Tax rate remains the same


Been an interesting weekend; three tenths of an inch of rain here and 32 inches at last count in Baytown, just on the east side of Houston (with more on the way). That’s where 1/4 of my kids and 1/3 of my grandkids are. More bad news than good outta the coastal areas but, you probly seen it all by now.
We approved the voting sites for the upcoming Election on November 7th. Early Voting sites will be open from October 23, 2017 to November 3, 2017 from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Our local Early Voting site will be the Medina County Annex across from Tractor Supply in Devine. Our local voting sites for Election Day (November 7, 2017) are the Medina County Annex and the Natalia First Baptist Church. Polls will be open that day from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
We also approved 11 contracts with various agencies so that our juvenile offenders will have someplace to go for confinement or counseling. After a coupla counseling sessions with Mr. Ciavarra or Mr. Barnhart or Mr. Moss, there was no need for further counseling. Sure costs a lot to raise someone elses kids nowadays. But, these folks bring them into this world and expect the system to raise them without any hands on discipline which is what they needed before being introduced to the Juvenile Probation office. Me and Lynette Drury (our Juvenile Probation Officer) go round and round bout this and she always closes with “if we can affect just one” and I gotta reluctantly agree.
Our Budget is nearing completion and our tax rate will remain the same as last year ($0.5517 per $100 valuation). It was said during last year’s Budget meetings that after a couple of years, we would revert back to the old rate once our reserves are built back up. Public Hearings on the proposed Tax Rate will be held on September 11th at 10:00 AM and September 14th at 6:00 PM at the Medina County Courthouse. More on the Proposed Tax Rate and the Effective Tax Rate later.
Due to an Attorney General’s Opinion, payroll must be approved prior to cutting paychecks for the County Employees so we are going to have several special Commissioners Court meetings in the next few weeks to make sure the employees are compensated in a timely manner. In October, we are going to have to move our meetings from Monday to Thursday to accommodate the ruling. In my opinion, the Attorney General oughta worry about more important issues and leave the trivial stuff alone.
No word yet on the Burn Ban whether it’s lifted or not and, as of this writing, outdoor burning is still prohibited. I don’t believe we got enough rain to justify lifting the Ban.
School is open! Volleyball and Football is in full swing so be sure to watch for kids and drivers and police officers that weren’t there last week.