News

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

As Hurricane Harvey made landfall between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor Friday, Aug. 25, it was almost 12 years to the day that a whole congregation began its exodus from New Orleans, La. to find a home at last in Burnet County.

“We know what they are facing and we dedicated a portion of the service yesterday to prayer for them,” Claudette Monnet, who shares pastoral duties with her husband Willie L. Monnet, Sr., at Smoking for Jesus Ministry. “We will continue to pray for them.

“We have been checking on people we know and waiting to hear if anyone needs us.”

That is the measure county emergency personnel have been taking.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

The City of Horseshoe Bay will hold the first of two public hearings on a proposed 2017 tax rate this Tuesday, Aug. 29, during their regular City Council meeting in the City Council Chambers, 1 Community Drive, Horseshoe Bay.

The Horseshoe Bay City Council is proposing the same tax rate for 2017 as it had in 2016 at 26 cents per $100 valuation. This includes a maintenance and operations (M&O) rate of 22 cents per $100 valuation and an interest and sinking (I&S or debt service) rate of 4 cents per $100 valuation.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council forged ahead on financial planning at a meeting Thursday, Aug. 24, despite unresolved differences on fire serve contracts.

The council held its first public hearings on a proposed budget of $7,568,765 budget, with ad valorem tax revenue based on a proposed rate of $0.56313 per $100 valuation.

The fund balance at the end of the 2017-2018 fiscal year is projected to increase by $48,367, bringing the total to $710,689.

“That is approximately 79 days of operation,” said Finance Director Wendy Gholson. “Our goal is a surplus of 90 days.”

Gholson said increasing the tax rate from $0.5472 per $100 value to the proposed $0.56313, based on the increase of property value in the city, should result in an additional $154,196 revenue.

By Richard Zowie

The Highlander

A new tax rate that Marble Falls High School board approved at an Aug. 21 meeting will be the lowest rate the district has paid in several years.

The trustees also approved renovations to the Mustang baseball field, which should be completed in time for the 2018 baseball season.

2017-2018 tax rate adoption

Lisa LeMon, MFISD executive director of finance, presented to the trustees tax rate approvals for the 2017-2018 school year.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

In another lengthy Granite Shoals City Council Meeting Tuesday, Aug. 22, the council and Burnet County Emergency Service District 3 (ESD #3) remained at loggerheads over a contract for fire coverage.

The two had moved closer but, to finance in one year, three additional firefighters for 24/7, two-man coverage, a proposal for a five-year contract from the ESD #3 falls short of the budget the city has planned. So, the debate continues and the council has sent City Manager Ken Nickel and Finance Director Wendy Gholson back to the drawing board for an even more detailed set of options to be presented at the first formal public hearing on the budget tonight, Thursday, Aug. 24.

A dead skunk found in Meadowlakes earlier this week by the city's animal control officer tested positive for rabies, the city has reported.

Animal control impounded and submitted two dead skunks, found in separate areas of Meadowlakes, for rabies testing. One tested positive while the other did not. There was no known contact with the rabid skunk.

Should a resident find a wild animal acting out of the ordinary, do not approach it. Instead, please call the Meadowlakes Animal Control at 877-816-8136. Residents are encouraged to be cautious when outdoors, and remember to always vaccinate pets!

For more information about rabies, contact the Texas Department of State Health Services Zoonosis Control Program at 254-778-6744.

This is not the first time this year a rabid skunk was found in Meadowlakes. A similar alert was made in January after a rabid skunk was found on Jan. 20.

Rather than planning one more pre-school trip to the Gulf Coast, Highland Lakes residents were tracking path of Hurricane Harvey.

The storm was elevated from Tropical Depression status Thursday, Aug. 24, expected to make landfall late Friday in between Corpus Cristi and Matagorda Bay as a Category 3 storm, with winds exceeding 110 mph, according to the National Weather Service (NWS)--the firs of that kind since Hurricane Ike in October of 2005.

It prompted the first Storm Surge Warning ever issued officially by the National Weather Service—one in effect along the Texas coast from Port Mansfield to High Island. A Storm Surge Watch is in effect from south of Port Mansfield Texas to the Mouth of the Rio Grande.

The Marble Falls Mustang Band is one of only two Texas high school marching bands performing here at the 2017 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. Their Concert in the Park Aug. 25 will introduce a new season of musical performance.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

When the Marble Falls High School Mustang Band marched in the National Memorial Day Parade on in Washington, D.C., they one of just two bands invited to represent the State of Texas.

Now, fans back home have a chance to hear what makes them a top band and to help send them on their next great musical adventure.

The MFHS Band Concert in the Park on Friday, Aug. 25, will preview their new fall show.

“The concert will be the first outlet of their new show, 'Music from the Heart,'” said Barb Shafer, president of the MFHS Band Boosters. “I have been watching them every day and I expect this show to go to state.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Public hearings Tuesday, Aug. 15, unveiled a final proposed budget based on a tax rate slightly lower than the effective rate and including proposed utility fee increases lower than anticipated for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 in the City of Marble Falls.

Finance Director Margie Cardenas presented a budget for programs and services of $32 million with general fund expenditures of $10.404 million.

According to the council decision Aug. 1, Cardenas and her staff based the budget on an ad valorem tax rate of .6340, or 63.4 cents per $100,000, lower than the current rate of .6483. Nonetheless, the rate will apply to a certified tax valuation that has risen about eight percent to $726 million for an increase.