>> WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND GO INTO OUR SPECIAL MEETING OF COMMISSIONERS CORE.
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CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER TUESDAY, MAY 14TH, 2024 AT 10:54.COMMISSIONERS, THIS IS GOING TO BE A WORKSHOP TO GET YOUR PRIORITIES FOR THE BUDGET,
[F.1 To discuss current and future Caldwell County budgetary needs in anticipation of the upcoming FY 2024-2025 budgeting process.]
AND ALSO TO DISCUSS, WE HAVE SOME ARPA MONEY LEFT AND WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THAT ARPA MONEY, SO WE CAN HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT TOO.BUT FIRST, I'D LIKE TO GET FROM EACH OF YOU IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SEE ADDRESSED IN THE BUDGET AS A PRIORITY, SO WE CAN MAKE SURE TO TRY TO GET IT.
COMMISSIONER WEST MORTON, WE'LL START WITH YOU.
I WAS A LITTLE BIT CURIOUS TO SEE WHAT WE THOUGHT OUR PROJECTED TAX RATE WAS GOING TO DO JUST YET.
>> IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD, I'D SAY THAT.
>> I DON'T WANT TO PUT A WISH LIST TOGETHER THAT'S NOT FEASIBLE BY ANY STRAP.
>. WELL, PLEASE DO. HERE'S THE DEAL..
RIGHT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO DROP.
AS IT ALWAYS IS THIS TIME OF YEAR TOTAL GUESS.
RIGHT NOW, WE'RE SITTING AT ABOUT 0.4666 PENNIES.
AS ALWAYS, IT'S THE WAY WE HAVE TO CALCULATE TAXES.
WE CAN'T RAISE MORE MONEY ON PROPERTY FROM LAST YEAR THIS YEAR, SO IF THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE/APPRAISAL DISTRICT GOES UP 15%, THE BUDGET RATE CORRESPONDING GOES DOWN, AND THEN YOU CAN TAKE THAT NEW RATE TO TAX ANY NEW PROPERTY.
BUT IMS COMES OUT OF THAT AND ALL SORTS OF OTHER THINGS COME OUT OF THAT, AND WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE [OVERLAPPING].
AT THIS POINT, IT'S JUST A GUESS.
BUT SIX PENNIES TRANSLATES TO ABOUT ONE HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
THAT'S ALL WE HAD EXTRA LAST YEAR.
WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THE SAME REVENUES THIS YEAR AS WE HAD LAST YEAR.
BUT, HAVING SAID ALL THAT, GOING THROUGH OUR IMS AND AFTER LOOKING AT THE AUDITORS NUMBERS, WE MIGHT BE BETTER OFF THAN I THINK WE ARE.
I'D STILL LIKE TO GET YOUR PRIORITIES, SO THAT IF WE DO FIND THAT WE HAVE EXTRA FUNDS, WE CAN START INCORPORATING SOME OF THOSE PRIORITIES INTO THE BUDGET.
>> ACTUALLY, I THINK NORMALLY THIS ITEM PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN SECOND ON MY LIST.
BUT AS OF LATE, THAT MEANS THE LAST 5-6 MONTHS, THE AMOUNT OF QUESTIONS OR REQUESTS THAT I'VE HAD TO FIELD AS FAR AS OUR PAVING SCHEDULE FOR ROADS HAS INCREASED.
I GUESS NOT SURPRISINGLY AS WE HAVE POPULATION INFLUX AND PEOPLE ARE WONDERING WHAT THAT SCHEDULE LOOKS LIKE.
THAT INVESTMENT IN THAT AREA IS PROBABLY WHERE I'M AT AS FAR AS TOP OF THE LIST, SO TO SPEAK.
INVESTMENT THAT WE NEED TO MAKE AS FAR AS OUR DEVELOPMENT SERVICES GROUP TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE ASSISTANCE THAT THEY NEED CASEY'S GROUP TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN HANDLE THE VOLUME THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS AND IS GROWING. I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
>> HE HE SUMMED IT UP PRETTY GOOD.
MY BIGGEST CONCERN WAS THE PAVING.
I HAVE THE MOST COUNTY OR THE BIGGEST, I GUESS, GRAVEL ROADS IN THE PRECINCT.
BUT NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN HITTING IT PRETTY HARD, SO IT'S COME DOWN. THAT'S ALL I HAVE.
>> DONALD HANDED US A LITTLE REPORT RIGHT NOW.
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, WE HAD WAY MORE GRAVEL ROADS AND WE HAD PAVED, AND NOW WE'RE SITTING AT ASPHALT ROADS AT 279.555 MILES OF PAVED AND GRAVEL IS MORE THAN 51.374, AND DONALD SHARED WITH ME THAT WE MAY GET AS MUCH DEPENDING ON WEATHER AND OTHER THING IS FROM 30 AND 50 MILES OR SO DONE THIS SUMMER.
HE'S GOT THEM SCHEDULED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY.
PRECINCT 4 ACTUALLY HAS MOST PAVED ROADS, PRECINCT 2 HAS THE LEAST PAVED ROADS.
I DEFINITELY FEEL EVERYBODY'S DESIRE TO GET ROADS PAVED, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, MINE WILL PROBABLY BE LAST FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
I AGREE THOUGH THAT THAT THOSE TWO THINGS WOULD BE MY PRIORITY AS WELL,
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GOING INTO THIS YEAR. COMMISSIONER TARRIO.>> ROADS ALSO MAXIMIZING THE AMOUNT THAT WE CAN PART TOWARDS THAT AND THE PRIORITIES THAT WE DISCUSSED TO ADDRESS THE PERFECTION.
>> THE ROADS ALSO, BUT AS I TALKED TO DON, PRECINCT 4 HIT THE MOST AND WE'LL GET THEM TAKEN CARE OF.
ALSO, I SPOKE WITH YOU ABOUT PRECINCT 4 WAS ASKING FOR ASSISTANT IN ANOTHER EMPLOYEE, BUT I NEED TO TALK TO HER ABOUT SEEING WHAT THEIR VALUE.
>> I'LL BE LOOKING AT THAT JUST BY WAY OF MENTIONING IT.
TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS AND DEPARTMENT HEADS, BECAUSE MONEY IS SO TIGHT, THIS YEAR JUST DON'T COME IN AND SAY, "I WANT, ".
BECAUSE IF YOU SAY I WANT WITHOUT DATA, YOU'RE GOING TO GET A NO.
I'LL JUST TELL YOU THAT RIGHT NOW.
IF YOU WANT OR YOU NEED, YOU NEED TO COME IN WITH SOME DATA TO BACK IT UP.
BECAUSE MONEY IS GOING TO BE EXTREMELY TIGHT.
IF YOU'RE, FOR INSTANCE, WANTED TO ADD ANOTHER EMPLOYEE, THEN I'M GOING TO WANT TO SEE THAT YOU'VE HAD A BIG WORK VOLUME INCREASE.
IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD A BIG WORK VOLUME INCREASE, WE'RE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
WHEN YOU COME INTO THE BUDGET MEETINGS, WHICH WILL BE STARTING SHORTLY, PLEASE, IF YOU'RE NEEDING SOMETHING, MAKE SURE YOU GOT SOME DATA TO BACK IT UP.
>> THIS ISN'T RELATED TO THE WISH LIST, JUDGE, BUT JUST TO THE REST OF THE COURT KNOWS, WE SHOULD BE RECEIVING OUR ESTIMATE FOR OUR HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE.
THAT SHOULD COME OUT THIS WEEK.
WHEN WE HAD OUR MID YEAR REVIEW, WHICH YOU WERE IN THAT MEETING, JUDGE, THE NUMBERS AT THAT POINT, WE'RE LOOKING FAVORABLE AS FAR AS OUR CLAIMS HISTORY.
SO WE DON'T ANTICIPATE A LARGE NUMBER PER SE, BUT WE SHOULD KNOW THAT NUMBER SHOULD COME INTO CLARITY THIS WEEK AT THIS POINT.
SOON AS WE HAVE THAT, WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE FIRM IDEA OF WHAT THAT NUMBER OF BUDGET-WISE WILL LOOK LIKE.
>> THAT SOUNDS GOOD. ONE OTHER THING I WANT TO TOSS OUT AND I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS WITH DANNY AND THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE IS MOVING FROM A FLAT RAISED PROGRAM TO A MERIT BASED PROGRAM WHERE WE DO REVIEWS AND EACH DEPARTMENT WILL GET A SUM OF MONEY, AND THEN, BASED ON EMPLOYEE REVIEWS, YOU'LL AS A DEPARTMENT HEAD OR ELECTED OFFICIAL HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY WITH THOSE RAISES.
I HAVE FELT THIS WAY SINCE I TOOK OFFICE THAT IT'S NOT FAIR FOR SOMEBODY THAT SHOULDERS ABOVE AND BEYOND AMOUNT OF WORK, TO GET THE SAME RAISE AS SOMEBODY THAT JUST BARELY DOES ENOUGH TO STAY EMPLOYED.
AND SO WE'LL TALK IT, WE WON'T JUST THROW YOU TO THE WOLVES WITH THIS.
WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME DOCUMENTATION TO USE AND SOME IDEAS OF HOW TO SET GOALS, AND SOME TRAINING, SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE, WE'RE ALL DOING IT THE SAME WAY.
OBVIOUSLY, THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT HAS TO GO THROUGH THE COURT AND BE APPROVED BY YOU GUYS, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO START MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION.
ARPA, HOW MUCH DO WE HAVE THAT'S NOT ALLOCATED?
>> RIGHT NOW, WITH THE COMMUNITY SERVICE FOUNDATION, THAT'S ALL SPENT, VETERANS ASSISTANCE, THAT'S ALL ALLOCATED FOR 100,000, CORELOGIC, THAT IS PRETTY MUCH ALL SPENT UP, AND THEN WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, [INAUDIBLE] THAT'S GOING TO BE ALL USED.
BUT YOUR BROADBAND RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE SITTING AT ABOUT 1,059,000 REMAINING.
I KNOW THAT YOU HAD TALKED ABOUT MAYBE RE-ALLOCATING UNIT ROADS ALREADY EARMARKED, AND THEN YOU HAVE LOST REVENUE CLOSE TO 40,000.
IT'S 39,841. THEN I'M NOT SURE, I KNOW THAT YOU'RE STILL DEALING WITH THE LCRA RADIO SYSTEM.
YOU WERE APPROVED FOR 3.7 MILLION THERE, AND YOUR REMAINING BALANCE IS 2.8 MILLION.
>> WE MAY GO OVER LIKE 100,000.
I'M NOT SURE BECAUSE IN ORDER TO GET OUR PERMIT,
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THE CITY OF LOCKHART WAS KIND ENOUGH TO MAKE US PUT A BEACON ON TOP OF THE TOWER THAT DOESN'T NEED A BEACON.THAT WAS A CHUNK, AND THEN THERE ARE A COUPLE OF OTHER ITEMS JUST DUE TO INFLATION SINCE WE STARTED THIS THAT HAVE GONE UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT I THINK WE'LL COME REALLY CLOSE TO THAT.
I THINK WE COULD CALL IT PROBABLY PRETTY SAFE, 900,000 AND SOME CHANGE THAT WE NEED.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TODAY AND THERE ARE CATEGORIES THAT WE CAN DO IT WITH, BUT ROAD IMPROVEMENTS ARE SOME OF THOSE CATEGORIES.
THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH IT, SO BE THINKING OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH THAT.
>> IT'S PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT MORE NOW.
THIS REPORT I DID WAS JUST AT THE BEGINNING OF MARCH, AND WE HAD ALMOST $54,000 IN UNALLOCATED INTEREST, AND YOU CAN USE THAT AS WELL.
>> WE'RE NOT GOING TO NEED TO USE THAT.
WE HAD ORIGINALLY SET THAT A MILLION BUCKS ASIDE FOR BROADBAND, BUT THERE'S MONEY COMING DOWN THAT SPECIFICALLY FOR BROADBAND NOW, SO THAT'S THE MONEY I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS REALLOCATED SOME PROJECTS.
> IN THAT SAME VEIN, I KNOW YOU HAD SAID THAT WE'RE RESTRICTED NOW UNDER STATE LAW, UTILIZING CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT FOR BUILDING PROJECTS.
ARE THERE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BUDGET TO UTILIZE COS TO, I DON'T KNOW, FOR PAVING FOR EQUIPMENT FOR THOSE KIND OF THINGS THAT WOULD HELP US WHEN IT COMES TIME TO CALCULATING WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE IN COMPLIANCE ON THE FINAL END OF THE BUDGET ON THE TAX RATE?
>> YEAH. ADDING TO THE IMS WITH COS FOR EQUIPMENT AND THAT KIND OF THING.
I HAVE TO LOOK AT THE STATUTE BECAUSE IT'S CHANGED THE LAST TWO SESSIONS.
I KNOW WE CAN NO LONGER USE IT FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS LIKE BUILDINGS.
THERE WAS A COUNTY AND I'M NOT GOING TO SAY WHICH ONE IN HERE, BUT THERE WAS A COUNTY THAT WENT OUT FOR A BOND TO BUILD A BUILDING IS ONE OF THE BIG COUNTIES.
THE BOND DID NOT PASS AND THEN THEY ISSUED A CO FOR EVEN MORE MONEY THAN THE BOND AND BUILT THE BUILDING ANYWAY, WHICH HACKED OFF THEIR STATE REPRESENTATIVE.
[LAUGHTER] THAT'S WHY THAT IS THE WAY IT IS, IT'S HARD TO ARGUE WITH THAT.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT PRIVILEGE GOT ABUSED AND SO WE DON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE.
BUT I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT STATUTE TO SEE WHAT WE ARE AND ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE COS FOR, BUT YES.
IF THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO A CO WITH, IMS SUBTRACTS FROM THE MAGIC NUMBER THAT LOWERS THE RATE.
AS LONG AS WE DON'T GET IN A SITUATION WHERE WE CAN'T PAY OUR IMS THEN I THINK IT'S WORTH LOOKING AT DOING.
WE'RE ADDING A COUPLE OF MILLION DOLLAR THIS YEAR WITH THE [INAUDIBLE] TO DO THAT PROJECT AND LULING FROM THE WATER TOWER TO BASICALLY HOMETOWN MEAT MARKET, DOING A BIG LEFT HAND TURN LANE THERE FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING IN THERE, THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE IT.
THAT'S ONE PROJECT THAT WE ARE TAKING ON SOME DEBT FOR.
THINGS LIKE THAT KIND OF BE THINKING ABOUT, BUT WE'VE GOT A MILLION DOLLARS TO USE AND ALLOCATE TO DO SOME CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.
WE'LL HAVE SEVERAL MORE OF THESE WORKSHOPS, SO I JUST WANT YOU TO GET GOING WITH THAT BECAUSE WE DO NEED TO ALLOCATE IT SOON BECAUSE NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE TO ALLOCATE IT, BUT WE HAVE TO SPEND IT BY, WHAT'S THE DATE, AMBER?
>> BUT IF YOU, SAY, CHOOSE TO USE THAT FOR SOME ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT, BY THE TIME WE GET SCHEMATICS, AND RIGHT AWAY, AND ALL THE THINGS THAT GOBBLE UP THAT TIME.
IT SOUNDS LIKE A LONG TIME, BUT IT'S NOT.
ANYWAY, SO JUST BE THINKING ABOUT THAT COMMISSIONERS, I'LL PROBABLY GO AHEAD AND THROW ANOTHER ONE OF THESE ON FOR THE NEXT AGENDA SO THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET THAT ALLOCATED AND START MOVING FORWARD WITH WHATEVER WE DECIDE TO USE THAT MONEY FOR.
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>> IN BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, AMBER AND I WILL WORK TOGETHER AND GET YOU TO THE PENNY ON WHAT'S REMAINING.
>> PERFECT. ANYTHING ELSE, COMMISSIONERS?
>> JUST WITH THE WAY THE AUDIT WENT, YOU SAW HOW MUCH WE HAVE EXCESS WITH THE PENSION WITH TCDRS, SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT IT IN YOUR BRAINS THAT RIGHT NOW, THE EMPLOYER MATCH IS $1.75 TO EVERY DOLLAR FOR EVERY EMPLOYEE FOR THEIR RETIREMENT.
WE ARE ON THE LOWER END OF THAT FROM COUNTIES SURROUNDING US.
A LOT OF THEM RANGE BETWEEN TWO DOLLARS TO $2.25 ALL THE WAY UP TO THREE DOLLAR MATCH, SO THAT IS SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.
WE DEFINITELY HAVE ROOM FOR IT.
>> COULD YOU GET US, BECAUSE I WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT WHEN SHE SAID THAT, BECAUSE 70 IS CONSIDERED GOOD AND WE GOT 31% ABOVE THAT THAT WE COULD PASS ON TO EMPLOYEES THAT STAY WITH US AS A BENEFIT.
COULD YOU GIVE US THAT DOLLAR EQUATES TO?
>> THAT'D BE GREAT. ANYTHING ELSE? NOW I LOOK FOR A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
>> WE HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN FROM COMMISSIONER THOMAS. SECOND?
>> OPPOSED? HEARING NONE, WE'RE ADJOURNED AT 11:10.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.