Commissioners may authorize tax notes to enlarge annex
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE District Clerk Terri Cox sorts case file folders in a storage room in the Lampasas County Office Building. Mrs. Cox's office has one room for filing records, and she said it is nearly full of shelves and boxes. She and other county employees at the annex believe the county should expand the building to allow additional room for records retention.

The Lampasas County Commissioners Court on Monday received a petition calling for an election about certificates of obligation to expand the Lampasas County Office Building, but the court can pass seven-year tax notes instead of placing the issue on the November ballot.

Elections Administrator Dorothy Person gave the court a petition with 723 signatures calling for an election to decide a proposal to issue a maximum of $5 million in certificates for the Pecan Street "annex," constructed in 2002.

Ms. Person has until May 7 to verify the signatures by looking for false or duplicate names and checking to ensure signers are registered to vote in Lampasas County. To force an election, citizens must submit a petition with at least 615 valid signatures, equal to 5 percent of registered voters in the county.

If the petition meets the minimum number of signatures, the Commissioners Court cannot authorize the issuance of certificates of obligation without voter approval in an election, which could be held no earlier than November.

The court may, however, issue seven-year tax notes, which can be refunded at any point during the seven years and are not subject to a petition.

The 60-page list of signatures the court received urges commissioners not to approve certificates of obligation for annex expansion without allowing voters to decide the issue.

"Not holding a bond election denies every citizen the right to have a hand in running our county government and tax dollars," the petition states.

Several members of the Commissioners Court said the county clerk, district clerk and other officials at the office building on Pecan Street are running out of room for the records state law requires them to store.

The county needs file rooms within enclosed offices, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack B. Cox said, and cannot just erect storage sheds.

The court also said an election would delay progress on annex expansion and could raise the price of the project dramatically.

Bank of America has committed to a 3.94 percent interest rate on 20-year certificates of obligation if commissioners authorize certificates this spring, County Auditor Jack Clark said. Clark said he hopes the company will guarantee to a similar rate with tax notes.

If certificates are not approved until November, though, Bank of America will not commit to a 3.94 percent interest rate, the auditor said. Clark also noted estimates on the cost of expanding the annex have increased about $600,000 since the fall of 2007, when the projected cost to enlarge the building was $3.2 million.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Alex Wittenburg said some petition signers incorrectly believe the Commissioners Court is proposing $5 million in certificates of obligation for a project that will cost only $2 million.

Based on estimates submitted three weeks ago by architects, the addition will cost about $3.85 mil- lion, Clark said.

The county could add a 10 percent contingency to tax notes for a total of about $4 million, he said, but if the Commissioners Court opts to hold an election for certificates of obligation the total cost likely will rise to about $5 million by November.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Vincent, who led Monday's meeting in the absence of County Judge Wayne Boultinghouse, said construction costs are rising rapidly. Steel prices change almost daily, Vincent said.

The commissioner added he hopes to proceed with the expansion, which he said would allow the county to tear down the former Brooks supermarket building and move county employees out of offices on Live Oak Street.

"That Brooks building over there is a liability for the county, not an asset," Vincent said. "Inside that building is a hazard, and I don't think a lot of the public understands how much of a hazard it is at this time frame."

The county could add as much as $200,000 to the tax rolls by selling the building it owns on Live Oak Street, he added.

As commissioners try to decide whether to pursue certificates of obligation, they need petition signers to help them identify acceptable locations for annex expansion, Wittenburg said.

"Just telling us `no' is not doing us any good," he said. "We need some help from the citizens."

Nix resident Lynn Wernette said some citizens have suggested the county purchase and renovate the former National Resources Conservation Service building at the corner of Fourth and Pecan streets and use it for records storage. Those citizens have not received an official response, she said.

Even if the Commissioners Court deems the building unacceptable for records storage, citizens need to know why, Mrs. Wernette said.

The NRCS building flooded last year, Vincent said, and he added that commissioners want to store county records on the second floor of a building to protect them from water.

The former NRCS office also has mold problems, Cox said.

He encouraged citizens to suggest where to add records retention facilities and how to pay for them, but he said the Commissioners Court will have to make the final decision.

"We're elected, and we're responsible for making the decisions," Cox said. "We have to use our common sense."