County Discusses Splitting Sheriff/Tax Assessor Jobs
Glasscock County commissioners discussed the possibility of splitting the sheriff’s and tax assessor-collector’s jobs at a special meeting May 7. Although the meeting was not called for that purpose, commissioners asked County Judge Wilburn Bednar to ask if Sheriff Royce Pruit intends to retire after this term, and whether he would be in favor of the job separation. Bednar reported at the regular commissioners’ meeting May 14 that Pruit has no set date in mind for retirement, and would not favor splitting the jobs, since he could not be the county’s chief appraiser if he is not the tax assessor.
Separating the jobs would have to be passed by voters in an election, and commissioners said they wanted to be prepared to consider a change if Pruit decided to retire. However, Commissioner Marck Schafer said that since the two jobs have been combined for so long, he sees no necessity for changing right now. Bednar said, since Pruit opposes the change, he would not favor it right now, but that the county needs to be prepared to consider it later.
Bank Depository Bids May 21
Bids for the county’s depository bank will be taken at a meeting May 21. One bid, from the Glasscock County Bank, was available at the May 14 meeting, since that was the advertised date for bids, but the bid was not opened and no action taken, since the item was not on the court’s May 14 agenda.
County Treasurer Alan Dierschke said state law requires that the depository be a bank in the county, if there is a bank in the county, but the county’s investment bank may be elsewhere.
According to Dierschke’s quarterly investment report, during the last quarter (October – December 2006), the county’s invested monies in the Glasscock County Bank averaged $879,758 and drew an average of 4.70 percent interest. During that same period, county funds averaging $176,993 were invested in TexPool, and averaged 5.28 percent interest.
The county currently has $2,370,000 in the local bank, Dierschke said. Commissioner Jimmy Strube said some area banks are now paying up to six percent for six-month certificates of deposit. According to Roger Williams, the local bank pays the county the13-week T-bill ask (discount) rate minus .25 basis points (one-quarter percent). If the T-bill rate is 4.5 percent, the bank pays 4.25 percent.
A jail report from Deputy Keith Burnett for April showed 19 inmates held for a total of 191 days at $36.50 per day. Payment to the county will amount to $6,972.
In other matters, the commissioners: approved expenses for Tommy Hoelscher, Christy Seidenberger, Mark Frysak and Galen Schwartz to attend EMS training in Ruidoso; briefly discussed water tower ladder safety, since the light atop the tower is not working; hired Colby Hirt as a summer mower driver for the south portion of the county at $9.50 per hour, as per current part-time pay policy.