County Employees to Get Raises
At its meeting Sept. 8, the Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court indicated that it will add $600 per year to the salaries of all the county’s full-time employees and elected officials (27 people in total). The salary increase will cost the county a total of $19,300 including benefits, according to County Treasurer Alan Dierschke.
The court is required to publish public notice of its intention to raise elected officials’ salaries at least 10 days prior to doing so. Therefore, the court will meet Sept. 19 to adopt the official budget and to set the tax rate. The budget will likely project $2.3 million in revenues and expenses of $2.6 million. The tax rate will probably be increased three percent and set at .59252 (including a 5-cent bond tax).
After hearing a report from Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Burnett, the court added $8,000 to the sheriff’s department’s equipment budget to provide $14,000 for two video cameras to be used in patrol cars. Burnett said the state now requires that the department check for racial profiling, and without the cameras, there must be daily written reports of each traffic stop. He said grant money had been available for the cameras, but it was not applied for soon enough to qualify.
Sheriff’s Department Car Postponed
The court removed $26,000 for a new car from the sheriff’s department budget, deciding to postpone purchase of that vehicle for a year, putting it into a four-year rotation with two other sheriff’s vehicles and the agriculture extension agent’s pickup. The budget contains $30,000 for a new pickup for ag agent Steve Sturtz.
The total budget for road crew salaries now stands at $301,000, plus benefits and taxes of $63,000. There are nine full-time and four part-time road crew employees, compared to thirteen full-time and two part-time five years ago, according to Dierschke.
John Kinnibrugh, on behalf of the volunteer fire department, asked the court for $6,500 for a pump and motor, plus the cost of sandblasting and seal coating the tank of a 5-ton tanker truck donated by the Forest Service several years ago. Kinnibrugh said this would complete the necessary work on the truck, which would then be ready for service. He said he missed a deadline for spending a grant that the department had obtained, but said he would reapply for that grant and for others as well.
Agent’s Old Pickup May Become Rescue Vehicle
Kinnibrugh also asked the court to donate the used, 4–door, ag agent’s pickup to the fire department to be made into a rescue vehicle, which the county doesn’t have at this time. The high mileage on the pickup wouldn’t matter, he said, since as a rescue vehicle, it would only be used a few times each year, and then for short distances. He said such a vehicle would be used to transport both personnel and the “jaws of life” equipment to assist EMS volunteers at serious accidents.
The pickup could later be rigged with a self-contained “slip-in unit” consisting of pump, motor, water tank and hoses that would enable the rescue vehicle to assist with fires that might break out at accidents, he said, as well as small grass fires along roadways. The court subsequently increased the fire department’s equipment budget to $7,500, but made no decision regarding the used pickup.
County Judge Wilburn Bednar reported that the county’s emergency medical service has been awarded a $10,400 Homeland Security grant. There is no word as yet regarding how the money will be spent.
Suit Against Oil Companies Considered
The county commissioners discussed whether to follow the lead of Midland and Ector counties in suing several oil companies for allegedly under-reporting the market value of oil between 1987 and 1998, thereby reducing its taxable value and causing the counties to lose tax revenue. The court agreed that the matter should be explored, but that County Tax Appraiser Royce “Booger” Pruit and the Austin-based appraisal company (Capital Appraisals), which the county hires, should make a recommendation. According to County Judge Wilburn Bednar, Pruit has been in touch with the appraisal company, which was not aware of the suits. Bednar said the matter will be on the court’s next agenda.
The court voted to allow Justice of the Peace Marilee Jost to charge an optional $4 technology fee as provided by the state legislature. The funds would be earmarked for technology expenses in the JP’s office.
Community Center Problems Discussed
Steve Sturtz and Warren Multer reported their respective extension service activities to the court, and Sturtz reported on the Texas Railroad Commission’s inspection of the Community Center, which he said showed only minor infractions. Those involved a small propane leak outside and improper tagging of gas heaters, which were installed by a now-defunct company. He said Wayne Cypert may inspect and tag the heaters, charging the building contractor to do so.
Sturtz reported problems with the floor of the “livestock holding area” of the Community Center being too slick. He said rubberized materials used as floor coverings have not worked well. He said some livestock have fallen and been injured, and the county livestock association wants to find a way to remedy the problem without making the floor hard to clean.
Once again, there was no word from roofer Kirby Hartmann and no action was taken regarding a new courthouse roof, but the court left last year’s $40,000 in the new budget for that purpose.
The court approved a committee to look into a new fence at the Garden City Cemetery. The committee, consisting of Joe Calverley (chair), Deanie Craft, James Cypert, Mark Halfmann, Betty Pate and Helen Wilkerson, will make recommendations to the commissioners’ court.
The court declined the request of a tool company to rent space in the Community Center for a discount tool sale, since it would cost the county more in utilities and labor than the $100 rental fee being paid.