[0:10] Amen.
>> And amen.
[0:14] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:20] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:26] justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I
pledge allegiance to thee, Texas. One
[0:33] state under God, one and indivisible.
Brother Rogers, thank you, sir, very
[0:38] much.
[0:42] » All right. Well, the time is 9:03. We do
have a quorum, so we will call this
[0:47] meeting to order. Are there any citizens
comments?
[0:51] We have received one. uh is asking to
speak during the time of which we
[0:58] discuss uh item number 11. So we will
hold that until that time. There any
[1:04] others? I will state that there were two
emails sent in wishing to um have their
[1:12] names on the record of being against.
That did not it does not follow our
[1:17] public participation policy of how to
come in because there is no address. But
[1:22] I will state the names. McKenzie Brown
and a Leanne Emery both um submitted
[1:29] emails
against the implementation of item 11.
[1:36] So at this time, are there any court
announcements?
[1:41] If not, we'll move to item one, which is
consider and take action on minutes of
[1:46] previously held meeting of
commissioner's court on August 25th,
[1:49] 2026 and also September 1, 2026.
Court will start with the August 25th
[1:57] minutes.
[2:02] Were there any additions, deletions, or
comments?
[2:07] And I believe these are the the
were corrected set sub submitted before
[2:13] court. Okay,
>> court.
[2:15] » We're going to make two motions.
>> We'll we'll do 25 and then we'll do a
[2:21] second motion for the next seven
minutes.
[2:24] » Hearing none. Judge, I move we approve
the commissioner court minutes for
[2:27] August 25th, 2026 as presented.
>> I second. Motion made by Commissioner
[2:32] Tulie and second by Commissioner Spivey
to approve the minutes of August 25th,
[2:36] 2026 as presented. Any further
discussion? All those in favor? Passes
[2:42] unanimously.
The second set of minutes is the
[2:46] September the 1st, 2026.
Are there any additions, deletions, or
[2:51] comments?
>> Hearing none, entertain a motion. Judge,
[2:56] I move we approve the commissioner's
court's minutes for September 1st, 2026
[3:01] as presented.
>> I'll second his motion.
[3:03] » Motion made by Commissioner Tulie and
second by Commissioner Spivey to approve
[3:07] the September 1st, 2026 minutes as
presented. Any further discussion?
[3:13] All those in favor. Passes unanimously.
[3:18] Item number two is consider and take
action on possible burn ban for
[3:23] Henderson County Court. 28 days ago, the
commissioner's court instituted a burn
[3:30] ban for again 28 days. Um, we have been
blessed with some rain in portions of
[3:37] the county.
As you can see on our information, the
[3:42] majority of the state is currently under
a burn ban. It looks like probably 85%
[3:49] 90% when you look at the Texas&M forest
service tree map. Um, the Keech Byum has
[3:57] not There he is. I'd like to ask our
fire marshall to come up.
[4:05] » Good morning, court.
>> Morning.
[4:08] » Morning.
>> So, I brought this which judge just
[4:11] showed you pretty much 207 counties are
still in a burn ban. Um, mentioned Keech
[4:16] Byum. I'll pull that up. So when we went
into a burn ban, our kee buy room was at
[4:22] uh 574.
Um we've had a little bit of rain, you
[4:26] know, since then, but we've also had
several days of heat and dry weather. So
[4:31] as of right now, as of this morning, our
key by room is at 657.
[4:36] So we're still almost 100 points above
when we actually went into a burn ban.
[4:42] So, we don't have any improvement since
we initiated the burn ban as far as
[4:47] numbers being lower.
[4:53] [snorts] So, yeah, that's still my
recommendation to to keep us in a burn
[4:56] band until we get uh get those numbers
down, get a significant amount of rain.
[5:02] » Court questions, discussion.
Um,
[5:08] since we don't see any rain, do you see
a stricter burn ban or when should we
[5:12] get into to that point?
>> Right now, I I did pull uh the call
[5:17] sheets which we had 181
fire calls total since we initiated the
[5:22] burn ban on the 11th. Um,
[clears throat]
[5:27] out of those calls, we had 18 that were
grass related. Either a structure that
[5:32] started grass or lightning strikes. uh
different things. Um kind of looking at
[5:39] to see if maybe welders or things like
that are causing these fires. We're not
[5:43] really seeing that right now. So, those
guys are being uh pretty careful, I
[5:47] imagine. Um did did see a couple of
welders out just driving around the
[5:52] county. Uh and they did have spotters,
so they were taking care of that. So, I
[5:56] don't see any any reason at this point
to to implement something of that nature
[6:01] to restrict them from from welding or
continuing to do their jobs.
[6:06] Um, at this time, I think we just
keep moving the way we're doing it with
[6:11] a burn ban that's in place. It seems to
be helping. Although you can't eliminate
[6:15] everything, uh, it does seem to be
helping.
[6:20] Well, it looks like the only part of the
county that's in the kind, you know, in
[6:25] the yellow is probably Brownsboro East.
>> Yes, sir.
[6:29] » Everything else is still in the orange
and and the red.
[6:34] So, like you said, our high number is uh
right now in the county, it's 775.
[6:40] » Yeah, our minimum number is at 450. So,
there is parts of the county that are
[6:43] that are doing a lot better.
uh other parts of the county are are
[6:48] still you know still need that moisture.
>> I had a call about some questions about
[6:54] maybe doing a commercial or agriculture
burns. Is there any way that we can go
[6:59] through and do that on the eastern side
of the county whether uh where we've had
[7:03] some adequate rain if they got the
equipment stuff and and you go out and
[7:08] and and look at it and see that they
have the means of keeping it under
[7:11] control and doing a commercial or
agriculture burn. So, I did do some
[7:15] research on that. Uh, the commissioner's
court is the only one since y'all have
[7:18] implemented the burn ban, y'all are the
only ones that have the authority to
[7:21] allow that. Now, if y'all send me out
there with some kind of order that says,
[7:26] "Hey, if it follows this criteria, if I
can create that criteria and meet it and
[7:31] then bring it to you guys as a court for
approval on that, but that's that's
[7:36] above me. Unfortunately, it's not
something I would have authority unless
[7:40] you guys gave me the authority from my
belief. And I could be incorrect on
[7:43] that, but
>> under our standard burn ban, it allows
[7:48] for um this order does not prohibit
outdoor burning activities related to
[7:54] public health and safety is authorized
by the Texas Commission on Environmental
[7:58] Equality for firefighter training,
public utility, text dot operations, gas
[8:04] natural gas pipeline, mining operations,
planting or harvesting of agricultural
[8:10] crops, or burns that are conducted by
prescribed burn managers certified under
[8:17] section 153.048
of the natural resources code. So, um I
[8:24] do believe that our burn ban does allow
under those um situations and in the
[8:31] past that has been a contact to the fire
marshall's office to get that u more or
[8:38] less um permit to proceed.
So, I guess with a filed appropriate
[8:45] paperwork, uh having a a license
prescribed burn, uh just filing that
[8:51] with me, then I can approve that based
off of y'all's uh layout.
[8:56] But I don't kind of my thought process
was can they come to me and and get a
[9:01] get a permit through me? And I believe
that I don't have the authority to just
[9:05] give an individual a burn permit. If
they have all the required documentation
[9:09] by the court, they could come bring it
to me and then I could authorize them to
[9:13] to burn
[9:23] » again. I I sounds like what what you
just read gives you the authority.
[9:28] That has been the standard practice on
these um is that if they have that
[9:35] permit and it appears to the fire
marshall to be you know all precautions
[9:42] are made and solely up to the statutory
authority in that and that's why we have
[9:48] we've used this standard burn ban for 20
years at least.
[9:54] So I believe that upon contact with the
fire marshall's office that it is
[10:00] » with the appropriate
>> licensing.
[10:04] » Again statutoily
you're making that determination. The
[10:08] court can't make that determination.
Okay.
[10:10] » We do have the ability for for that to
happen under these sections in law.
[10:26] Is anything further?
[10:31] Well, here's where we we can go another
28 days or we can go longer. The reason
[10:37] I keep bringing up the 28 days is so
that it falls specifically on
[10:42] commissioner's court day where we can
>> and at any point during the burn ban if
[10:47] we were to
>> hopefully
[10:50] get several inches of rain all over the
county, you can take the burn ban off to
[10:56] uh the jud the county judge can take the
burn ban on.
[11:00] » Yes, sir. That has been our practice for
these many years is that once um the
[11:07] ground moisture in the KDDI gets to a
certain level where it is then deemed
[11:15] safe or less dangerous. And with
concurrence with the fire marshall's
[11:20] office and getting their recommendation,
we have moved forward with lifting a
[11:24] burn band
before its expiration.
[11:29] » Usually in the first 28 days, we get 10
inches of rain.
[11:33] » I don't know what we're doing different
this year, but usually if we put burn
[11:37] on, we got it half right. All
>> right.
[11:39] » Then we'll put it that way.
>> Well, we're 100 points above when we put
[11:43] it on last year.
>> Mhm.
[11:46] » I mean last week, last month. Yeah,
absolutely.
[11:51] » This county has a um because of its
geography and how it is laid out, it's
[11:59] two counties wide running east to west.
And this isn't the first time that we've
[12:04] ended up with east west. Um
it's much drier on the west side than it
[12:10] is on the east side. And that that
follows form.
[12:16] So
>> court,
[12:20] » what will be the uh next court on 28th?
>> October the 6th.
[12:26] » Mhm. October 6th.
[12:33] Anything further? Entertain motion.
I'll make the motion to uh renew the
[12:41] burn ban until October the
>> 6th
[12:44] » 6th
>> for Henderson County.
[12:49] » Second
>> motion made by Commissioner McCam and
[12:51] second by Commissioner Tulie to continue
to impose a burn ban for another 28 days
[12:57] until October 6th. Is there any further
discussion? All those in favor?
[13:03] » Passes unanimously. Thank you, sir.
[13:10] Let me get rid of some of this stuff.
[13:16] Item three is consider and take action
on 2026 nominating resolution for the
[13:22] Henderson County Appraisal District
Board of Directors
[13:27] Court. We each received a um
notification from the appraisal district
[13:33] concerning um two resignations that had
taken place on the board and they're
[13:38] requesting nominations from all of the
taxing entities. Uh we touched on this
[13:43] briefly a couple of weeks ago. There a
couple of entities have already made
[13:48] their nominations and um it is now our
turn.
[13:54] Um, at this at this time we will open
for nominations.
[14:01] I know there are two individuals that
have expressed an interest in this
[14:06] position is uh Ginger Morton and as I
expressed um different times
[14:14] myself I would be interested in sitting
on that position. We often thought that
[14:18] it was not allowed to have sitting
taxing authorities on that board, but if
[14:27] you are a member of the governing body,
you are allowed.
[14:39] » I move to nominate Ginger Mortyn and
Wade McKenna. I second to appraisal
[14:43] board your motion.
Motion made by any other nominations.
[14:53] » Do we need to appoint them for the
different terms?
[14:58] » That's a that's a very good point. Um,
we have terms expiring December 31 of
[15:04] 29, December 31 of 27.
Does the court have the pleasure of
[15:10] which locations? I'll I'll put Wade
McKenna on expiring December 31st, 2029
[15:17] and Ginger Morton expiring December
31st, 2027. I'll second
[15:23] » motion made by Commissioner McCam,
second by Commissioner Spivey to
[15:28] nominate
Wade McKenna for the December 31, 2022
[15:35] expiration nomination position and
Ginger Morton for the expiring December
[15:41] 31, 2027
nomination.
[15:44] Is there any further discussion?
All those in favor?
[15:50] Oppose? I abstain. Passes 40 to1.
Thank you court.
[15:59] Item number four is consider and take
action on interlocal agreement for
[16:04] conducting the November 3rd 2026
elections with the following entities.
[16:10] Crossroads ISD, Malikoff ISD, Brownsboro
ISD, City of Coffee City, City of
[16:18] Enchanted Oaks, Gunarrel City, City of
Tulle, Emergency Service District number
[16:24] one, city of Trinidad, and the city of
Eustace. Miss Lucky,
[16:29] » good morning, Court. So, we have 10
cities, schools, and one ESD that have
[16:33] asked to contract with us for their
November elections. Um this will include
[16:37] pole worker um equipment rental and
programming fees. Um and that will be
[16:42] reimbursed at the rate of the cost to
us. So um this our standard contract um
[16:47] I've provided that to the county
attorney. He's reviewed them. Um so I'm
[16:51] just asking for court approval.
>> Courts.
[16:59] » Is this uh is that uh estimated cost? Is
that the cost per entity?
[17:05] » Yes, per entity. So I a rough estimates
$38,000 that that we'll recoup back from
[17:10] them. Um so it helps with our pole
workers, but they pay all of their um
[17:15] programming fees. So that's a big
portion of it um because we um use ESNS
[17:19] to program our ballots and that's what a
big portion of that cost is. So we'll
[17:25] pay that and then they reimburse us
after the election.
[17:32] And this will incorporate those
elections into the midterm elections,
[17:37] the November 3rd that the county puts
on. So therefore, it's no
[17:42] [sighs] additional demand for equipment.
>> That's correct. So that that people that
[17:47] live in those entities and will it'll
come up on their ballot style. So
[17:50] they'll have the countywide, the
statewide, the federal, and their entity
[17:53] on that same ballot.
>> Yes. It's all incorporated.
[18:01] » And
this election, will there be
[18:06] a break between is there early voting
anymore or is it is it gone?
[18:12] » Yeah. Well, we can get into that with
the notice of election, but uh
[18:15] » I'm sorry.
>> We have a notice of election as our next
[18:17] agenda item, but Okay. Yes. Um this one
will include the break. So, Senate Bill
[18:21] 2753 have has not went into effect yet.
So, there there'll be a break between
[18:26] early voting and election day.
>> Okay.
[18:28] » Is that answer?
>> That's what I was looking for. We'll
[18:31] discuss that more on the next one. Then
court concerning these interlocal
[18:35] agreements. Um there are um several
signatures. So I'll remind you necessary
[18:41] signatures on any motion please. Is
there any further discussion?
[18:45] » Do these um there won't be any added
voting locations. They have to use our
[18:50] locations. Correct. Yes. That we're at.
>> Yeah. And a lot of them we use their
[18:54] facilities anyways. So they help out on
that aspect. Any
[19:02] further discussion?
[19:06] » So move to approve with all necessary
signatures.
[19:09] » I'll second the motion.
>> Motion made by Commissioner Spidey and
[19:12] second by Commissioner Richardson to uh
approve the interlocal agreements for
[19:18] the conducting of the November 3rd, 2026
elections with the aforementioned
[19:23] entities with all necessary signatures
authorized. Is there any further
[19:28] discussion? All those in favor? Passes
unanimously.
[19:33] Item number five is consider and take
action on notice of election for the
[19:37] November 3rd, 2026 general election.
Miss Lucky.
[19:41] » Okay. So, this is the notice of election
for the November 3rd um election day. It
[19:45] sets our locations for election day. The
early voting locations we approved back
[19:49] in June. Um so, those are the same as
what was previously approved. Um it's 15
[19:55] vote centers throughout the county. Um
the only difference from last year is
[20:00] the Merkusen ISD. So we're going to vote
at the senior citizen center will
[20:05] incorporate that 3M voting location. So
um we'll have 15 uh voting vote centers
[20:11] open. Um early voting will have five
locations. So each corner of the county
[20:15] will be covered for early voting and
then centrally here in Athens. So, um
[20:20] we're given plenty of opportunity and
there's there will be a gap. So, we'll
[20:24] finish after um early voting will um end
on Friday and then we'll have election
[20:29] day on Monday or on um Tuesday. We'll
set up Monday. Uh next year um Senate
[20:36] Bill uh 2753 will go into effect where
we won't have a gap. We'll stop early
[20:40] voting on Monday at 7 and then we'll
start election day on Tuesday. So,
[20:47] » and that's pretty big change. It is.
It's going to be a big big change. And
[20:50] we won't start early voting till
Thursday. So early voting won't start on
[20:54] Monday. It'll start on Thursday and go
all the way through
[20:58] » for the November 3rd.
>> Not this one.
[21:00] » Okay. I want
>> No, that's that's the big change next.
[21:03] » Yeah. The next round. Okay. That that is
a big change. It's going to change how
[21:08] we conduct elections and also the
demands on the pole workers. It's going
[21:12] to be pretty extensive.
>> Yes.
[21:15] » Okay. court concerning this notice of
election for the November 3rd. Are there
[21:20] any questions,
comments?
[21:24] If not, we'll entertain a motion.
[21:29] » So, move to approve with all the
necessary signatures.
[21:32] » I'll second the motion. Motion made by
Commissioner Tulie and second by
[21:36] Commissioner McCam to approve the notice
of election election for the November
[21:40] 3rd, 2026 general election. Uh with all
necessary signatures authorized. Is
[21:47] there any further discussion?
All those in favor? Passes unanimously.
[21:52] Thank you, ma'am.
Item six is consider and take action on
[21:57] the fiscal year 26 Texas Indigent
Defense Commission formula grant in the
[22:03] amount of $57,692.
[22:07] Miss Vaugh,
>> good morning court. Yes. So this is the
[22:10] Texas Indigit Defense Commission for the
fiscal year 2026 in the amount of 57,900
[22:15] or excuse me $692.
Um this is just a formula grant uh so
[22:21] that we can meet our mandates uh with
indigent defense for the county
[22:27] » court questions.
>> Has this uh this continued to go down
[22:33] over the years hadn't it?
>> Um so yeah this year's 57,000 last year
[22:38] was around 63,000 2024 was 48,000 and
then 23 was 60,000. Um, so it's based on
[22:47] the county's percentage of state
population and the percentage of state
[22:50] indigit defense expenditures multiply by
the Texas initent defense commission's
[22:56] budgeted amount for formula grants. So
>> you you don't have you don't have a
[23:01] number of what we spend on indigent
>> defense, do you?
[23:05] » Yeah.
>> 1.3
[23:08] 1.4 million
>> $1.3 million. we get uh 60 $57,000 back.
[23:15] » Mhm.
>> That's a state unfunded mandate.
[23:19] » Oh yeah, definitely.
Definitely.
[23:23] It's been a a
discussed issue for a very long time.
[23:30] believe it was it began
2001 2002 somewhere right in there when
[23:37] uh
[23:40] this process was created and uh it
stayed pretty consistent in that dollar
[23:45] amount
over the last 25 years
[23:51] » 1.4 million
>> 1.4 4 million.
[23:56] » They they then they were good enough to
give us 57,000 back. Yes, sir.
[24:00] » We appreciate it.
[24:06] » Court, further questions or comments?
>> If not, entertain a motion.
[24:14] » I move to approve the motion on the 2026
Texas Energent Defense Commission
[24:18] Formula Grant in the amount of $57,692.
[clears throat]
[24:24] Second
>> motion made by Commissioner Spivey and
[24:27] second by Commissioner Tulie to accept
the fiscal year 2026 Texas Indigent
[24:32] Defense Commission formula grant in the
amount of $57,692.
[24:39] Is there any further discussion? All
those in favor? Passes unanimously.
[24:44] Thank you, ma'am.
>> Thank you.
[24:47] Item number seven, consider and take
action on designation of Southern Cement
[24:53] Slurry LLC to be the sole source for
liqufied
[24:58] cementuous products for Henderson
County. Commissioner Richardson, you say
[25:03] that name, that word.
[laughter]
[25:08] » Uh yes, Cord. Uh
there's a times that we're putting a
[25:13] cement product in the uh in our subs
soils and stuff to stabilize the ground
[25:18] and uh run across this uh liquefy it.
Actually, it's a a slurry that's already
[25:23] had the water go uh put in it. So, we
don't have to haul as much water. We're
[25:27] having trouble finding water uh to put
in the soil right now because
[25:32] everything's so dry. So, run across this
uh company here that that that uh makes
[25:37] a slurry and it cuts the dust down, too.
That cement dust is is not the best
[25:43] thing in the world to be breathing. So,
I'm looking at uh getting this uh super
[25:48] slurry that's already liquefied to put
on the soil. That way, we can uh blend
[25:53] it in and uh when we reclaim the roads.
court questions.
[26:01] It is hard to find even in good times
when we got lots of water. It's getting
[26:07] harder that um we're able to access
because it does take a large volume of
[26:13] water in this process, does it not?
>> Yes, sir.
[26:15] » Okay.
>> This just speeds it up a little bit
[26:19] where we've already got it wet and don't
take quite as much to go in there and
[26:24] work it, get the road laid down a lot
quicker. So I know one of the biggest
[26:28] complaints we have is the dust. So
we cut that down a little bit.
[26:36] » Court further discussion
hearing. None. Entertain a motion.
[26:41] » So move to approve.
>> I'll second the motion. Motion made by
[26:45] Commissioner Richson and second by
Commissioner McCann to approve the
[26:49] designation of Southern Cement Slurry
LLC to be the sole source for liqufied
[26:57] cementuous
products for Henderson County. Is there
[27:00] any further discussion? All those in
favor? Passes unanimously.
[27:07] Item number eight is consider and take
action to accept elected official bond
[27:12] for the tax assessor collector to be
filed with the county clerk's office.
[27:18] Miss Monk.
>> Yeah, this is just the standard
[27:20] procedure since the bond is payable to
the court.
[27:29] » Courts.
[27:33] If not, entertain a motion.
>> So move to approve.
[27:38] » I'll second the motion.
>> Motion made by Commissioner Spivey and
[27:42] second by Commissioner Richardson to
accept the elected officials bond for
[27:46] the tax assessor collector to be filed
with the county clerk's office. Any
[27:52] further discussion? All those in favor?
Passes unanimously.
[27:58] Item number nine is consider and take
action on the Henderson County Emergency
[28:02] Service District number 7 fiscal year
2025 annual financial statement in
[28:08] according with HB 3764 for filing
purposes only court. This was submitted
[28:16] these financials for number seven were
submitted um actually a couple of months
[28:20] ago to us. There was some discussions
that were had in the interim concerning
[28:26] the affidavit. Um
[28:32] yeah, consider considering the affidavit
and we feel pretty confident in what is
[28:39] presented from the audit office. You
have your office has reviewed and has
[28:44] put
stamp of approval on. Correct.
[28:49] Okay.
[28:52] Court
questions
[28:57] if not entertain a motion.
>> I'll make the motion.
[29:04] » Second.
>> Motion made by Commissioner McCam and
[29:07] second by Commissioner Tulie to accept
the Henderson County Emergency Service
[29:12] District number 7 fiscal year 2025
annual financial statement in accordance
[29:16] with HB 3764
for filing purposes only. Is there any
[29:20] further discussion?
>> I would I would like to say that this
[29:23] was in before the June 1st deadline.
>> Correct.
[29:27] » And the uh the questions about the
affidavit were a wording question
[29:32] uh where the wording in the affidavit
kind of gave a if you was looking at it
[29:38] in legal terms kind of gave a kind of a
wishy-washy
[29:42] uh view of it. And so we got that fixed.
>> Yes. and but uh this was turned in
[29:48] before the June 1st deadline.
>> Yes, sir.
[29:53] Any further comments?
All those in favor of the motion? Passes
[29:58] unanimously.
Item 10 is consider and take action on
[30:01] the Henderson County Emergency Emergency
Services District number 11 fiscal year
[30:07] 2024 and 2025 annual financial statement
in accordance with HB 3764
[30:15] for filing purposes only. uh court. This
u affidavit came in before September 1
[30:24] and has met review from the county
auditor's office and is ready to go.
[30:32] Commissioners, are there any questions
or discussion points?
[30:36] I know some of the discussion, some of
the questions we've had from uh the
[30:40] public and constituents is a lot of them
think the September 1st date or the June
[30:45] 1st date is when removal, but it they're
due June 1st.
[30:53] If they're not in before September the
1st, then the the the president and the
[30:59] secretary treasure have to be removed
from the ESD. And this was turned in
[31:04] before
that date al before the September date
[31:08] also. So
>> yes
[31:10] and one um very strong point of of
discussion that has been the last couple
[31:16] of years is in that section of law it
does speak of the automatic removal of
[31:22] the president and the treasurer in many
cases secretary treasurer depending how
[31:27] they have them uh constituted.
That removal is does occur in law, but
[31:36] through many discussions with the county
attorney and we we got um very detailed
[31:42] in it the last couple of weeks, the hold
over position provision within the Texas
[31:48] Constitution keeps them in place until
they a qualified successor is seated. Is
[31:54] that not correct?
>> That's correct.
[31:57] » Okay. Um, you know, I don't concede
arguments pretty easily and I've fought
[32:02] that one for a long time. But, um, I
will concede that the president and
[32:08] treasurers are still able to continue
their functions until replaced by the
[32:15] court.
So, I wanted to say that publicly.
[32:19] And I'd like to say also too that uh we
have to appoint 55
[32:25] » 55 of these commissioners. We have 11
ESDs.
[32:30] We have very few volunteers.
Most of these people, we call them
[32:35] volunteers, but they were approached.
They didn't they didn't volunteer.
[32:42] They were approached and agreed to do
it. So, I mean, if we have anybody out
[32:48] in the public that is willing to take
some of these jobs, we'd sure like to
[32:52] have some names.
They're few and hard to come between.
[32:57] These guys have to do lots of work. Uh
the regulations have increased yearly on
[33:03] the things that they have to do and uh
you know that that are required by law
[33:08] just like he just stated. They're
required by law that they do these
[33:12] things and uh you know they have to have
websites and they have to do you know
[33:16] somebody's got to maintain that. Uh
these guys are volunteers. They're doing
[33:20] it on their own time and you know some
of them are just like us. They have
[33:27] family situations that come up. They
have job situations that come up. They
[33:31] they have all kind of life situations
that come up and they may get behind on
[33:36] some things. But I'd be willing to take
some names if anybody gives my office a
[33:42] call and would like to volunteer for
some of these jobs.
[33:47] One of the presidents of the ES one of
my ESDs told me Friday that he puts in
[33:52] 30 yards a week on his ESD.
[33:58] Well, it the demands have grown along
with um
[34:04] the advalorum tax that is collected. Um
you know, they're they're up totally
[34:10] collectively almost up to $8 million.
>> So, I mean, we appreciate that's a
[34:15] responsibility that they take on that is
daunting.
[34:19] » And we we've been uh adamant that they
get things turned in over the last
[34:24] couple of years. got most of them caught
up. Some of them were behind. They're
[34:28] all caught up on on their uh audits and
financials, which they don't all have to
[34:34] have a full-blown audit unless they
bring in $250,000
[34:38] or have debt of $250,000.
Then they only have to turn in a
[34:44] compiled uh financial. Anything above
that, then it's an audit. And uh so
[34:53] like she said uh these guys spend a lot
of time at it and they they want to make
[34:58] our fire departments as best as they can
be and uh you know as well as I do that
[35:03] they can't get by on uh barbecue and
boots anymore.
[35:09] So, but it is a substantial amount of
tax money that has to be kept up with
[35:14] and and uh
we try we've tried in the last couple
[35:19] years to make sure that those financials
and audits have been turned in.
[35:28] » Court, further discussion?
>> If not, entertain a motion.
[35:33] I'd like to make a motion to uh accept
the uh emergency service district number
[35:37] 11 fiscal year 202425
annual financial statement in accordance
[35:43] with HP 3764
for filing purposes only.
[35:47] » I'll second his motion. Motion made by
Commissioner Richardson and second by
[35:50] Commissioner Spidey to accept the
Henderson County Emergency Service
[35:55] District number 11 fiscal year 2024 2025
annual financial statement in accordance
[36:01] with HB 3764 for filing purposes only.
Any further discussion? All those in
[36:07] favor? Passes unanimously.
[36:12] Item number 11 is for a public hearing
that was scheduled to be at 9:15.
[36:18] This is to discuss the proposed 2026 tax
rate for the 2027 Henderson County
[36:25] budget. Court, can we have a motion to
move into public hearing?
[36:30] » I'd like to make a motion to move into
public hearing at 9:39.
[36:35] » Second. Motion made by Commissioner
Richardson, second by Commissioner Tulie
[36:40] to move into public hearing at 9:39. All
those in favor passes unanimously. At
[36:46] this time, we have moved into public
hearing on the proposed tax on the
[36:52] proposed tax rate. Uh at this time, uh
Mr. Ronnie Lawrence, um comm former
[36:59] commissioner Mr. Ronnie Lawrence is
here. Mr. Lawrence, you uh if you would
[37:05] give your address and again your name
for the record. And we got three
[37:08] minutes.
>> I'm Ronnie Lawrence, 10276
[37:12] County Road 3405 in Brownsboro.
Judge, commissioners, I'd like to start
[37:19] out say I I realize what y'all go
through trying to balance this budget
[37:23] and figure out a tax rate, but you
killing us old retired people. Now we
[37:30] and as y'all know very well, Henderson
County is a retirement center, you might
[37:37] say.
I know our
[37:41] homesteads are frozen, but for people
like me that has other interest, uh not
[37:48] only is the tax rate, but the killing us
the uh appraisals go up and hopefully
[37:55] with two new members, maybe we can get
that straightened out. I can't remember
[38:00] a year since I retired that they hadn't
went up on my appraisals. Not the same
[38:06] ones every year, but if it don't do this
one, they do the other one. And then in
[38:11] the past when I sit up there where y'all
are, when the appraisals went up, we was
[38:16] able to lower our taxes. Y'all did just
the opposite. Y'all, we raise the
[38:21] appraisals and y'all go up on the taxes.
Uh I'm asking y'all to reconsider that.
[38:26] I know it's probably too late, but uh
anyway, some of us has had a hard time
[38:33] with it. So, thank you for your time.
>> Thank you, Commissioner.
[38:39] » Is there anyone else wishing to speak at
this time?
[38:50] I will ask one more.
[38:56] This is the last opportunity to speak on
the proposed 2026 tax rate. Is there
[39:01] anyone else?
If not court, we have a motion to close
[39:07] public hearing on the tax rate.
>> I'll make the motion to close public
[39:13] hearing at 9:42.
>> Second. Motion made by Commissioner
[39:17] Spivey and second by Commissioner Tulie
to close public hearing on the 2026 tax
[39:23] rate at 9:42. All those in favor? Passes
unanimously.
[39:30] Item 12 is an additional public hearing
that was scheduled for 9:20 and this is
[39:36] to discuss the 2027 county budget for
Henderson County Court. Can we have a
[39:42] motion to move back into public hearing
at this time?
[39:46] » So move
[39:50] second. Motion made by Commissioner
Tulie, second by Commissioner Richardson
[39:56] to convene back into public hearing to
discuss the 2027 county budget for
[40:01] Henderson County at I'm waiting for the
clock to click to 9:43.
[40:08] At 9:43
all those in favor passes unanimously.
[40:14] We have now returned into o into public
sess session for public hearing to
[40:20] discuss the 2027 county budget for
Henderson County. Is there anyone that
[40:25] wishes to speak toward the proposed 2027
county budget
[40:43] 4246 County Road 4607
I just want to say thank you. I've sat
[40:48] through some of your workshops. I've sat
through several meet uh commissioners
[40:53] courts about the budget. I see you
grimace when you have to say this is
[40:57] what we got to do to make make sure our
county is great. Thank you for all
[41:02] you've done and thank you for the I'm
going to say millions of hours you spent
[41:07] not just in court and not just in
workshops but alone with the paperwork
[41:12] studying to see what can we do to make
it better. So I just want to say thank
[41:15] you very much.
>> Thank you ma'am.
[41:20] Is there anyone else that wishes to
speak at this time?
[41:31] I'll make one final call. Anyone wishing
to speak in regards to the 2027 county
[41:36] budget?
Seeing that no one has put forward, can
[41:42] we have a motion to close public
hearing?
[41:45] » I move we close public hearing at 9:44.
I second [snorts]
[41:48] » motion made by Commissioner Tulie and
second by Commissioner Spivey to close
[41:52] public hearing at 9:44. All those in
favor? Passes unanimously.
[41:59] Item 13 is consider and take action to
adopt the preservation and restoration
[42:05] records plans for the county and
district clerks for the 2027
[42:12] budget. court we have before us today in
this process is the um preservations and
[42:18] rec and restoration records plan. These
both these plans have gone through
[42:24] various name changes over the years. Uh
this is a budget for the expenditure of
[42:32] funds to do exactly what it says here in
the name. Um these fees are added to
[42:38] each filings for the long-term
preservation. And as we said the
[42:43] restoration of some documents
this has been in place for a very long
[42:48] time
on 20 years I suppose court are there
[42:53] any questions
[42:57] miss right there's this is a part of
yours do you have anything you wish to
[43:02] say in it
okay
[43:08] court if there's no questions or
comments entertain a motion.
[43:12] » I did I I have one question. The uh like
on uh
[43:19] uh
county clerk's official office fee,
[43:24] these are the fees if you come and
request this information that you have
[43:27] to pay.
So if I come
[43:32] uh let's just say I request cattle
brands, it c it's $1.
[43:38] That's that. Yeah, that's the fee that
we charge. It's in the fee that we
[43:43] charge for the the grants.
>> Okay.
[43:45] » That $1 is solely for the preservation
portion. The fee will be higher.
[43:52] » Okay.
>> But this is the fee paid for the
[43:54] preservation.
>> Okay. This is the fee for the
[43:58] preservation.
>> Yes, sir. Yeah.
[44:00] » Just like you see. Yes.
[44:06] » Court. Further questions?
Discussion
[44:10] entertain a motion.
>> So move to approve.
[44:15] » I'll second the motion.
>> Motion made by Commissioner Spivey and
[44:18] second by Commissioner McCam to adopt
the preservation and restoration records
[44:23] plan for the county and district clerks
as presented for the 2027
[44:29] county budget. Any further discussion?
All those in favor? Passes unanimously.
[44:37] Item 14, consider and take action to
adopt the 2027 county budget for
[44:42] Henderson County that for the median
valued homestead property valued at
[44:48] $211,86
[44:52] would pay a property tax of
approximately
[44:55] $72.39
[44:59] in property taxes for the current fiscal
year. $727.75
[45:06] in property taxes under the proposed
2027 budget and $690.87
[45:14] in property taxes under a no new revenue
tax rate in court.
[45:22] This layout is what is required in
statute and there are so many different
[45:28] layouts that we have. You have this one
on the median value and then the the
[45:33] posting that is put forth by the tax
assessor collector is on the average.
[45:39] There are over the last six years the
legislature has pushed very hard to put
[45:48] all the information out for the property
owners um to get them a more clear
[45:53] understanding of what's happening. Now
from my perspective I think they have
[45:59] muddied the water quite a bit because of
using median which definition of median
[46:03] is that property that's right dead
center among all the properties versus
[46:08] the average which would be probably 2/3
up. So um in their effort
[46:18] to make things clearer
they have also um muddied the water a
[46:24] little bit. So with our discussions here
today, what we have been through with
[46:30] the the budget,
I want to say that we have seen some
[46:35] demands
this year that uh we haven't seen
[46:39] before. Um we have two municipalities u
police departments that are u one is
[46:47] non-existent other one is under intense
trouble um as far as being able to um
[46:54] exercise certain functions
and even though that they are
[46:59] municipalities the constitutional
responsibility for law enforcement falls
[47:02] upon our county sheriff and it is
difficult
[47:09] when you sit up here in these positions
and look at it. I know when I was
[47:15] commissioner looking at it, well, we've
got our roads to take care of. They've
[47:18] got their roads to take care of. It's a
little bit different when you're talking
[47:22] about law enforcement. Law enforcement
doesn't know just jurisdictional
[47:26] boundaries, especially within the um
sheriff's realm. Uh this budget
[47:33] has uh [sighs and gasps]
taken on several other responsibilities
[47:38] that um go along with it. We're
increasing um our support to the um
[47:43] crimes against children, the CAC uh not
only with um the building expansion, but
[47:49] also with the additional investigator
there. That program has been absolutely
[47:55] phenomenal. It is a program that um is
modeled across the state now. It's one
[48:00] of the very first and honestly probably
one of the most successful. Um
[48:07] it's sad when you think of just how much
that has grown in four years. No, six
[48:13] years I believe it's gone from zero to
seven sheriff seven investigators.
[48:21] And it's
something that
[48:25] we wish we did not have to do, but it is
something that we must do.
[48:32] Oh, there are so many other things in
court. I'll I'll let y'all chime in on
[48:36] um your points of view on this budget.
we were able to give a a 3% raise to the
[48:42] um employees here um with this budget
after u much consternation.
[48:51] So Cord I I'll invite conversation
discussion of your points of view on the
[48:56] 27 budget.
[49:00] I did I did just a little bit of
research over the last few days because
[49:05] I'm concerned just like everybody else
about having to raise tax rates. I mean
[49:08] it's we all feel we live here too. We we
had to pay the same taxes as everybody
[49:14] else that has to pay here.
But going down through the years
[49:20] like like the speaker said earlier the
the the appraisal values have risen but
[49:27] along with those appraisal values
rising. This is my 10th year.
[49:33] When I started we was at 47.
[49:38] Today we're at 33.
So as they have increased, we have
[49:43] decreased
and we've decreased to a number now that
[49:50] really puts us in a position of not
being able to supply services that and
[49:56] that's what we do is we're a service
provider.
[50:00] We've got down to that level
where our growth is not
[50:07] correlating
with how much we've dropped taxes over
[50:11] the last 10 years. I mean, we went from
047 to point today 33. So that's 14
[50:18] cents we went down on on taxes.
Along with that, Henderson County gains
[50:24] a,000 people a year.
Every year we're we're at a growth rate
[50:32] of 1.89 1.9%.
So we we gain about a thousand residents
[50:38] a year. Along with those thousand,
just like I said a while ago, we provide
[50:44] services. Those thousand people need
services.
[50:49] So, in the last eight years since the
census was taken, last seven years,
[50:54] let's say 27, we've gained 7,000
residences in Henderson County. So,
[50:59] we're up in that what uh 87 88,000
range.
[51:07] Uh we've been able to do some really
good things in the county without asking
[51:13] for more tax money.
Just a few. for example
[51:19] that we that we've done the one he just
talked about a while ago the P25 radio
[51:24] system that was a huge expense for the
county I know back in 20 whenever the
[51:31] jail was was built
>> oh
[51:35] » it was a $20 million project
>> in 8 um it was 12
[51:40] » and the county bonded eight
>> it was it was close to a $12 million
[51:45] project this radio system alone
[51:50] is in that range.
And we were we we were able to do it
[51:55] with the way we paid for it as a as they
we paid for it as they completed work.
[52:01] We were able to do it without having to
go out for a bond or go out for tax
[52:05] money. It's an $8 million project.
This year, we've had it about seven or
[52:11] eight years now. This year we got hit
with a an upgrade which anybody in the
[52:17] computer business which a P25 digital
system is a computer operated system.
[52:23] It's something the federal government
has pushed since uh the Twin Towers
[52:29] that they want law enforcement agencies
to be able to talk to each other. They
[52:34] found that out in New York that they
couldn't do that. All these agencies
[52:39] were talking on
different channels.
[52:44] So, they pushed that system. We were
able to do that without asking for any
[52:49] other extra tax money. This year, we got
hit with an upgrade, which is a computer
[52:53] system upgrade of $1.2 million.
[52:58] And it cost $850,000
a year every year from here on out to
[53:07] maintain this system just in
maintainance. The county owns the
[53:12] system. We own five towers.
We uh we we we own all five towers. We
[53:20] we lease some of the property that we
have them sitting on, but we own all
[53:24] five towers.
So, that was that was a a big
[53:28] expenditure that we was able to do. I
know the sheriff has has been proud of
[53:33] it. Uh I know all the departments that
have it, it has some glitches just like
[53:38] anything else when you move to something
new, but it's a lifesaver.
[53:44] It's a lifesaver. These guys can talk to
each other inside buildings. they can
[53:48] talk to each other under these trees uh
that we have in parts of this county and
[53:55] it it it has been a lifesaver and it
will be a lifesaver. So I don't know
[54:00] what what price we put on that anyway.
Uh we were able to buy the farmer's
[54:06] building over by the sheriff's
department.
[54:09] Uh, we were able to buy the come and
take it building. That's going to be the
[54:12] elections department.
And it was cheaper to buy the come and
[54:17] take it and remodel it than it was to
remodel the building they're in right
[54:22] now to meet the election standards that
put out by the state. You know, some of
[54:28] the things that you have to have the uh
public's got to be able to view when
[54:32] you're counting. So, you have to have
windows and everything. I mean, uh, the
[54:36] storage areas and all that. And I know
she can uh our elections director could
[54:40] speak on that all day long, but it was
cheaper for us to buy that building than
[54:45] have to redo the other building. And the
other building will hopefully eventually
[54:49] be moved as a as a fire marshal. That's
where he will be uh positioned. Uh he's
[54:55] in a storage room up here right now. So,
and has been for years.
[55:01] Uh we were able to buy the bank building
in Seven Points. And if you've ever been
[55:06] to the one the the [snorts] tax office
and the constipal's office and JP Court
[55:11] in Seven Point, it's in need of repair.
We were able to buy that building and
[55:16] that building will be the Henderson
Court and tax office
[55:22] and eventually we hope to put a vote
center there and we also next year part
[55:28] of this tax uh
part of this budget is put one in
[55:33] chamber. So we'll have a vote center in
Chandler and a vote center in 7point. Uh
[55:38] we had have to do that because uh
the state has changed the election days
[55:46] to where now next year uh they will have
to vote on Sunday. So the church is out.
[55:52] If you're doing early voting in in a
church uh building or in one of their uh
[55:57] gyms or whatever, the church is out.
Can't vote down there on Sunday.
[56:02] And uh the community center in Chandler
is uh a nice building, but the parking
[56:08] is is is not conducive to elections
and uh it's it's dangerous down there.
[56:15] Try to get back out on the highway. Uh
Seven Points is about the same way. So,
[56:20] we will have a vote center and that
building can be used all year long to
[56:24] vote in and then it can be used for uh
you know public meetings on any on other
[56:30] occasions, but it'll just be a wide open
building that that has a couple of
[56:34] bathrooms in it for the for the election
workers. We were able to do air
[56:38] conditions on all these buildings that
y'all if y'all have air condition at
[56:44] home, you know what that cost. We were
able to do all of that on these
[56:48] buildings. uh in town. We're able to
upgrade a lot of things at the jail do
[56:54] with video and the locking systems. Uh
utilities.
[56:58] We've decreased the utilities at the
jail from upwards of $20,000 a month to
[57:05] down around 11,000
with some of the upgrades we made at the
[57:09] jail that that were in the $1.2 or $3
million range. So over over the years,
[57:15] that's going to save us
[57:19] And we still not been in debt, any kind
of debt since 2016.
[57:26] We have no debt.
[57:30] Like I said, we we gain a thousand
residents a year.
[57:34] We we were able to give our employees
raises over the years, a few raises to
[57:39] keep Henderson County relevant.
We're not competitive
[57:46] with the outside world, which I don't
think government should be, but we are
[57:50] relevant and and people want to work for
Henderson County. You've got to keep
[57:55] employees. Like we said while ago, we're
a service organization.
[58:01] The only ones of us that do manual work
is the guys that work for Road and
[58:06] Bridge and Magnets. Everything else is
service. We supply service to the
[58:11] public.
So, I don't think [clears throat]
[58:17] that we spend our money frivolously.
I think we try to protect Henderson
[58:22] County money. We've had to make some
hard decisions.
[58:27] We've got some things that came this
year that we wouldn't wasn't expecting.
[58:32] Uh, and I but I don't think we throw
money at stuff. I don't think we just
[58:37] spend money to be spending money. And I
think with our tax rate the way it is,
[58:41] that shows that we've been protective of
that money. I don't I [clears throat]
[58:46] don't like to compare.
And y'all know that whenever whenever
[58:52] everybody comes in asking for stuff when
we have our budget meetings, everybody
[58:58] wants to compare Henderson County to
Smith County to Kaufman County to
[59:04] Anderson County. And we don't I don't
like that
[59:08] because we we offer different things in
each county. But I did go back and
[59:14] compare
and I just I just did the comparison
[59:18] with the counties that touch Henderson
County
[59:23] and I see Vanzant County tax rate at 37.
They're asking for 42. That's what
[59:31] they're uh they're asking for this year.
42. Anderson County down below us is at
[59:37] 49.
NEA County beside us is at 42. Kaufman
[59:44] County is at 37.
Smith County, no, Kaufman County is at
[59:50] 41. Smith County is at 37.
Cherokee County is at 049.
[59:59] And Henderson County is at 34.
So the closest one to us is Smith County
[1:00:06] at 37.
We're
[1:00:09] 6, seven, 15 cents less than the rest of
them.
[1:00:14] So I think we spend a lot of time trying
to manage our not being in debt. We like
[1:00:19] I said earlier, we're still not in debt.
Henderson County has no debt.
[1:00:25] I looked at the those are the counties
that touch us. I also looked and I said,
[1:00:29] "Well, a lot of those counties are
smaller or way bigger or whatever." So,
[1:00:32] I looked at the four counties in Texas
that have 80,000 people, 80 to 90,000
[1:00:38] people populations.
Orange County is at 49.
[1:00:46] Corel County is at 044.
Angelina County is at 045.
[1:00:53] And again, Henderson County, what we're
asking for this year is 34.
[1:01:00] So,
I think over the years, and this has not
[1:01:04] been a lot of years, not just the years
I've been here, this has been a lot of
[1:01:07] years. I think the county has been
protective of the taxpayers money. I
[1:01:14] think we've done a lot of things that a
[clears throat] lot of counties would
[1:01:17] have had to go out for debt in. We were
able to structure the payments where we
[1:01:22] could pay it over two or three year
period and not have to go into debt. we
[1:01:27] we were able to uh have enough in our
fund balance
[1:01:33] to pay for some of this stuff and still
not be and still not have too much in
[1:01:40] there.
uh we were able to move our fund balance
[1:01:44] to a 20%
and it instead of a 10%
[1:01:49] which would allow us to operate if
something were to happen, you know, if a
[1:01:54] tornado would were to come through.
We've seen that in counties beside us.
[1:01:58] We've seen it in our county what it
cost. Uh you're talking about millions
[1:02:03] if you have a major disaster, flood. Our
our two biggest would be flood or
[1:02:09] tornado.
So,
[1:02:14] I think we've I think we've done
the things we we needed to do to keep
[1:02:23] the tax rate low,
but we've brought it to the point
[1:02:30] to where we we can't go any lower
without removing services. And that's
[1:02:36] what we are a service provider.
and to do some of the things that we
[1:02:42] want to do that we think will help
Henderson County
[1:02:47] in the future. That's what we're all
looking for is the future. We can't
[1:02:51] think about today or yesterday. We got
to think about growth in the future.
[1:02:57] And with this with this increase, it'll
help us be able to do some of the things
[1:03:03] I think the county
has to have, not wants. I I mean we
[1:03:09] don't just want it. I think we need it.
We need the vote center in Chandler. We
[1:03:13] need the vote center in seven points. We
have we need the radio system. That's
[1:03:21] going to be a cost every year.
We probably going to need
[1:03:26] the uh the deputies that were added
probably just just because of response
[1:03:32] time because it's a long response time
when you have to go around the lake to
[1:03:39] get anywhere over in that area.
And that's that's our main concern is
[1:03:44] response time in that area.
But I know appraisals are up. Mine are
[1:03:49] up too at my house.
But our taxes have gone down over the
[1:03:54] years.
But we've got to the level that we we
[1:03:59] have to start making decisions to be
able to operate. And I think that
[1:04:03] decision today is that one that right at
1% increase
[1:04:11] or not one percent, one penny.
So
[1:04:17] that's all I've got to say.
court.
[1:04:20] » I had some notes, but he's touched on
mine. Thank you, Commissioner McCam.
[1:04:27] » Commissioner.
>> Yeah, I think you did a a great job,
[1:04:30] Commissioner McKim, on the ones that um
that really uh impacted this this
[1:04:36] budget. the uh as was stated by uh Judge
McKenna on the $211,000 home, you know,
[1:04:45] that's the medium home, but you that um
for a person that has a $200,000 home
[1:04:51] value in 2025 would have paid 662.
this year if this tax increase or or you
[1:05:00] want [clears throat] to call it a tax
increase goes to 344
[1:05:04] I'm sorry 34 would pay $686.93
that's $23.94
[1:05:12] and I understand to some that's a you
know like a $100 or $1,000 but that's
[1:05:17] $23
and you're getting a million dollar
[1:05:22] radio system and that doesn't seem like
nothing to anybody But what it does what
[1:05:27] it does is it gets you a when you call
911, it gets you a sheriff uh deputy to
[1:05:33] your house immediately. Not when you
want one, when you need one. Um the
[1:05:38] $800,000. So you're talking almost a
$200 a $200 million radio upgrade. All
[1:05:44] the roofs on every county building have
been upgraded. Uh a million dollars
[1:05:49] worth of vehicles probably. um a child
advocacy center that some [snorts]
[1:05:55] people say, "Well, I don't use that." Um
but it's a need in Henderson County.
[1:06:01] when you sat here uh for myself over the
last eight years and listen to the
[1:06:06] numbers that we have of that comes
across through these uh advoc advocacy
[1:06:11] uh places of how many child uh molesters
or or um crimes that are committed
[1:06:17] against child children uh is a need in
Henderson County. the um
[1:06:27] the our insurance uh for the county, not
employee insurance, but county insurance
[1:06:33] on our buildings, on our cars, uh that
kind of stuff, you know, continuously
[1:06:39] increases the uh in road and bridge. I
know the diesel prices are up, uh, gas
[1:06:44] is up, steel is has gone through the
roof uh, since co and I can tell you
[1:06:53] that
I think this uh, gentleman had a half a
[1:06:56] million to $750,000
uh, home on the water
[1:07:02] and he paid $7,500
in uh, in taxes. That was total taxes.
[1:07:09] $5,200 of that went to a school
district.
[1:07:13] And in my office, we he uh he paid
$93.84.
[1:07:18] Now, this was a couple of years ago.
$93.84 cents to Roaden Bridge. That
[1:07:23] won't even get you a bucket of material.
Plus, you have to divide that by four.
[1:07:28] So, we divide that $100 and everybody
gets 25 bucks. So, uh I believe that it
[1:07:36] was um the 3.6. You can do the math.
Yes, there it was a three 3.6% increase,
[1:07:42] but when you get down into the into the
budget, into the notes and uh into the
[1:07:48] things that that we've done, you know,
over the as Commissioner McCam said over
[1:07:52] the last uh probably I'm going to say 10
or 12 years, the tax rates gone down
[1:07:57] almost 15 to 20 cents. So, I can assure
you that that uh my counterparts here
[1:08:03] and myself uh not wanting to to raise
the taxes, but it's called a cost of
[1:08:09] living and and it's the cost of doing
the job that you want. Now, if we went
[1:08:13] out and cut services and cut this and
cut the sheriff's department and cut the
[1:08:18] fire departments and and cut uh the
county clerks,
[1:08:22] we'd be griped at too. So to not do a
whole uh cutting and to take $25
[1:08:31] um
and improve our our county for what our
[1:08:36] county does, I think our commissioner's
court now and our commissioner's court
[1:08:41] prior uh have has done a heck of a job
to keep to keep Henderson County
[1:08:46] debtree. And commissioner, I'm going to
think that uh during budget, Judge
[1:08:50] McKenna said that we've been debtree
since 2014.
[1:08:54] uh maybe not 2016, but uh I'll yield to
everybody else and uh thank you uh court
[1:09:01] for doing the job well done.
[1:09:06] » I just want to say I have phone calls
quite a bit about people's taxes and
[1:09:12] stuff
and a lot of people don't understand
[1:09:16] that Henderson County collects the taxes
for all these different entities. You
[1:09:20] write out your check to Henderson County
And you wouldn't believe how many people
[1:09:25] think that we get all that money to work
on the roads or for the sheriff's
[1:09:30] department stuff. The tax assessor
collector has to divvy that up and send
[1:09:34] it to everybody that we collect for. So
the tax rate that we're proposing today
[1:09:40] is only for Henderson County taxes
[snorts]
[1:09:42] and the road and bridge and FMFC taxes.
All the other taxes that are on your tax
[1:09:48] statement for the schools, the ESDs,
Trinity Valley Community College, and uh
[1:09:53] the cities are are not part of what
we're here today to do. That is we only
[1:09:57] collect it for them. They do they go
through the same process that we go
[1:10:01] through right here to set tax rates. So,
you do pay a big lump sum to Henderson
[1:10:06] County, but we don't get all that money
to work with. That that goes to a lot of
[1:10:10] other entities and stuff also. And uh
there's a lot of people that that does
[1:10:14] not know that that I have to explain it
to them all the time that that money all
[1:10:18] that money does not go to Henderson
County.
[1:10:23] » I'd like to add one other thing. Um
I want to thank Commissioner Lawrence. I
[1:10:30] want to thank um the two individuals
that sent in emails that I received
[1:10:37] because I want to thank you for coming
and having us um have this discussion so
[1:10:43] that that information is u more readily
available and clear to the public. Um,
[1:10:49] it has the the work that this court has
done. Um, and I wasn't going to say
[1:10:56] this, but the work that this court has
done over the last 28 years that I've
[1:11:01] been on it. This one follows that same
line that that we've done historically.
[1:11:09] Um, there are things that have impacted
us and it's no different. We we used to
[1:11:15] say all the time, it's no different than
being at the house. everybody gets
[1:11:18] impacted
um and everybody's got to find out a way
[1:11:22] to
meet those demands and um it doesn't
[1:11:27] fall on deaf ears from the public
because uh we know we talk about
[1:11:33] homesteads and um in the public comments
there are more properties there are
[1:11:40] other properties than just homesteads
and we keep that in mind as well. So, I
[1:11:45] just want to point out and say thank you
for the conversation and um
[1:11:52] the big, as you said, the big ticket
items was 500,000 for the radio, million
[1:11:57] for um the increases on law enforcement,
um a little over 700 for raises, um 11
[1:12:05] vehicles. All that comes up to just
those items there comes up to $3 million
[1:12:11] in that. That's not counting the
additional stuff that the commissioner
[1:12:15] brought up of the two vote centers, the
things that we are working from out of
[1:12:21] cash from um
[1:12:26] disciplined
savings, not just this year, but as I
[1:12:31] said, all the previous years.
So
[1:12:39] that's all I got to say.
So,
[1:12:42] » I'll say one more thing as Commissioner
Richardson uh brought it up is I as as
[1:12:49] deep dive as people uh some people have
have gone into the uh the budget and
[1:12:55] probably haven't they just looked at the
tax rate. But I want you to go look at
[1:12:58] the tax rate of a school district. You
go look at the tax rate of of the
[1:13:03] college. you go look at the tax rate of
the ESDs
[1:13:07] and and those tax those tax rates and
see where how we fit in and how
[1:13:11] Henderson County fits in uh with those
and the money they collect. Um
[1:13:18] like I said while ago, a person that
paid $7,500 paid $93 to to Road and
[1:13:24] Bridge and uh $5,200 to a school
district. So it's um but get down in
[1:13:30] into those. I can assure you that this
court right here does her due diligence
[1:13:35] and I appreciate Miss Deetsz for what
she said because she's been one of the
[1:13:38] ones to to be here during our uh
conversations that we've had and
[1:13:45] um and how how tight we'll take um if
somebody's on a fiveyear what is it five
[1:13:51] to sevenyear uh year span that we send
that we look at over the budget of a
[1:13:56] spending of how they how people spend
and try to go out there and get a $100
[1:14:00] or or $50 or a thousand. It just it's
just so tightknit. But anyway, I just
[1:14:07] appreciate the work that we that we've
done as a court and um still stay
[1:14:11] debtree and still brought our tax rate
down.
[1:14:18] » Any further comments?
Well, court um there's a couple of
[1:14:23] things that we need to do with the
motion on
[1:14:29] setting the budget. Number one is the
salary effective date being December
[1:14:35] 27th
[1:14:38] which we do every year. And the other
one is is passing the budget
[1:14:43] categorically.
That way that we are it allows budget
[1:14:48] amendments to take place within the
category without having to come to
[1:14:52] court. Any outside of that category
um continues to come before court. Any
[1:15:07] other thoughts, questions, or comments
at this time concerning the 2027 county
[1:15:12] budget?
>> Well, if not, entertain a motion.
[1:15:20] I'll make the motion to set the
[1:15:25] Oh, how's the wording on this? To adopt
the 2027 county budget for Henderson
[1:15:32] County
for the general fund at two at 2845760.
[1:15:41] » Just the budget at this time. We'll
we'll set the tax rate on the next one.
[1:15:45] Yes, sir. Just on the
>> to set the budget at 3434650
[1:15:53] right
>> with
[1:15:55] » categorically with the salaries uh
December 27th payroll start.
[1:16:02] We have a second
>> motion made by Commissioner McCam and
[1:16:07] second by Commissioner Tulie to approve
the amended 2027
[1:16:14] proposed county budget
categorically
[1:16:20] with a salary start date of December
27th,
[1:16:25] 2026.
[1:16:29] Is there any further discussion?
If not, I will say again, thank you all
[1:16:37] that have been a part of this one.
[1:16:42] There's no further discussion. All those
in favor passes unanimously.
[1:16:50] Item 15, consider and take action to
adopt the 2026 tax rate for the 2027
[1:16:57] Henderson County budget. and each year.
I know that it looks a little off when
[1:17:03] you see um 2026 tax rate. Uh but that is
in effect that that is effectively what
[1:17:11] is actually funding the 2027 county
budget. It's a little bit of um word
[1:17:17] play, but we are setting the tax rate
called the 2026 year for the 2027
[1:17:24] budget. And um that has been a part of
this process as we have there are um
[1:17:31] three individual taxes that are imposed
by Henderson County. one being general
[1:17:36] fund which handles uh everything u
except road and bridge and then those
[1:17:44] items that are funded through fees but
there is general fund road and bridge
[1:17:50] fund and um FMFC farm tomarket and flood
control. Many people often ask what is
[1:17:57] FMFC? It is a actual tax that was voted
on as a referendum many many years ago
[1:18:05] to impose in the county for um not only
county and state but it it was for
[1:18:12] transportation issues and it continues
to operate to this day. So court with
[1:18:18] that um we have a um propo have proposed
a rate of um 343465
[1:18:30] um broken out as general fund is 2.84576
84576
[1:18:36] and road and bridge fund. 017687
and farm to market flood control at
[1:18:43] 041202.
[1:18:47] Again that is the cumulative rate of
343465.
[1:18:54] So with that court discussion, comments
[1:19:00] and if not entertain a motion.
[1:19:06] I will make the motion
to approve the 2026 tax rate for the
[1:19:13] 2027 Henderson County budget
general fund. 284576
[1:19:22] road and bridge fund
017687
[1:19:30] FMFC
0412
[1:19:37] equaling out to a 343465.
[1:19:44] I have a motion. Do we have a second?
I'll second the motion. Motion made by
[1:19:50] Commissioner McCam and second by
Commissioner Richardson to set the 2026
[1:19:57] tax rate for the 2027
Bud Henderson County budget budget as a
[1:20:04] cumulative rate of 343465
[1:20:10] with the
delineation of general fund at 284576.
[1:20:18] Six
road and bridge fund. 017687
[1:20:26] Farm to Market flood control at 0412.
[1:20:33] Court is there any further discussion?
If not, all those in favor?
[1:20:39] Passes unanimously.
Item 16 is receive financial reports
[1:20:46] court. These are the financial reports
from all of our courts. Uh they are will
[1:20:52] be available for viewing after court.
[1:20:57] Item 17 is consider and take action on
payroll distributions and accounts cash
[1:21:02] sheet of which we have none. And item 18
is consider and take action on submitted
[1:21:07] contracts of which there are none.
Item 19 is consider and take action on
[1:21:13] request for rideway permits. Yes.
Precinct one has one, precinct 2,
[1:21:19] precinct 3 has 10 and precinct 4.
>> Commissioner SP.
[1:21:25] » Yes, court. This is for proposed utility
line activity with bright speed to
[1:21:29] install residential fiber connections
within the rightway of Jones Drive which
[1:21:34] is 1562
ft buried. Mason Lane 671 ft buried and
[1:21:42] Austin Circle 732 feet aerial.
This is just what we've been bringing to
[1:21:47] court. These are just some different
roads.
[1:21:50] » Court questions.
>> If not to entertain the motion.
[1:21:54] » I'd like to make the motion to approve
the proposed utility line activity with
[1:21:59] broadspeed to do work on the in the
rideway to the four mission roads to
[1:22:03] install residential fiber connections
with the commissioner's authorization
[1:22:06] assigned.
[1:22:09] We have a second.
>> Second.
[1:22:12] » Motion made by Commissioner Spivey,
second by Commissioner Tulie to approve
[1:22:16] the routeway request from Bright Speed
for the installation of residential
[1:22:21] fiber connections within the rideway the
aforementioned locations with the county
[1:22:26] commissioner's authorization to sign. Is
there any further discussion? All those
[1:22:30] in favor? Passes unanimously.
Commissioner Tulie.
[1:22:36] » Yes. court. Uh mine's with Brat Speed
for a one and a quarter interduct at
[1:22:42] 9432 County Road 2514
uh Eustace for a footage of 369 ft.
[1:22:52] » Courts
hearing none. Judge, I move we approve
[1:22:56] the rightway uh utility line activity
for Bright Speed for a one and a quarter
[1:23:02] uh interduct at 9432 County Road 2514 in
Eustace 75124 for a footage of 369 ft uh
[1:23:11] with the commissioner's authorization to
sign.
[1:23:14] » I'll second his motion.
>> Motion made by Commissioner Tulie,
[1:23:17] second by Commissioner Richardson to
approve the rideway agreement with
[1:23:21] Bratspeed for the installation of the
1.25 25 interduct along county road 2514
[1:23:29] uh in Eustace with the commissioner's
authorization to sign. Is there any
[1:23:32] further discussion?
All those in favor?
[1:23:37] Passes unanimously by those present.
Commissioner Mckim.
[1:23:43] » Uh yes, I have I really have 11, but I'm
going to do uh one by itself and then
[1:23:48] the other 10 together.
>> Okay. Uh this is a notice of proposed
[1:23:52] utility line activity for Brightpreed of
Arkansas. It's for the new a new pole in
[1:23:59] place of an existing pole due to a
failed inspection. And this is uh
[1:24:10] on Sundown Road which is in Westwood
Beach.
[1:24:16] » Questions for the commissioner?
Entertain a motion.
[1:24:20] » I move to approve the notice of proposed
utility line activity for Bright Speed
[1:24:25] of Arkansas for new pole in place of an
existing pole due to failed inspection
[1:24:31] on uh
Sundown Road in Westwood Beach
[1:24:40] with a commissioner signature to
authorized.
[1:24:44] » Have a second. Second motion made by
Commissioner McCam and second by
[1:24:48] Commissioner Richardson to approve the
rideway agreement with Bratspeed of
[1:24:53] Arkansas for pole replacement due to
failed inspection on Sundown Road
[1:25:00] located in pre with the sorry Sundown
Road with the commissioner's
[1:25:05] authorization to sign. Is there any
further discussion?
[1:25:09] All those in favor? Passes unanimously
by those present. Commissioner,
[1:25:13] » these are uh also with Bright Speed 1.25
interduct which is house connections. Uh
[1:25:22] the first one is at 21329
Dulce Circle in Chandler.
[1:25:31] Next one's at 3575
Peninsula Drive Peninsula in Chandler.
[1:25:40] 3580 Peninsula in Chandler.
3562
[1:25:46] South Island Drive in Chandler.
[1:25:51] 3588 South Island Drive. Chandler
[1:25:58] 21900
Anchorage Drive in Chandler 3546 South
[1:26:05] Island Drive in Chandler. 21008
Lauderdale Lane in Chandler
[1:26:14] and 2984
Nature's Drive in Chandler with a
[1:26:19] commissioner signature and authorized.
>> Court questions.
[1:26:25] We have a second.
>> Second.
[1:26:28] All those in favor?
I'm sorry I didn't I didn't read it out.
[1:26:33] Let me start again.
All right. [gasps]
[1:26:36] There were 11.
>> Well, 10 we already did.
[1:26:40] » All right. Motion by Commissioner McCam,
second by Commissioner Richardson to
[1:26:46] approve the routeway agreements with
Bright Speed for the residential
[1:26:50] connections on the aforementioned roads
of of the 1.25
[1:26:56] um interduct
with the on the aforementioned roads
[1:27:00] with the commissioner's authorization to
sign. Is there any further discussion?
[1:27:05] All those in favor?
>> I wasn't in here.
[1:27:09] » Okay. Pass. Passes four to one.
>> Commissioner Riff.
[1:27:16] Yes, Court. This is a proposed utility
line activity for Bright Speed. Also, uh
[1:27:21] they have there's f five locations here.
They're all call for rideaways uh for
[1:27:30] connections of fiber going to
residential homes and uh they are 20551
[1:27:38] County Road 4402 in Chandler,
515 Cherokee Drive in Chandler,
[1:27:46] 4534 Quail Cut off in Chandler,
4440 Fullside Drive, Building 2 in
[1:27:54] Chandler, in 4380 Poolside Drive in
Chandler. [laughter]
[1:28:00] » Court questions.
Entertain a motion.
[1:28:04] » I'd like to make a motion uh to approve
the proposed utility line activity for
[1:28:08] Bright Speed to install residential
fiber connections within the rideway
[1:28:13] uh at the on the four mentioned roads as
per plan with commissioner's
[1:28:18] authorization sign.
I'll second
[1:28:21] » motion made by Commissioner Richson and
second by Commissioner Spivey to approve
[1:28:25] the rideway request with broadspeed for
the res the 1.25 residential connections
[1:28:31] on the aforementioned roads per plan
with the commissioner's authorization to
[1:28:35] sign. Any further discussion?
All those in favor? Passes unanimously.
[1:28:45] Item 20, consider and take action on
submitted budget amendments. Miss Monk,
[1:28:50] » I didn't have those today for the
court's approval. And I want to be aware
[1:28:54] that there are two items on there
regarding roofing that are part of the
[1:28:58] projects that Commissioner Cam mentioned
earlier. We're trying to take care of
[1:29:03] and the water litigation
donations on there also.
[1:29:13] Court questions.
>> I have one that just I just saw on mine.
[1:29:20] I have a line item
[1:29:24] for that facility's ground lease. Is
that coming out of Is that coming out of
[1:29:29] uh road material?
>> Yes.
[1:29:32] » Well, there's a line item in there for
that.
[1:29:34] » There was sufficient funds. So, I had to
pull the money from road materials
[1:29:38] recovery.
there was in uh
[1:29:43] » I'm increasing the facilities ground
lease by $18,000 because there's not
[1:29:48] budget money there.
>> Okay.
[1:29:56] [sighs]
>> Further questions?
[1:30:01] » If not, entertain a motion.
>> So move to approve.
[1:30:06] » I'll second the motion. Motion made by
Commissioner Tulie and second by
[1:30:10] Commissioner Richardson to approve the
budget amendments as presented. Any
[1:30:14] further discussion? All those in favor?
Passes unanimously.
[1:30:21] » And take action on payment of bills.
Miss Carpenter.
[1:30:24] » Yes, sir. I have two sets for you today.
Our first set is fier 2026
[1:30:28] county funded funds in the amount of
$3,556.79.
[1:30:35] » Commissioner Scott, any questions? No
questions, Judge.
[1:30:38] » Commissioner Tulie,
>> I have none.
[1:30:40] » Commissioner McCam,
>> I have none.
[1:30:42] » Commissioner Rich.
>> No questions, Judge.
[1:30:45] » Entertain a motion.
[1:30:48] » So, move to approve.
>> Second.
[1:30:51] » Motion made by Commissioner Spivey and
second by Commissioner Tulie to approve
[1:30:56] the
bills in the amount of $3,556.79
[1:31:03] as presented. Any further discussion?
All those in favor?
[1:31:08] It passes unanimously. Next set.
>> Our second set is fiscal year 2026 in
[1:31:13] the amount of 686,3118.
[1:31:18] » Commissioner Sty.
>> No questions. Judge.
[1:31:21] » Commissioner Tulie.
>> I have none.
[1:31:23] » Commissioner McCam.
>> None.
[1:31:25] » Commissioner Richardson.
>> No questions. Judge, entertain a motion.
[1:31:29] I'd like to make a motion approve the
fiscal year 2026 bills in the amount of
[1:31:33] $686,3118
[1:31:37] as presented.
>> I'll second his motion.
[1:31:39] » Motion made by Commissioner Rich and
second by Commissioner Spivey to approve
[1:31:43] the bills in the amount of $686,3118
[1:31:50] as presented. Any further discussion?
All those in favor? Passes unanimously.
[1:32:00] Item 22 is consider and take action on
submitted plans.
[1:32:07] » Commissioner Tulie.
>> Yes, Court. This is in the Pinnacle
[1:32:11] Club.
Uh
[1:32:15] in phase one, section B. It's replatting
lot 622 and 623,
[1:32:21] creating lot 622-R.
[1:32:27] Court questions
>> hearing none. Judge, I move we approve
[1:32:32] the Pinnacle Club Plat phase 1 section B
of re uh of lots 622 and 623
[1:32:41] creating a final plat of lot 622-R for
filing purposes only.
[1:32:46] » I'll second his motion. Motion made by
Commissioner Tulie and second by
[1:32:49] Commissioner Stying to approve the
Pinnacle the replat of Pinnacle Club
[1:32:55] phase 1 section B repling lots 622 and
623 creating lot 622R
[1:33:04] for filing purposes only. Any further
discussion? All those in favor passes
[1:33:10] unanimously.
[1:33:16] Item 23 is open and consider bids and
there are none today. And once we get
[1:33:23] everything signed, we will pick up item
24.
[1:34:26] Item number 24 is consider and take
action to adjurnn.
[1:34:30] » So move. I'll second the motion. Motion
made by Commissioner Tulie and second by
[1:34:35] Commissioner McCam to adjourn at 10:37.
Any further discussion?
[1:34:42] All those in favor? Passes unanimously.
Thank you for being with us today.