budget

This story appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 6, edition of The Highlander. It prompted a letter to the editor on Thursday, Aug. 10, also found here on HighlanderNews.com and to be included in the Friday, Aug. 11, print edition of The Highlander.

By Phil Reynolds

The Highlander

Llano County commissioners got an earful Monday from county residents who want to keep the county jail open.

Commissioners held a budget workshop but part of that involved a study by Precinct One Commissioner Peter Jones on the feasibility of turning Llano County Jail prisoners over to Burnet County under a contract yet to be written.

Jones emphasized that he hasn’t finished the study. But he said preliminary numbers indicate that the county could save some $170,000 a year by sending inmates to the reginal jail in Burnet.

By Melissa Kanz

The Highlander

Horseshoe Bay residents will see a slight increase on their property taxes after city council members voted to increase the tax to offset utility costs. Members also approved the 2017 budget.

Increasing from $0.25 per $100 valuation to $0.26 per $100 valuation, the city is expected to use the funds exclusively for its rate stabilization fund, which will then be used to offset some of the utility increase.

“This is something council has been considering. The issue was what we have and what we need to balance the budget. It was inevitable that it could be greater,” Horseshoe Bay Mayor Steve Jordan said.

The increase comes after council members were advised there would be around 9 percent increase in utilities to include water and wastewater.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Ridgemont Village, a retirement community at 92 Gateway North, has been named recipient of the first annual Marble Falls Community Pride Award.

The award was first on the agenda of the Marble Falls City Council in a meeting Tuesday, Aug. 16, that included also the first public hearing on a budget and tax rate and an encouraging report on the city's relationship with Baylor Scott & White.

“I want to thank Ridgmont Village for taking part in this effort to enhance the appearanceof our community,” said Mayor John Packer in welcome to Scott and Gail Matthews, owners of the gated, hilltop development, and their manager Kelly Crane.

Crane introduced Adrian and Dee Guinn, saying “Dee was the one who read about the award in the newspaper and nominated us. The Guinns are representative of our residents who care about the place where they live.”

by Phil Reynolds
The Highlander
Llano County commissioners started the clock ticking on final approval of the 2016-2017 budget and tax rate Monday when they unanimously approved proposed figures for both.
They have 30 days from that vote to make the decision final. Public hearings on both the tax rate and the budget are scheduled for the regular commissioner meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at the justice of the peace courtroom in the Llano County Law Enforcement Center, 2001 N. Bessemer St. in Llano.
The proposed budget is $14,719,664, $253,231 more than the budget County Judge Mary Cunningham originally offered commissioners and $623,554 more than the current budget.
Most of the difference between the final proposal and Cunningham’s offer came in increases for law enforcement agencies, the judge said.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The Granite Shoals City Council on Tuesday night, Aug. 9, heard a review of a staff proposed budget and agreed to publish a tax rate they would not exceed: $0.5572 per $100 valuation.

That rate represents a sliver of an increase over the 2015 rate of $0.5207, just about three and a half cents per $100 valuation. But it falls below the rollback rate but above the effective rate, bringing in this year's ad valorem tax revenue to $2.4 million.

The hard decisions on a staff proposed budget of $6.76 million will be on the table at a budget workshop Monday, Aug. 15.

Development slowed in Granite Shoals last year over the previous six percent hike in property valuation. The 2.9 percent increase in valuation would add only $56,000 to revenue if the full 55.72 cents per $100 were instituted.

BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

The Meadowlakes City Council meets next on Aug. 16, but most of their hard end-of-year is done, with the budget hearing and tax rate adoption not set until Sept. 20.

In a special session on July 27, the council adopted a proposed ad valorem tax rate for 2016 of $0.3186 per $100 valuation. That is about six-tenths of a percent less than last year's tax rate.

In her digital newsletter to citizens, Mayor Mary Ann Reasoner compared that decision to a similar choice in Marble Falls to propose continuing their rate, scraping just under the effective rate.