County Lowers Tax Rate; Raises Salaries
The Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court on Sept. 12 approved a 2005-2006 budget, which raises most salaries and lowers the tax rate. The tax rate will be .410636 cents per $100 valuation for maintenance and operation plus .001690 for the debt on the community center, for a total of .412326 per $100. While the new rate is a decrease of 11.66 cents, it will generate $ $205,466 more in revenues than last year, largely because of increased valuations of oil and gas properties. The effective rate, necessary to raise the same maintenance and operation revenue as last year, was .380254, according to Valeria Hoelscher in the tax office. The county’s taxable value for 2005 was approximately $549 million, up $121 million from 2004.
The maintenance and operation budget estimates approximately $2,609,000 in income and $2,663,000 in expenses.
Road Equipment Budget Decreased
While voting for the new tax rate, Commissioner Marck Schafer said several times that he thinks the county needs to build its reserves, and suggested the move of $25,000 from the road crew’s equipment budget to the miscellaneous fund.
Most county employees were given a $600 per year salary increase, and a few were given more. At an Aug. 17 meeting, Schafer recommended that County Treasurer Alan Dierschke be given a raise which would have placed his salary at or near the level of
the county/district clerk’s, since their positions are comparable. Later, Schafer recommended lowering by $2,700 the salary paid Dierschke for his job as Garden City Water System Administrator. Schafer said he thought $6,000 was too much for that job now, and Dierschke agreed. So, for the new fiscal year, Dierschke will make $29,900 as county treasurer and $3,300 as water system administrator.
County/District Clerk Becky Batla will make $30,500, both she and deputy clerk Susie Hillger getting an additional $600 per year increase (Hillger to $26,300) for taking on the job of running the county’s elections. Wanda Forbis previously did that job at a cost to the county of $4,300 per year. Half the increase for voting responsibilities was taken from the clerk’s part-time help budget. Batla had asked for $1,200 each for herself and Hillger for the additional voting work.
In a last-minute change, the court agreed to Sheriff Royce Pruit’s request for additional monies for three of his staff. Deputies Ken Zunker and Keith Burnett will each make $30,800 and Nancy Hillger will be paid $24,800, representing a $1,200 increase for each.
County Judge Wilburn Bednar will make $25,020, plus a $15,000 supplement from the state. He also is paid $1,200 as the county’s Homeland Security Administrator. Justice of the Peace Marilee Jost will make $18,000 plus $7,800 as the judge’s secretary. County commissioners will make $21,600, constable Mark Frysak will make $9,000 and courthouse custodian Diane Havlak will make $19,600. The raises did not apply to Extension personnel nor to their secretary. County Extension Agent Charlene Belew will be paid $14,500 in county funds, and a new extension agent for agriculture, when hired, will be paid $12,000 and have use of a county pickup.
The court also approved raises for part-time employees Jose Rosa Jr. and Jesse Lewis Overton from $9.50 per hour to $12.00 per hour, both raises recommended by Schafer. County Attorney Hardy Wilkerson asked for and was given, a $900 raise to $3,000, his secretary was raised to $150 and his special investigator was given a $180 raise to $1,500, both those less than Wilkerson requested.
The court also approved the Garden City Water System’s new budget, with manager Jim Havlak being paid $17,400.