By Jerry Beck
On September 7, the focus of the Medina County Commissioners Court session was on Employee raises, the Tax Rate and the 2023-24 Budget.
The current tax rate for Medina County is $0.4743 per $100 evaluation. The rate that was approved was $0.4356 per $100 evaluation.
Although the Tax Rate was lowered, the tax money received by the County increased over $2,271,000.
Of that amount, approximately $1,000,000 is considered “new money”. The increase in Appraisals and new homes and businesses accounted for this additional money.
The proposed $69,084,042 Budget was approved for Fiscal Year 2023-24.
The State passed Senate Bill 22 which provides Counties additional funding for the Sheriff’s Office and the DA’s office to be applied to employee salaries. The amount of funding is based on population and the activities carried out within these Departments.
The Sheriff’s Office is to receive $500,000 to be distributed among all employees except the Sheriff. The District Attorney’s Office will receive around $275,000 for their staff. This is a well deserved and welcomed shot in the arm to these two branches of County Government but, there is a possibility that this will become an Unfunded Mandate in the future, making it mandatory that the County come up with these funds.
The Court approved several items related to subdivisions located in other parts of the County, Accepted ESD Financial Reports and approved the Special Road Tax for Pct. 2.