By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. has recommended no change in the county’s property tax rate for the coming year.
Owens made his comments about the tax rate during the court’s most recent meeting on Aug. 14. Owens’ presentation of the proposed county property tax rate was among several items on the court’s agenda regarding the county’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget and property tax rate.
Owens told the court, “The (property) tax rate that we have right now is .4977. When we were doing this budget and trying to present a budget and get it done and filed, that was the number that we were trying to stay under or stay at, not go over.
“There’s been a lot on conversation, that when (the county) went out for a bond on the library, the citizens gave us three-point some odd cents, that we could raise the tax rate three-point some odd cents in order to be able to pay for the library.
“Commissioner Nettleton had been really vocal about make sure we give it back, make sure we give it back, and we’ve had conversations since I came in as judge, with all the members of the court. When we came in as county judge, our tax rate was at .523-something, so if you take that and take the tax rate that we have today, we’ve lowered the tax rate by 2.6-some odd cents since we came in, and I will tell you – and this is the conversation I had with Commissioner Nettleton yesterday – this court has been real conservative when it comes to our general fund and what we do and what we give back and trying to stick to what, trying to give back some money,” Owens added.
He said he had also looked at the county’s current debt, saying the court has borrowed about $20 million since 2019, starting with the purchase of the S.E. Ranch property.
“And even saying all that, this court, and not only the court, but our department heads, have been, and when you look at our fund balance, and here in a minute, in talking about the tax rate, the budget I’m going to file, and then it belongs to the court and the court can do whatever they want with it, but I’m at a $2.9 million deficit, rounded up, but as of right now, we’re at a $2.9 million deficit, and that money’s coming out of our fund balance, but even at that, we still have a little over $5 million in fund balance, which still leaves us with 77 to 80-odd days (of revenue to operate on).
“So, whatever happens, I just want to thank the court and thank the elected officials and department heads, because if it weren’t for them, taking care of the citizens’ money, in order to keep the same services, we would have to raise the tax rate, just to keep what we have,” Owens said.
Owens said he added $200,000 more to the county budget’s expense line item to pay for attorneys for indigent defendants.
“We also have another $160,000 in insurance, and we have a couple hundred thousand in utilities from this year to next year, we have $800,000-plus for raises and $100,000-plus for longevity pay for our employees, we’re setting aside $2.1 million to $2.2 million in capital expenditures, which are above the year that we’re in, and in order to function, I would hope that we could keep the same tax rate, because this court has done a really good job and we’ve already lowered the tax rate by 2.6 cents.
“This court still has to make a decision, if we lower the tax rate – and we’ve had this conversation – there’s only a couple of ways to balance a budget, and they’re pretty simple, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist: you lower expenses or you raise your income. It’s that simple.
“We have $355,000 in the budget, also, for work in Escondido Estates, to do that project. I don’t know if it’s going to be enough or not, but that’s the high number that we’ve heard so far from the city, and that number’s in here.
“I would hope that we could keep the tax rate at .4977 (per $100 of valuation). I will say again, and I will repeat myself again, but this court has done an amazing job, with the funds that we have when it comes to the general fund,” Owens said.
He once again praised the county’s other elected officials and department heads for working to live within their means.
He also praised County Auditor Matthew Weingardt and the county finance department for steering the county’s investments to earn higher interest rates.
“The $9 million we got from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act), that really helped, for us to buy equipment and do projects,” the county judge said.
Owens reiterated the budget he would file would include a proposed county property tax rate of .4977 per $100 of property valuation.
“That is the total overall tax rate for the general fund, road and bridge and debt service, and that is the same tax rate we had the previous year,” Owens said.
He then asked if the commissioners wanted to add anything.
County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton asked the county auditor about the no new revenue rate.
“Our no new revenue rate this year is .4827? So, we’re going to be .0150 above our no new revenue rate?” he asked.
“That’s correct,” Weingardt replied.
Nettleton said, “We have given back the taxpayers approximately 2.6 cents over the last several years. We also have issues with employees that are struggling. I’ve watched our employees having two jobs trying to make ends meet. If we’re going to keep the .4977 (tax rate), which I’m fine with, I would like to see us do something with our bottom end employees and move our starting (salaries) up a little higher, but we’ll look at that as our budget moves along.”
After additional discussion about the budget and the proposed tax rate, Nettleton asked if any money had been set aside in the budget for a new fire station.
“We set aside $980,000, and that’s probably going go up another $100,000. We’re going to visit Sept. 5 to see about getting grant money for the fire station, and Carlos is looking at another grant with the Department of Defense, and that will help get us started,” Owens replied.
Nettleton said, “There is a huge need for a fire station, which is why I think if we leave the tax rate at what you have it set at, and . . . at least we can get a fire station out of it.”
Owens said the county won’t do away with its fire station in Cienegas Terrace.
“I know that we’re having issues because of the distance from a fire station,” Owens said.
After the discussion, the court moved to its next agenda item, which was a vote on the proposed tax rate.
“I will make a motion that we set the tax rate at .4977, with the M&O (maintenance and operation) at .4296, and the interest and sinking at .0681 and the farm-to-market at .0178,” Nettleton said.
County Commissioner Pct. 1 Martin Wardlaw gave the second.
The court then unanimously approved the proposed rate.
The court then moved on to setting the date for a required public hearing on the tax rate on Wednesday, Aug. 28. The court also set a required public hearing on the proposed county budget for the same day.
The court also set a date for formal approval of the proposed tax rate and the proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget for Sept. 11.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
