County Finalizes Budget; Sets Tax Rate
At a special meeting Sept. 16, the Glasscock County Commissioners' Court adopted a 2002-2003 budget which projects income of $2.3 million and expenses of $2.5 million. The county ended its fiscal year with reserves of $290,000, down $3,000 from the previous year, according to County Treasurer Alan Dierschke.
The tax rate was set at .52588 for maintenance and operation plus an additional .05 for debt on the community center, for a total of .57588 per $100 valuation.
In final work on the new budget, the court set aside $40,000 for courthouse repairs and upkeep, anticipating the possibility of having to pay for a new roof. The court removed $13,000 from the county clerk's budget, deciding instead to use funds from the clerk's state-mandated records management fee to pay for that office's microfilming. That special fund currently holds $37,000.
This earmarked fund comes from a $5 fee charged for each document recorded in the clerk’s office and must be used only for record keeping. County Clerk Rebecca Batla said it had taken several years to build the fund to its present level, and she had planned to use it in a future document imaging program that would make recorded documents computer accessible. She said this type of imaging will ultimately be required and will be very expensive to implement.
No pay raises for county employees were included in the new budget. The court budgeted $17,000 for operation of the community center.