Water District Raises Salaries
The Glasscock Underground Water Conservation District Board of Directors, with manager Rick Harston absent, agreed to a raise for both employees at its meeting Aug. 17. Harston will get a $1,200 raise to $36,200 and secretary Donnita Coats will be awarded a $2,500 increase, taking her salary to $21,500. The increases will be effective Jan. 1, 2005. Medical insurance rate increases will cost the district $21 more per month for employee premiums, which will total $845 per month. Salaries and benefits cost the district about $72,000 annually, 53 percent of its total budget.
At a Sept.14 meeting (Dennis Seidenberger and Mike Hughes absent), after a public hearing which no one from the public attended, the board approved a 2004-2005 tax rate of .031107 per $100 valuation, three percent above the effective rate, but lower than last year’s rate of .034806. The effective rate is the rate necessary to raise the same funds as last year.
The board also adopted a budget of $136,000 in revenue and $137,000 in expenditures on Sept 14. The shortage, if there is one at the end of the fiscal year, will be taken from the district’s reserves, which are now approximately $159,000.The board had informally agreed to both the tax rate and the budget at its Aug. 17 meeting.
Board president Kenneth Braden said the board should not make the mistake of letting the tax rate go too low. He said at times in the past, that mistake was made, only to have a greater increase later.