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County sets tax rate, budget OK'd
By Courtney Burleson, Managing Editor
It is official, county taxes have increased, slightly.
The Colorado County Commissioners Court approved a 1.9 cents increase for the 2008 tax rates and also approved the 2009 budget during their regular meeting Monday, Sept. 8.
The new tax rate of .449 per $100 valuation includes a general fund rate of .27809 per $100 valuation; road and bridge fund rate of .142 per $100 valuation and debt service rate of .02891 per $100 valuation.
The tax division rates by precinct for 2009 are as follows: precinct one with 25.15 percent and 186.012 miles of road; precinct two with 25.15 percent and 185.987 miles of road; precinct three with 29.81 percent and 220.441 miles of road and precinct four with 19.89 percent and 147.042 miles of road. Road mileage was provided by the Texas Department of Transportation and verified by each commissioner.
Also approved was the $16.6 million 2009 Colorado County budget. The budget included a five percent cost of living increase and an additional two percent merit increase to each department based on their total salary budget to be distributed to their employees based on performance except assistant attorneys who will receive a five percent cost of living raise and an additional $5,000. Salary increases are included for elected officials at seven percent increase.
Extra personnel included in the budget are additional jailers, full-time paramedic to be staffed in Weimar and interpreters for county and district courts due to the increasing number of Spanish speaking defendants.
Included in the sheriff's budget are $130,000 for new patrol cars, new vehicle for emergency medical services and a new van for the 4-H program.
Other items include $60,000 out of the Record Preservation Fund for scanning and imaging the county clerk's records and another $60,000 out of the general fund for scanning and imaging the district clerk's records.
Veterans service officer
How to go about finding a veteran service officer for the county brought some discussion during Monday's meeting.
"Finding someone is not as easy as we'd like it to be," said Colorado County Judge Al Jamison.
Judge Jamison presented commissioners with a proposal in which the post commanders throughout the county communicate and come up with one candidate to present to the court. He indicated that he wanted to take the "politics" out of choosing an applicant.
Colorado County Comm-issioner Darrell Gertson said that in a perfect world that was a great idea but he could see more than one name coming in.
The court agreed to have Judge Jamison send a letter to each of the post commanders in the county asking them to decide on a single candidate.
9-1-1 Rural addressing
Also bringing discussion was the setting of policy regarding undocumented private road names which have resulted in the duplication of road names and non-official private road signs, according to 9-1-1 rural addressing coordinator David Kotzebue.
"We need some policy and procedures," said Kotzebue. "We're going to grow at some point and we need to be ready."
Judge Jamison discussed the confusion caused by private citizens naming roads that are undocumented in the county records.
"It will be a problem when you call 9-1-1 and the road doesn't show up because it isn't an official county road," said Jamison.
Commissioner Gertson agre-ed that not using official county road names could pose problems.
"If it hasn't been documented and put into public record, it's not a road," said Gertson. "We can't second guess all our county roads."
Firearms training simulator
Colorado County law enforcement officers will have state of the art training at their hands if approved for the Wintermann Foundation grant for a Firearms Training Simulator which uses laser technology.
Neighboring agencies which currently use the technology include the Houston Police Department, Austin County and Fort Bend County.
The portable unit has different interactive scenarios for crime scene training where perpetrators lurk behind buildings, surprise officers during a chase or come at them full force while armed.
"It's an excellent program," said Judge Jamison. "It's real like you wouldn't believe."
In other business the court:
Set the sheriff and constable fees as presented, effective Jan. 1, 2009 and ending Dec. 31, 2009. The fee schedules includes $95 for service of citations and notices; $85 for citations for justice court; $200 for service of writ and $100 for writ of garnishment; $30 for citation postings; $4 for copies of offense reports and open records requests; $5 for audio tape or CD; $8 for VHS/VCR tape and $1 per page for radio logs.
Took no action regarding a burn ban to restrict outdoor burning activities in the unincorporated areas of the county. However, commissioners urged the public to use caution and only burn when necessary and use a barrel with a mesh top to prevent flying debris that could start a grass fire.
Set holiday scheduled for 2009.
Approved authority for county clerk to hire two more part-time employees to assist with early voting for a two-week period.
Approved a permanent easement by gift deed from Bret and Phyliss Hudman on land adjacent to the Colorado County Juvenile Facility in exchange for installation of a driveway road base.
Designated Judge Jamison and Commissioner Gertson as delegates to the Houston-Galveston Area Council 2009 General Assembly and to the Board of Directors.
Approved affiliation agreement between Colorado County and Texas Emergency Training to allow students to utilize the county's facilities.
Extended two-year warranty with SecureTech's Wireless Panic/Duress System for the probation building.
Approved the following consent agenda items: completion of handicap ramp at county extension building; transcript of proceedings and order authorizing issuance of $5 million Colorado County certificates of obligation; executed lease agreement between Colorado County and Department of State Health Services; appointed W. Myles Shelton and Mindy May as members of the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Bo-ard; executed interlocal cooperation act contract to provide health care services between Colorado County and University of Texas Medical Branch effective Sept. 1; continuation certification for superheavy or oversize permits and certificate of liability insurance posted by Bugman of Weimar.
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