After Public Outcry, County Shaves Some Items from New Budget to Trim Taxes
Taxpayers spoke and the Commissioner Court listened at the Fayette County Courthouse last Thursday.
Five citizens addressed the Court during a public hearing over next year’s County budget during the Aug. 27 meeting. All five urged the Commissioners to lower the property tax rate they had proposed on Aug. 14, which was $0.44439 per $100 of taxable value.
Jeremiah Wannermark asked the court to consider increasing employee contributions for dependent healthcare coverage as a way of cutting costs.
“In the private sector, some companies take on that new cost of providing subsidized healthcare for the employees completely,” Wannermark said. “Sometimes they split it 50/50. But I think on average, they are passing a large portion of the burden on to the end receiver of the healthcare. And I think it would be fair if our staff could join us in that heartache.”
Another citizen, Jeremy Janda, spoke about his experience in dealing with the County’s permitting office. He said it was much easier to complete a construction project here than it was for a similar project he undertook in Bastrop County. He then urged the Court to keep Fayette County affordable for future generations.
“My experiences of being a 5th generation Fayette County resident is that it’s been a place that I want to see my children grow up in and my grandchildren grow up in,” Janda said. “And the way that we’re able to do that is by keeping the county affordable … I would encourage you to make sure that we don’t get out over our skis and try to start emulating what some other counties are doing.”
Joe Jameson urged the Court to look at ways to save money on employee healthcare coverage.
“I don’t know what the options are on public sector healthcare insurance, but shop around,” Jameson said. “Because I know that those costs are hard to control.
Ken Dernehl asked the Court to consider ending the feral hog and coyote bounty program as a way to save money.
“Since 2018, including the proposed 2027 budget, $432,000 will have been budgeted for this program,” Dernehl said. “It is my opinion that the time has come to end the use of taxpayer dollars for this endeavor for the following reasons: there is no way to determine where these hogs or coyotes are taken. It is strictly an honor system that cannot be verified. This is a private landowner issue. If a person is having a coyote or feral hog program, do you really believe they will stop controlling them simply because there’s no bounty?”
William Bernsen warned of a possible economic decline coupled with a rising tax burden for citizens.
“This would be the 5th year in a row with a maximum tax increase, and this is just not a good year for this,” Bernsen said. “I would ask the court to reach down deep and find ways to cut this budget.”
Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann also read comments he received from a couple of his constituents, Jeff and Patsy Parker. The Parkers asked the Court for cuts in the budget to ease the burden on taxpayers. They suggested more modest raises for employee wages and retirement benefits than what the Commissioners had proposed. The Parkers noted that the County has awarded raises for many consecutive years.
“We in the private sector have not enjoyed anything like that degree of salary increase, and we’re all paying the higher insurance costs, fuel costs, etc., that county employees face,” the Parkers wrote.
After hearing the citizens speak, Pct. 2 Commissioner Clint Sternadel proposed cuts that would reduce the property tax rate by about one cent, to $0.43439 per $100.
Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom proposed even deeper cuts that could have shaved two cents off the rate.
Some of the cuts included two vehicle purchases for the Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Keith Korenek said he could purchase those vehicles using forfeiture funds instead of tax dollars. The Court also reduced funding for indigent healthcare to the minimum amount required by state law. That freed up $300,000 in the general fund budget. Fayette County EMS requested a bank of extra radios that could be used by outside agencies, such as law enforcement officers or medics who come to Fayette County for major events or disasters. EMS agreed to forego that purchase this year, which freed up another roughly $65,000 in the budget. The cuts also included $80,000 that was budgeted toward a future ambulance purchase.
In previous budget discussions, the Court had considered raising the County’s employee retirement match from 175 percent to 200 percent. At Thursday’s meeting, they contemplated a lesser increase, possibly 185 percent. It wasn’t immediately clear how much savings that would provide in next year’s budget.
The County Auditor’s Office will calculate the difference, along with the other cuts proposed last Thursday, and present that information to the Court at their next meeting, which is set for this Wednesday, Sept. 2.