained.

Commissioners said they hope to have the property cleared before Adamsville's centennial celebration next summer.