Lampasas County likely can balance its 2010-2011 budget without increasing the property tax rate, County Auditor Jack Clark said during a recent planning session.

Because of increased costs and limited growth in taxable property values, however, the upcoming fiscal year’s budget will not include funding for significant law enforcement pay raises or for many capital outlays, the auditor said.

New properties resulted in a taxable value about $8 million higher than last year’s figure, Clark said. The one-year increase, however, is less than the increase last year, when taxable values rose $18 million compared to the previous year.

Because properties owned by disabled military veterans — whose county property taxes are waived completely if they are 100 percent disabled — cost the county $23 million, Clark said Lampasas County, in effect, experienced a net decrease of $15 million in taxable values compared to last year.

“I am concerned about the static nature of property values,” said the auditor, who added that he doubts the demand for new construction will improve much for about two years.

In addition, the county faces 15 percent higher health insurance costs this year than last year. The county will switch from an HMO plan with $20 copays to an HMO plan that requires a $40 copay for office visits to primary care physicians and specialists, for eye examinations and for outpatient mental health appointments. The new plan does not have a deductible.

An alternate plan could have limited the health insurance cost increase to 1.4 percent, although employees would have had to pay 20 percent of their medical costs after meeting deductibles of $250 per individual or $500 for a family.

Clark said employees he surveyed unanimously favored keeping an HMO plan, as the auditor said employees’ out-of-pocket health expenses under the alternate plan would have negated the 3 percent salary “step” increases all county workers will receive. Employees got a 3 percent pay raise this fiscal year — which ends Sept. 30 — and received a 6 percent pay raise in fiscal year 2008-2009.

With little additional tax revenue this year, the county will not be able to afford additional salary increases for the Lampasas County Sheriff’s Office, Clark said. Sheriff David Whitis has expressed concern recently about deputies’ pay, as he said several law enforcement officers have taken employment outside of Lampasas County in pursuit of higher pay.

The Sheriff’s Department will receive some of the few capital outlays included in the proposed 2010- 2011 budget. Those expenditures, Clark said, likely will include improvement to the Lampasas County Jail’s kitchen and to the sheriff’s fingerprinting system. In addition, because two vehicles wrecked in the past year, the sheriff’s office will receive $90,000 to purchase four new vehicles. The department normally gets two new patrol cars each year, Clark said.

Although the county has contributed for four years to Lampasas and Lometa fire department vehicle reserves, it will not be able to do so this year, Clark added.

“If we’re not going to go up on taxes, and if we’re in a crunch, and we’re not doing capital outlays, we’re not going to be able to build up that reserve,” he said.

Also at the recent budget meeting, Clark said he hopes to lease a different structure, buy property or build a new building for the Lometa justice of the peace, as the auditor and Precinct 3 Commissioner Lowell B. Ivey said the office floods every time Lometa receives rain.

The county may be able to use some of the $300,000 to $400,000 of bond money that will remain after completion of the Pecan Street addition to the Lampasas County Office Building, Clark said.

Also last week, during a regular meeting of the commissioners court, commissioners voted 5-0 to send Veterans Service Officer Jesse Hurst to Texas Veterans Commission training during the upcoming budget year. The county will pay for Hurst’s lodging and registration fees for the training, which will allow the veterans officer to maintain his certification.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Precinct 1 Commissioner Robert Vincent reminded county landowners that rainfall does not mean the outdoor burn ban is lifted automatically. Vincent said he noticed smoke coming from several locations on recent weekends, especially after light rains.

The commissioner called for extra vigilance from area fire departments and law enforcement officials in responding to illegal burns. A burn ban violation is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.