[0:00] order. Uh,

[0:02] it is still July the 27th.

[0:05] This is 2:00 in the afternoon. And we're back in session and

[0:08] Commissioner's Court is back in session in a budget workshop.

[0:13] And uh

[0:17] I guess the best place to start is the overall view of

[0:21] what we got Let me talk about procedure first. I think a lot of you probably are

[0:25] not familiar with this procedure. Uh, it is my duty as the County Judge to

[0:30] make a recommended budget to the court. Uh, the court can accept that

[0:35] recommendation, modify the recommendation, or refuse it. Come up

[0:38] with their own budget. Uh,

[0:41] procedurally that's what we're looking at here.

[0:44] Uh And we start with my recommended budget.

[0:48] My recommended budget, I mentioned this morning,

[0:50] technically was due to be filed tomorrow.

[0:54] It's not ready. So, we're working on trying to get it

[0:57] get something ready for recommendations. Uh

[1:01] Anything we talk about here today is not final

[1:05] because it's all subject to change, whether I change the recommendation or

[1:08] whether the court changes my recommendation for me.

[1:12] Uh So, let me kind of start with the big

[1:15] picture and we'll go up maybe 30, 35,000 ft, take a look at the big picture, and

[1:20] then try to come back down and focus on a few critical areas.

[1:24] First of all, uh

[1:27] we're talking about uh uh expenses and revenues.

[1:32] And with the Let's start with the revenues. What I have projected so far

[1:37] is uh $34 million in property tax revenue

[1:41] and approximately $20 million in non-tax revenue

[1:45] for a total of revenues of $54 million. Uh

[1:51] I'm projecting more expenses than that. This is the time for me to take a little

[1:55] footnote and explain to you what we do about

[1:58] budget culture. I've alluded to this in the past, but it is something that

[2:03] I've learned to live with. Uh,

[2:06] I don't like it. But I have to live with it.

[2:10] And it has to do with disclosed and undisclosed contingency

[2:14] funds. In my budget you will find a disclosed

[2:18] contingency fund. We'll talk about that.

[2:21] I'm telling you exactly how much money that I I propose that we set aside for

[2:25] contingencies. Now, having said that,

[2:30] I do not provide individual contingencies for each department or

[2:34] office. And what we have learned historically,

[2:39] and I'm talking about this is this is you know, when I came into office this

[2:43] is I asked about why we did it this way and they said because we always have

[2:47] done it this way. So, I'm not defending the propriety or

[2:52] effectiveness of it or efficaciousness of it.

[2:55] But it is nonetheless reality. And that is that each department head

[3:00] and each elected official that prepares a budget and has input

[3:04] into in code that that we assemble all this information to come up with this

[3:08] projection. There are ways that

[3:12] uh office office department heads and

[3:15] elected officials protect themselves in projecting sometimes what is what I call

[3:20] the undisclosed contingency. What's in there that I don't know.

[3:25] And sometimes that's just a calculated risk. You know, you look at it say is is

[3:29] that really going to happen this year? Do I need to put it in the budget for

[3:31] this year? Or do you look at it every year and say

[3:34] just in case it happens I want to have the funds in my budget.

[3:39] Those usually are never disclosed, rarely known, and by the end of the

[3:45] budget year, just like we're coming up on the end of the 25-26 fiscal year,

[3:51] uh we discover what is not spent. When we learn what's not spent,

[3:58] uh, and we can do a pretty reasonable projection as well what is needed to the

[4:01] end of this fiscal year, which would be the end of September.

[4:04] Uh, and we can project the the the surplus

[4:08] that we're going to have in the budget. And those are real dollars.

[4:13] Uh, they're they're in the budget. They they they've been allotted and spoken

[4:18] for, uh, but they're unspent because whatever contingency it was that that

[4:23] contemplated did not occur.

[4:25] Or if it occurred, not at that expense, not that rate.

[4:30] And so every year we had this, uh, un- un- unidentified surplus

[4:37] that was not really we couldn't really figure out what it was. This and this

[4:40] goes back Don and I've been doing this too long, but long enough to know that,

[4:46] uh, and and Commissioner Baloo was probably the one that came up with the

[4:48] best phrase for it. And what he called budget culture.

[4:53] And it's just part of our budget culture.

[4:57] And so when you look at this difference between 62 million in expenses and 54

[5:01] million dollars in income, part of what is included in that is this

[5:06] budget culture because we know not all the funds that get budgeted will get

[5:10] spent. Uh,

[5:14] now, some of the funds in this budget provide for capital outlays. That means

[5:19] that we're spending money uh, for capital improvements of one kind

[5:22] or another. There's about 900,000 dollars in straight purchase for the

[5:26] capital budget. And when you purchase, there's kind of I

[5:29] look at it from two points of view. One,

[5:33] you can buy it outright. We do that frequently. Some of the

[5:36] things we buy are pretty expensive and we may or may not, uh, want to pay all

[5:41] of it up front. Uh,

[5:44] another thing we can do is we can have leases.

[5:47] Uh, and then one that the the that technique

[5:50] that I've taken to is sometimes we just take some of these

[5:53] smaller capital outlays, aggregate them together,

[5:56] borrow the money uh

[5:59] from our our our our lender. Uh

[6:02] They pay for it that way and then pay it back over time. It's an amortized debt.

[6:06] So, we take some expenses, aggregate them, uh borrow the money,

[6:11] and then pay it back on a regular installment payment of some

[6:14] sort. Uh and those show up in this budget,

[6:16] also. Uh as well as as as the leases.

[6:21] Uh this particular year, we're we're

[6:24] working on some of the last of our ARPA funds.

[6:28] Uh those were the uh those were funds that were hotly

[6:31] contested, if you remember, at the beginning, uh that have been used very

[6:35] wisely. In fact, without those funds, I don't think we'd have the communication

[6:39] system that we have with the sheriff's office. That definitely saved lives and

[6:44] saved property damage. Uh being able to have that type of communication system.

[6:49] Uh and it was a investment well spent.

[6:53] Uh we used the ARPA funds to do that because it was one of the items that

[6:57] appeared to be I won't say impossible, but very

[7:02] difficult for the federal government to claw back.

[7:05] And we were concerned about the claw back provisions. Uh

[7:08] we didn't want to take the government money, spend the government money, then

[7:12] have them say that what we spent it for was not the appropriate thing to spend

[7:16] the money that they gave us, uh

[7:18] and then claw it back and have us repay them.

[7:20] So, we tried to avoid that and and and by purchasing all of that communication

[7:26] system in one department, and having it all signed off on up front, uh proved to

[7:31] be uh the wise thing to do.

[7:36] Um

[7:39] I have included in my proposed budget, we'll talk about the numbers here in a

[7:43] minute. I've included in my proposed budget

[7:45] uh an increase

[7:49] This kind of stuff.

[7:52] In this first draft of my proposed budget.

[7:56] Okay? Uh

[7:57] I have I intend to change it. That's one of the reasons that I've we're slow to

[8:01] complete this budget. I propose to change that, but I have

[8:05] included a wage adjustment. And for those of you that are unfamiliar with

[8:10] our terminology, we do not use the word COLA,

[8:14] the acronym COLA uh cost of living adjustment because

[8:19] we never adjusted to the cost of living. Not in Not Not a single time I've been

[8:24] here have we adjusted to what the actual cost of living was.

[8:27] So, rather than be hypocritical and call it a COLA

[8:30] and wink and pretend that it is uh

[8:33] I tried to get honest about it and say this is just a wage adjustment.

[8:37] And you'll you'll notice that we have schedules anywhere from a percent uh up

[8:42] to 3% just to so so we can see what it's going to cost us to to do.

[8:47] Uh In this budget, I put in an initial 2

[8:50] and 1/2% wage adjustment. In this proposed budget, and again, I'm

[8:56] proposing to change that, but I want that disclaimer up front so that you

[8:59] know uh

[9:01] I have another idea. Uh we'll talk about that in a minute.

[9:06] Uh

[9:09] There are there's always the issue of new hires.

[9:13] And I've I've learned uh

[9:17] uh I've learned to work with the sheriff and not against the sheriff. Uh he has a

[9:21] plan, and that plan includes a new a new a new patrol deputy every year.

[9:26] It took us a couple of sessions to figure that out, but we've

[9:30] I figured it out. And so, he builds that into his budget.

[9:33] And And there's not anything wrong with that. We just got to figure out how to

[9:36] pay for it. Okay?

[9:39] Uh this year a grant opportunity came

[9:41] along. I discussed it a little bit in the last workshop.

[9:44] Uh but this grant opportunity, and we applied for this grant.

[9:48] Uh it was a short-fuse grant application process.

[9:53] Uh and

[9:56] it was with what which which federal >> It's called the Biden Grant.

[10:00] » The Biden >> There's an acronym for it.

[10:02] » The Biden Grant. Okay. Anyway,

[10:06] uh it's for law enforcement and it relates to

[10:10] border enforcement. And uh there are very few

[10:15] few counties in the in the country uh that have applied for this grant.

[10:20] And there's billions of dollars sitting there

[10:22] uh waiting to be granted uh

[10:26] to a deserving uh applicant uh and no one's doing it.

[10:31] And the sheriff came to me with his his his

[10:34] his advisers. Uh and we had a very candid conversation

[10:37] around the round table in my office about this grant opportunity, but it

[10:42] didn't coincide with our budget schedule.

[10:45] Uh budget schedule is we've already blown the schedule, as you

[10:49] know, but but the the schedule is that we we try

[10:52] to get the budget uh recommended budget to the the court uh

[10:57] for review and approval by the end of July.

[11:00] And then normally we spend the month of August working on tax rate. Uh

[11:04] in this case we're we're we're kind of crowding each other.

[11:09] I'm crowding extending out the budget uh because of

[11:12] the the flood emergency and and disaster declaration to get it up into mid-August

[11:18] uh and we're simultaneously trying to to work on our tax rate

[11:23] in response to that. But this opportunity that was presented

[11:28] uh I think there's three

[11:31] three stages uh and and it's not all at once, but uh

[11:38] uh it is a significant grant.

[11:41] Uh enough

[11:44] We're talking about what is many as what a half a dozen?

[11:46] » Yes, sir. >> patrolmen

[11:49] Uh that is a significant increase in our

[11:53] capacity to protect the citizens of Kerr County.

[11:57] And but there's there's this this timing glitch and Sheriff and I looked at one

[12:00] another, nodded, uh and agreed we'd take the risk.

[12:05] Rather than trying to put this in the budget because

[12:08] uh patrolmen are not cheap.

[12:13] They're worth it, but they're not cheap.

[12:16] Uh and when you put them in the budget, you

[12:18] got to find some way to to raise the money

[12:21] to pay them. And

[12:24] the most customary way is to raise the tax rates.

[12:30] And I wouldn't believe at the point, but in the 7 years that I've been in this

[12:33] job, we have not raised the tax rate one time. Not once.

[12:37] My first year, when I was learning and uh we didn't have an auditor at the

[12:40] time, uh

[12:44] the the first assistant and I got a budget out with no tax rate at the same

[12:49] rate it was the year before. Uh

[12:52] and kind of dodged the bullet. And then every year after that, we have reduced

[12:55] it to the no new tax rate limit date. Uh in compliance with the legislative

[12:59] mandate that we got, that's what they wanted us to do, so we complied with

[13:02] that. And that has been true for the last 6

[13:05] years. With this grant opportunity is an

[13:09] opportunity for us to continue that tradition.

[13:12] And uh we'll know a little bit later in August where we stand on on on on step

[13:17] number one uh cuz it is a three-step process to get all of it.

[13:22] Uh but uh that has been factored into in budget by

[13:26] not including uh

[13:28] the regular deputy that he would ask for.

[13:31] And that would be a new hire. And in this budget I have not included

[13:37] hiring for any new positions. Not saying that they might not be

[13:41] needed. I'm just saying that I don't think we have the financial ability

[13:46] to service that at this time. So

[13:50] then uh

[13:56] talked a little bit about what I propose to put in the budget with

[14:00] regard to the wage adjustment response. That has to do with steps and

[14:05] grades. And

[14:08] not not to beat that horse to death, but our compensation system where you found

[14:14] that because we if we're using across the board wage adjustment increase,

[14:18] whether it's 1% 2 and 1/2% that I have built into this proposal or whatever it

[14:23] is, ultimately

[14:26] the people who benefit the most from that

[14:29] are the top wage earners. Because they have bigger numbers and the

[14:32] percentage of that number means they get paid more.

[14:38] In the salary study that was performed by

[14:42] What's Mr. Werling's first name? I forget it.

[14:45] Huh? Steve. Steve. Steve Werling.

[14:49] And by the way, we checked Steve Werling out. He's got he he's done this for many

[14:52] many many public entities.

[14:55] And I got a sterling representation recommendation for him from ACOG. You

[15:01] know, I've served on that board for a number of years myself.

[15:05] And uh he did a salary study last year that we

[15:09] were unable to address. We're just in the middle of crisis

[15:12] times. Not that we're not now, but we were back then.

[15:16] And I didn't have time to really wrestle

[15:20] with his proposal on the salary study.

[15:25] This year, what I'm trying to do is to incorporate that salary study into

[15:30] the budget. And what that's going to do is more

[15:33] fairly represent a living wage for our employees.

[15:39] And it's broken down into quartiles, first, second, third, and fourth.

[15:44] And our goal is to try to get everyone up into at least the second quartile.

[15:50] So that they're If you think about high, low, and medium, I try to get them in

[15:54] the medium salary range for their peers in the workplace.

[15:58] And uh but

[16:01] that that's what that's one of the the blanks that I've left in this and just

[16:04] put this placeholder number that I was telling you about. That placeholder

[16:07] number is there so we can figure out what to do about

[16:10] the salary situation and the wage adjustment.

[16:14] And that number that I've got place held in the in the budget is $657,000.

[16:23] Uh the last thing that I'll share with you

[16:25] before we get into the the numbers, and y'all don't have the paperwork that we

[16:28] have, uh which make make it a little bit more

[16:31] difficult, but it's all being recorded, so you can go back and check it.

[16:36] But uh

[16:38] the recommendation from TAC and the representation from

[16:43] uh state authorities, and I'll leave it

[16:47] vague and just say state authorities, is that we try to keep 3 months' worth

[16:51] of funds in our fund balance

[16:55] uh to be able to fund the government for 3 months if something happens.

[17:01] And so that's 25%. And so to those of us that work on

[17:05] budget, uh 25% is kind of the the goal. We look at try to have 25%.

[17:13] We've been successful in years past at being able to maintain a fund balance a

[17:16] little bit larger than that uh simply because of the budget culture because

[17:21] the money gets spent. So, we kept it in the bank.

[17:24] Uh and then last year uh we took a little over 12 and 1/2

[17:29] million dollars of that and put it into the budget that we took out of the fund

[17:33] balance uh because we had uh accumulated that uh

[17:39] budget culture money uh to try to offset uh

[17:44] what would have been the deficit in the budget uh

[17:47] in order for us to be able to adopt the no new revenue rate.

[17:51] So, that's our goal is to try to keep 25% there.

[17:55] So, one of the things that we always have when you see these spreadsheets at

[17:59] the very last column at the very bottom, it tells you uh what that percentage is.

[18:08] Uh and in this one what we're looking at is

[18:12] right at the 25%. Uh

[18:17] We if we go on the basis of the

[18:21] And so, the this has 25.69%

[18:25] is where we have it even with the placeholder in there to adopt the salary

[18:28] study rate wages. So, that's the overview

[18:33] of one page here that has all the numbers on it

[18:37] uh that we try to put in it. And then we'll

[18:40] go and talking about some of the component parts

[18:43] uh what I wanted to do was make you aware

[18:46] of some of the things that I've included

[18:49] and some of the things that I have not included.

[18:52] So, I'll pass that. Let's talk about new

[18:56] positions. I didn't put new positions in there.

[19:00] And uh

[19:03] But for the grand opportunity we would have had to put some new positions in

[19:07] there. But with the grand opportunity uh Um, we

[19:10] have successfully avoided that thus far in the recommendation.

[19:16] Then we get to special request. And uh

[19:20] there are different things that come from different folks.

[19:25] When you talk about special requests that comes out of the HR department.

[19:30] Uh, when I'm talking about capital outlay, which we'll talk about in a

[19:33] minute, that comes from the accounting.

[19:38] Auditor. And uh

[19:44] to make sure that everybody remember something that I've I've said several

[19:47] times that I don't know how many people really think about what I'm saying.

[19:50] But uh

[19:53] the auditor is hired by the district judges on behalf of the state of Texas

[19:59] to monitor what we do with the money, how we spend it, how we budget it.

[20:05] And she reports back to the district judges. She does not report

[20:09] to us. She is for all practical purposes the watchdog to make sure that we spend

[20:15] the money wisely. And that we spend the money appropriately.

[20:19] And so uh that office deals with the capital

[20:23] uh outlays while special requests come from HR.

[20:27] They new positions also, but uh and then they they they didn't mention

[20:32] me when I told them we weren't going to do any new positions, but

[20:35] um, the only reason we're able to do that is because of that grant

[20:37] opportunity. And then uh

[20:42] so those are the the moving parts to the budget.

[20:47] Now, uh with cap with regard to capital outlays,

[20:51] uh

[20:56] I'm looking and for what I can say in that bag.

[21:02] I have not recommended all the uh recommended or proposed capital

[21:07] outlays. Um

[21:11] For example, with regard to the

[21:16] jail,

[21:18] this is a $10,000 item.

[21:25] I forget what that is, Sheriff, the $37,000 one?

[21:29] » Uh what does it say?

[21:31] » That's the Durango up one above Durango up one of those up operating equipment

[21:35] replacements. >> SCAP SCAP A A A A A A

[21:39] » Yeah, that that's why I was using SCAP money for that. Yeah, and that's that's

[21:42] what that's what I recommended here in my budget is to recommend that it be

[21:44] paid out of SCAP fund. I can't tell you exactly what SCAP is.

[21:48] He can and he manages it well, but he does have

[21:52] other revenues available to cut to cover some of these costs and that was one of

[21:56] them that I recommended. Another one that I had issues about

[22:02] are several of them in road and bridge. One had to do with the $650,000

[22:07] improvement at a Cave Springs, which is that in Cypress Springs. I think that's

[22:11] Precinct 4. I think Precinct 4.

[22:15] And that that's road and bridge work in in the very high-class neighborhood.

[22:21] Then we had road and bridge had another recommendation.

[22:26] This is something that we know is inevitable and we need to decide are we

[22:30] going to try to fund it now or we going to try to do it in installments, what we

[22:33] want to do about it, and that's repaving the parking lot at Hill Country Youth

[22:37] Event Center. And that was a $187,000

[22:41] plus proposal that I did not recommend at this point.

[22:46] It's going to have to be done. We're probably going to have to do it in

[22:48] stages, maybe over 4 years or I don't know what we're going to be able to do.

[22:54] But I didn't recommend that at this time.

[22:57] And then another one that's been brought to my attention is the Flat Rock Park

[23:02] uh road uh which is gone again.

[23:06] » Can I Can I speak to that? >> Please.

[23:08] » I I drove with the other day. Had to meet a gentleman down there uh at the

[23:12] boat ramp and I drove it We just We just did a heck of a job paving it last year.

[23:17] » Yeah, I know it. >> It had looked great. Now it's gone. Uh

[23:20] and if y'all been down there uh it makes a big circle, the bottom portion.

[23:28] The portion closest to the road up the hill

[23:32] there's spots that are washed out. And it's not a total redo. Down below is

[23:37] pretty much a total redo. And I mentioned it to Kelly the other day and

[23:42] I said, "Why you know uh

[23:44] why don't we just make that a caliche road rather than repaving it and save a

[23:48] few bucks that way?" And she said, "Oh, we'd love that cuz we don't have any

[23:52] place to train our new people on run a maintainer and and run a blade and

[23:56] stuff." And so the proximity would be great. Uh then Donnie Hatton said, "You

[24:02] know, uh probably the the road closest that wasn't completely ruined, probably

[24:08] that that leads to the dog park and stuff. Re-chip seal it, but then maybe

[24:14] the caliche." So I don't She's not here. I don't know what that would cost, but

[24:18] you know, it's a basically $9,600 I don't know. It might be my

[24:24] recommendation just leave it in there, Judge, and uh

[24:27] and it uh cuz it will take some money just for

[24:30] caliche as well. Uh plus the the redo on that one road that's not

[24:36] totally demolished. >> But that's that's one of one of That's a

[24:40] good example of one of the things that we're that's in play.

[24:44] We're trying to figure out what to do, what's the best thing to

[24:46] » Hey, Judge, to to go back the uh Hill Country Youth Exhibition Center

[24:53] » Yes. >> We've got that money from Spectrum that

[24:55] they received and that's the reason we're removing that from this budget.

[24:59] Remember we collected that we got that >> I remember the funds.

[25:03] » Right. They They will be using that to pay for this.

[25:05] » So, we take that the whole $187,000 out of the budget.

[25:08] » Well, we're saying it'll probably get done

[25:10] » Right. >> regardless.

[25:11] » So, I'll put zero in the budget because we're going to use the funds that we we

[25:14] earned from TEMA for the

[25:16] 25 25 flood. >> Right.

[25:19] » Okay. >> Good.

[25:21] » Take it off the backs of the taxpayer. >> Now, let me kind of back up a little bit

[25:25] and give you an idea of some of the things

[25:27] that I try to do in the budget. Uh

[25:30] Let's talk about IT. IT has major capital expenditure requests this year.

[25:35] And we've got old servers that need to be replaced.

[25:37] And there's nothing inexpensive about that.

[25:41] It's about 3/4 of a million dollars. Uh and so, I look at do I purchase? Do I

[25:46] lease? Uh do I finance?

[25:50] I put that one in the budget to go ahead and pay for outright.

[25:53] Uh I've got other things in the budget. Uh

[25:57] Uh got a lease that I proposed to be leased that wouldn't that would include

[26:02] uh

[26:04] the uh

[26:07] car equipment for JP Precinct the Constable not JP Constable Precinct 3.

[26:13] Uh I'm putting these things together to be financed, okay? Or or or to be

[26:17] leased. Uh KCSO I've got in there. I got another $430,000 on the lease, which is

[26:23] the enterprise lease. for the vehicles. Uh

[26:28] And I've got another $25,000 for the Ag Extension over there that I I put in

[26:34] there.

[26:37] Then as we move through the other projects,

[26:42] uh one of the big ones is for Road and

[26:46] Bridge. Uh and this is for equipment.

[26:49] And I've got in here two patch trucks, uh

[26:53] JD tractor, John Deere I guess, and JD shredder, three dump trucks,

[27:00] uh Brosch broom, motor grader, and a wheel

[27:04] loader. And those are all

[27:06] uh items that have are in the budget, but I put them in there as debt.

[27:12] So, we intend to borrow. We're going to take that. That's a million

[27:17] 6 6 uh in there. We're going to take that

[27:20] along with some of these other things, and we're going to go to our lender to

[27:24] borrow the money at a low low interest rate loan, and pay it back over time.

[27:27] These are installment payments, basically what that comes down to.

[27:32] And so, those are items that we have in the capital outlay. We have in the

[27:36] capital outlay, one of the other things that I have to address are the balance

[27:38] of those ARPA funds. Uh

[27:41] and we're going to spend the last of the ARPA funds this year.

[27:46] And that that is for a total of a million 547.

[27:51] The last ARPA funds that we have, uh and those are figured into the budget

[27:56] for the uh communication system

[28:00] and grant works. So, that's

[28:04] uh

[28:06] kind of an overview of

[28:10] that.

[28:20] » And that flood recovery, is that from last year, or is that new for what

[28:24] you're guestimating at this time? >> That's the 25.

[28:26] » Yeah. That's what it is.

[28:30] » We haven't got 20 >> Yeah.

[28:31] » 26 into it yet. >> That's up here.

[28:34] » Well, >> Yeah, that's fine.

[28:35] » Just trying to be realistic. >> Well, I know. I'm asking. That's all.

[28:40] » Okay.

[28:44] So, that's kind of the overview of what I what I've done in my proposal.

[28:49] Uh with regard to the special request, we talked about those a little bit last

[28:53] time. Uh

[28:55] and uh I've made this representation to the

[28:58] people that are affected by the recommendations that I have made to

[29:01] date. Okay? And that is that uh

[29:07] if the recommendations that I've made in response to the special request are

[29:11] greater than what's in the salary study that I'm trying to incorporate into the

[29:15] budget, then we'll go with the greater rate

[29:18] because that's there've been that employees expect expectation

[29:22] because I've already been already announced what I was recommending.

[29:25] Uh and if it's less, then we'll give them

[29:28] the higher rate of what's in the uh salary

[29:31] salary study. And so uh what we started off with last

[29:34] time was we had in the sheriff's office, we had

[29:38] uh two administrative recommendations,

[29:41] uh one for an executive assistant and another one for the dispatcher.

[29:45] Uh and I was recommending that the

[29:48] executive administrative assistant that be dealt with some of the the

[29:53] sheriff's other funds that he has available to try to do that so we don't

[29:56] build into the grade and step. Uh and with regard to the

[30:01] uh dispatcher,

[30:04] uh they they were requests for

[30:07] uh I'm looking here.

[30:10] Five grades and yeah, five grades.

[30:15] And uh a grade translates into what? About

[30:19] $6,000? Something like that?

[30:24] I think a step is about three. And steps are usually about half of the

[30:27] grade. Ballpark.

[30:29] Uh and uh

[30:33] what I recommended there was uh two grades and two steps. And that's

[30:37] because that position I think is is been underpaid.

[30:43] And I don't say this in a negative way Sheriff, but

[30:46] well used, maybe not overused, but definitely during the the 2025 flood

[30:52] uh I'm telling you

[30:55] they were a lifesaver. Truly.

[30:58] Truly a lifesaver. Uh

[31:00] and it's it's time to bring uh them up to competitive rates, to

[31:04] market to market rates. Then I looked at uh

[31:09] and then you've got a SB 22 in there. >> Yes, sir.

[31:11] » We talked about that a little bit this morning.

[31:13] The one where we have to put the clause in there that that they get to decide

[31:16] how to spend the money. We can't tell them what to do with it.

[31:19] So, he's SB 22 in there. He's spending the money that the legislature is giving

[31:22] him legislature is giving him. Uh and I can't I can't mess with it. I

[31:26] don't. I respect it. Uh and so that that request was included in my budget.

[31:33] Then we get to IT.

[31:38] I and I struggle with this one because

[31:43] I I wish I could do more.

[31:47] I really do. Uh

[31:49] I can't tell you how improved our IT department is.

[31:53] Uh we have uh

[31:56] an IT department that is the envy of local governments right now.

[32:01] And uh that is attributable to Corey's

[32:04] leadership. And uh

[32:08] I haven't forgotten uh

[32:10] when he came and applied and uh did his interview

[32:15] uh we asked him how much he wanted to be paid and he told us uh and within a

[32:19] month he realized that he had undersold himself and came back and talked to us

[32:22] again. And uh

[32:25] I I believe uh somebody at this table said well you signed a contract to to do

[32:30] it for the original rate, so just stay at the original rate.

[32:32] » I think I resemble resembled that. >> I think you You resemble that remark,

[32:35] but but

[32:38] And and and there was nothing wrong with it.

[32:41] I mean, it's fair. And uh

[32:43] I will tell you that Corey uh swallowed hard,

[32:47] accepted it, uh owned up to his responsibility of

[32:51] having signed to do it at that rate, and did it.

[32:54] And I have the utmost respect for that. Truly do.

[32:58] Uh and then we get into the performance.

[33:01] Woo. Off the charts.

[33:04] Uh And he asked for a raise, and uh

[33:08] I recommend every penny he asked for. That's what I put in there.

[33:13] Now, he's got a great staff, and and and he's built a staff. Uh

[33:18] a staff that is also becoming the envy of local governments in the

[33:22] area. Uh

[33:24] And so, I'm trying to accommodate that, uh

[33:27] while at the same time trying to balance how much money do we have to spend to do

[33:30] this, but that's a department that needs to be recognized.

[33:34] Uh And so, for for example,

[33:37] and uh these go by positions. They don't have names on them. We're not going to

[33:40] talk about names in open court like this, but

[33:43] uh I'm recommending that uh

[33:46] uh See, Corey

[33:49] asked for just a shade under $6,000. 5,943,

[33:54] I think. Uh and I'm approving that. I'm putting

[33:56] that in my recommended budget. Uh his number two,

[34:00] uh

[34:03] he asked for a grade and two steps, and I'm recommending the two steps.

[34:09] That's what I what I recommended on that.

[34:12] Uh which be be an increase of a little over

[34:15] $3,600 per year.

[34:18] Uh Next down, he had one that he was

[34:21] recommending uh four grades,

[34:24] and uh uh

[34:27] four grades and four steps.

[34:32] And truthfully, he's worth every penny.

[34:36] Truly is. I'm not going to give you his name, but

[34:38] he's worth it. Uh

[34:41] and I'm recommending four steps, and that's going to be a little over that's

[34:44] $5,531.

[34:48] To at least begin to try to get him up to market rate.

[34:51] Uh then there's what, two others after that?

[34:55] Uh and uh

[34:59] I think both of them were recommended two grades and

[35:03] two steps, and I'm recommending two steps for each of them.

[35:08] Uh and that is that those are compromised

[35:10] figures for me. Uh I'm trying to recognize

[35:15] uh the accomplishment

[35:17] and the quality. Uh

[35:20] And uh hopefully entice them to stay with us,

[35:24] work with us. We're trying to get there. We're trying to get the salary study in

[35:27] place so that they know what to expect and plan on for the future.

[35:31] » And Judge, I guess that's my question. How does

[35:34] the ask compare to the salary survey data that you've been looking at?

[35:38] » I haven't gone back to double-check those, but I think they're they're

[35:41] they're they're competitive.

[35:43] If anything, maybe a little low. >> So, if I can if I may comment on that a

[35:48] little bit to your question, the ask actually came in right below

[35:54] each of the salary study numbers.

[35:57] So, my ask didn't quite get to the salary

[36:00] study. It's a little bit below that, but uh

[36:04] if I may comment on the the reason for the

[36:07] grade changes

[36:09] was to more closely match >> Say that again, more what?

[36:15] You know what, start over cuz they're off camera, so you can be on camera.

[36:19] » All right. So, the the initial ask for this year was to

[36:23] try and get to the salary study. And my numbers actually come in right

[36:27] below it. Actually, honestly, um

[36:30] Uh, and that's

[36:32] I'm trying to be fair and realistic at the same time for my guys.

[36:36] Uh, but also the for the two grade changes requests, that

[36:41] was more of a of a reason to more accurately

[36:47] identify their roles and responsibilities based on those

[36:51] positions. So, that's why the grade changes was the ask.

[36:56] » Well, I think we may be driving down different

[36:59] roads going to the same place. >> Yes, sir.

[37:01] » We're trying to get there. >> Yes, sir.

[37:03] » Uh, and what I represented to you and I stand by is that uh

[37:08] anyone that I have disclosed publicly what my recommendations were before we

[37:12] get to the salary study, uh

[37:16] if the salary study is greater than what I recommended, we'll go with the salary

[37:19] study for the moment. >> Appreciate that.

[37:21] » And uh because that's that's the competitive thing that we're trying to

[37:24] trying to get competitive with our with our

[37:26] with our other governmental entities. Uh, and uh

[37:32] if you'd asked for a little bit more, I'd have gone with it, too, but

[37:35] » Thank you, sir. >> But uh

[37:38] you're a very vital part of this team and we're trying we're trying we're

[37:40] trying to keep you happy. So So, thank you.

[37:42] » That's a great team.

[37:45] » Okay, uh there was a part-time request uh for JP

[37:50] Precinct 4. I approved that. That's going to be

[37:52] included in my recommended budget. I think you're going to have a lot of work

[37:55] getting things organized in Precinct 4. >> Could be.

[37:59] » That's just That's my humble opinion. Uh,

[38:03] and then there was uh I I got asked a lot of questions about

[38:07] this. The tax assessor-collector, Bob Reems.

[38:10] Uh

[38:12] And I think he was trying I think he was trying to be fair with us. I honestly

[38:15] do. And he asked for a one-step increase in

[38:18] his entire staff. And uh

[38:22] I was asked uh why? Because he asked for it.

[38:27] And I didn't bother to go rattle the cages and

[38:33] bang on the doors of all the other department heads and officials when I

[38:36] came to the conclusion that what I really wanted to recommend was a salary

[38:39] study. And so rather than go

[38:44] shake those trees >> Okay.

[38:46] » uh I'm going to go with the the recommended salary study which you will

[38:48] find this is going to be very good. >> Okay.

[38:52] Uh it was the fairness that kind of

[38:55] disturbed me. Only one department totally across the boards when the

[38:58] guidance that I remember Commissioner Harris giving and and a few others

[39:02] echoed it was don't ask.

[39:05] Was that Did I get that right? For salary.

[39:08] So I'm not saying that we shouldn't do

[39:11] anything. I'm just saying, you know I didn't see this as necessarily being

[39:15] fair to other departments that could have made and probably would have made

[39:19] very similar requests had they thought it was acceptable to do

[39:23] so.

[39:26] Just my two cents. >> Well, and and this was made and I tried

[39:29] to respond to it >> Okay.

[39:32] » fairly. Um

[39:35] But all of this will be subsumed if we go ahead and adopt that uh the whirling

[39:38] salary study. Now

[39:42] uh in terms of special request, the last

[39:44] ones that were made were the veteran services offices and we

[39:47] we went over this what within the last four or five months.

[39:52] Uh and and and tried to right size that back then. Still comfortable with the

[39:56] decisions that we made a few months ago. Uh and we'll take a look at that next

[40:00] next go. So those are the special requests which

[40:02] go in here. And uh

[40:08] And then we get to the the wage adjustments.

[40:12] And uh I put a two and a half percent in here.

[40:16] Uh and I I want to make sure that everybody understands the amount of

[40:18] money that we're talking about and how this works.

[40:21] 1% And remember,

[40:25] I'm a believer that the wage adjustment is not fair to all concerned.

[40:29] » Okay. >> That's it.

[40:31] 1% uh would be an estimated increase of wages

[40:36] of $210,375.

[40:39] And then we have the roll up cost which would be uh retirement cost

[40:44] benefits cost which we we always average in that 25%

[40:48] and that's been pretty accurate. >> year.

[40:50] » So, that would cost the county uh $263,000

[40:54] on the park. Within a few couple couple hundred dollars.

[40:58] uh And uh that's for 1%.

[41:03] In the budget I put in 2.5%

[41:07] which is that $657,000 number that we talked about earlier.

[41:10] That's what that total comes to.

[41:14] And uh what I have decided to do, rather than

[41:18] try to do the wage adjustment I want to incorporate and put in

[41:23] uh uh

[41:25] the budget salary of the the the budget study

[41:28] uh for that placeholder number 257. That's

[41:31] what I'm trying to do. So, instead of everybody getting 2.5%

[41:35] across the board uh we take and we try to adjust each

[41:39] individual employee per the studied uh study guidelines from uh Steven Wrenn.

[41:45] uh and and and keep that in the budget.

[41:47] What I'm trying to do uh

[41:50] and and uh this may sound a little

[41:55] nostalgic, but to leave a legacy here that we're going to look at our

[41:59] employees individually. Uh and the salary study is good for

[42:03] about 2 years. This is what I think is the last real effective year of this

[42:06] salary study. But, it's a start. And if we do this, it's going to make

[42:10] the budgeting process a whole lot more straightforward and a whole lot simpler

[42:13] every year if you take a look at it to see

[42:16] who who deserves a raise and who doesn't.

[42:18] And not just put them in a class and say, you well, you're grade 14, you're

[42:22] grade 16, this is what you get. And the steps are more individualized.

[42:27] » So Judge, I agree with everything you said,

[42:32] but what when you're looking at the whirling study,

[42:38] we're not talking about implementing that across the board for every

[42:40] employee. >> I think he is.

[42:43] » Are you Is that what you're what you're saying?

[42:46] Are you saying within the limits of the ones that have applied to the special

[42:49] request? >> I was doing it across the board.

[42:52] » Yeah, man. That's where it should be done.

[42:55] » That's That's the 600 >> Is that where that 658,000

[42:59] » The 657 is an extrapolated number, okay?

[43:03] » Mhm. >> That's the 2 and 1/2%

[43:06] that I had originally included in my budget as a recommendation.

[43:11] And what I'm doing on that is waffling. Okay?

[43:14] Admitting what I'm doing here, I'm waffling a little bit. So I I prefer to

[43:17] take a look at this and do it individually.

[43:20] And try to address each one of these employees individually.

[43:24] And I'm I'm looking at back there at at my HR director and and her assistant.

[43:28] I'm I'm I'm saying this right, aren't I?

[43:32] Uh and so uh in response to well, Bob asked for a

[43:37] step and so Bob got a step, but they didn't ask for a step. And I've talked

[43:41] to Nadine. >> Yes, sir.

[43:43] » You're You're back there, okay. >> Yes, sir.

[43:45] » And she told me, if I'd have known you'd given me a step,

[43:48] I'd ask for it. Well, see, everybody would, right?

[43:50] » Exactly. >> So,

[43:52] what I'm trying to do is to be fair to everyone and do it all at one time.

[43:56] » Right. >> And

[43:58] uh absorb this this pain, if you will, this financial pain, this year and set

[44:04] in motion precedent for the future. That's what I'm trying to do with that.

[44:09] And if you don't do it, you don't do it. But it's not up to me. I just make the

[44:14] recommendations. It's up to this court. And what this court decides.

[44:18] » I support your approach. I like what you're trying to do.

[44:22] But until I see the number, you know, what I would suggest is you set it up in

[44:26] a way that we can still play with uh what amounts

[44:31] to to

[44:33] » two and a half >> two and a half to three, you know.

[44:35] » Well, I'm good I'm I'm looking at my HR department back there cuz I know that I

[44:39] got good numbers, countries. >> Um if if I may, I think that is the plan

[44:44] that we kind of discussed when we all got together is what you said. We're

[44:48] going to take the $657,000 and do the best we can, but it will be a

[44:54] system-wide moving everybody to a certain point. I

[45:00] know that in there even um

[45:03] if if you're in a certain spot with the wage adjustment, you're making more than

[45:10] than what the salary study shows, you may only get a 1% raise. If you're

[45:15] making even more than that, you may only get the $500. I think it's roughly what

[45:20] we were looking at the highest. >> I'm on that page with you. My only

[45:24] concern is that strictly speaking, if you followed that salary study to a T,

[45:29] we might find that the total budget required was 5%.

[45:33] » And so we put >> would be problematic. I'm just saying.

[45:36] » This this is the number. This is the number that I plugged in,

[45:40] the placeholder number, Bridge. >> Okay.

[45:42] » So, that number >> But I thought it wasn't based on the

[45:44] ser- >> It's not. It's just It's just the

[45:47] number. I know. It's the place- placeholder

[45:49] number. And so what what what Pam is sharing

[45:52] with me is what what our approach would be is to try to go through and allocate

[45:57] even we have to, you know, a little bit less uh per employee, whatever it comes

[46:00] down to. But try to get to something that's more

[46:03] equitable and only spend that amount of money. The 657.

[46:09] I can't spend any more money than that. >> Because you get to get to that complete

[46:12] report, it's going to take about a million dollars.

[46:16] » I don't know. >> That's probably right.

[46:18] » Yeah. >> And if I may,

[46:21] I I think to me also judge part of the that's a start on where this study goes.

[46:28] And so we're moving to where we do make the wage that is like in the salary

[46:35] study. Okay, but we won't get there in one year. One of the other part that I

[46:40] kind of like about it, it takes away the steps. So we may have grades, but

[46:45] there's no more steps. So it will make the position schedule is real easy. The

[46:49] goal that we're shooting for is that if you're a clerk in the

[46:56] I'm going to pick on Megan because she's here the county clerk's office. Clerks

[47:00] across the board make X amount. That's what every clerk in there is

[47:06] going to make. It's going to simplify payroll. It's going to simplify a whole

[47:10] lot. But a second step of putting that in, right now we give

[47:15] 2.5% adjustment to everybody pretty much

[47:19] after 3 years. I know starting off it's a little bit We want to move that to

[47:24] where every year instead of doing that, that's automatic. It doesn't matter what

[47:30] type of job you do. You're in here long enough, you're going to get that

[47:34] percentage raise. We would like to see it move to a 1%

[47:40] a year merit accrued increase for each individual. So if you've got somebody

[47:45] making $10,000 a year, the most you could give that person is 1% of that

[47:52] every single year. So there and that's a merit. And you can give a portion of the

[47:57] 1%. So, it lets the elected official at least have some way of rewarding

[48:03] their high performers. So, that would be a switch. It would be 3%, you know, over

[48:09] 3 years instead of 2.5% over 3 years.

[48:14] Those are the two things to me that in reading the study that that spoke to me,

[48:20] I guess.

[48:23] » As complicated as that sounds, it's a whole lot less complicated than what we

[48:27] have. >> Oh gosh, yes.

[48:28] » That is true. >> And for those of you that haven't

[48:31] learned it, God help you.

[48:34] Yeah, it's it it Well, it is. And I I was an economics major, pretty

[48:40] good with numbers. It it took me a while to figure all this

[48:43] stuff out. It's a complicated system. And this is much more streamlined.

[48:47] » Judge, I have a question on the

[48:51] if this compounds, for instance, this is about a 2 and 1/2

[48:57] 2.4% uh

[48:59] increase, which is all of the tax assessor office. It's a

[49:03] one-step. It equals about 2.4% increase, that one step, average per person.

[49:09] Now, with this

[49:13] allotment, if you will, this 2.5% allotment that you would like to make

[49:17] individually per person, right? You want to have the discretion to do this. Does

[49:21] this automatically compound on with any

[49:24] additions for the special request as well, or does that give you the

[49:29] opportunity to look to it and go, "Look, they're already getting a special

[49:31] request one-step increase of 2.4%?" >> That's not the intent.

[49:37] » Okay. >> Let me explain what the intent is.

[49:40] The $657,000 number is just a number. This is how we came up with the number.

[49:47] » A working pool >> Just a and it cuz I what I wanted to

[49:50] know from from what what what I call my smart ladies

[49:54] give me this information

[49:57] is what what would have cost if we just gave a straight wage adjustment.

[50:01] And as I asked to give us 2.5% so they came up with

[50:05] this so I could see what it was and I've used that as a placeholder number. That

[50:09] number does not have to be exhausted. I don't know what this court's going to do

[50:12] but I'm just saying that that's the recommendation. It's not the whole

[50:16] recommendation uh but it is the start.

[50:21] And so what we're really trying to do is to

[50:25] come up with a starting number. The idea would be that every couple of

[50:29] years we get a salary study

[50:32] and we see where everyone is and if if they've reached if there's if they're if

[50:36] they're continuously just in the mid-range of

[50:40] employment then they would probably stay there with

[50:42] some minor adjustments because that's where the salary study is cuz we're

[50:45] trying to find out what is the market rate here.

[50:49] Uh if they're below then that would be it

[50:52] would be recommended more for the ones that are low.

[50:55] So that this is not a compounding across the board.

[50:59] This is meant to be individualized. That's that's the purpose of it.

[51:04] Now

[51:07] you're probably asking yourself why the heck did I do this? Well one

[51:12] we paid for a salary study, got it, thought it was particularly good

[51:16] uh and we ignored it because we were in the middle of the crisis.

[51:21] And so I wanted to blow the dust off of it this year and see if we didn't have

[51:24] uh a running chance at trying to do what I think is the right thing to do for our

[51:28] employees. Now

[51:31] you may ask yourself why am I championing the employees?

[51:36] Because you can't run county government without

[51:40] and unlike municipalities that can choose to be in existence or not in

[51:44] existence, counties are part of the Texas Constitution and we are.

[51:49] And we have funded and unfunded mandates with the SB 22 which helps fund

[51:56] the department department's needs and offices needs.

[51:59] Uh and then we have those that are not funded.

[52:02] Uh and counties are at a distinct

[52:05] disadvantage with our competitors.

[52:10] They are much more flexible and can respond to market conditions much

[52:15] more quickly than we can. And one of the things that I've come to

[52:19] the conclusion as a 50-plus year lawyer that specialized in

[52:25] real estate transactions and litigation.

[52:31] The price of dirt in Kerr County is more expensive than the price of dirt

[52:36] just about anywhere you can find in this whole part of the county.

[52:40] And what that means uh

[52:43] and you heard me talk about existential threats to the county.

[52:47] Uh and when I talk about existential, I

[52:49] mean survival, existence. What happens to us if we can't do this?

[52:54] What happens if we can't perform the functions of government that are

[52:57] mandated by the Constitution? What happens if we can't fund the

[53:02] the requirements that the legislature puts on us

[53:05] uh to be able to perform that we're supposed to be able to provide.

[53:10] Uh If you look at where our employee base

[53:14] comes from and I don't have the birthday card list.

[53:19] I think HR has the birthday card list. Y'all don't know what's in that birthday

[53:22] card, right? Just a little thing we do. Little

[53:25] personal notes from all of all five of us

[53:27] that we send to everybody every employee.

[53:30] » And they love them. >> And and and they're kind of cornball,

[53:33] but uh they're handwritten. We write write little notes on there.

[53:38] » Huh? Go on. Mine aren't cornball. >> Yeah, yeah.

[53:41] » I've seen yours. >> We've all seen each other's. It depends

[53:45] on who gets it first. But uh

[53:48] I've I've turned these cards over and made it

[53:50] anecdotal stuff to see where the employees live.

[53:57] And believe it or not, over 50% of the employees, mainly address,

[54:02] were outside Kerr County. They can't even afford to live here.

[54:07] And I've been here adding it up this morning driving

[54:10] driving in. 33 years I've lived in Kerrville.

[54:13] And uh I've gotten a pretty good feel

[54:17] for it.

[54:20] And property values here are high

[54:23] because everybody wants to live here. Supply and demand.

[54:26] It's a beautiful place. If you're driving in either from the

[54:30] east or west, it really doesn't matter. You're looking at over a mountain range

[54:33] in the valley. Uh and we've got that that crystal clear

[54:38] Guadalupe River uh

[54:40] flowing through the middle of it. Everybody wants to live here.

[54:44] Uh and you think about what we pay for our properties.

[54:47] Uh the people that we're hiring can't

[54:49] afford to live here.

[54:53] We don't have We don't have uh the public housing that we should. We don't

[54:57] have uh the rental housing that we should.

[55:01] We don't. And so they live

[55:04] in Bandera. They live in Fredericksburg. They

[55:07] They live in one of these towns in Comfort.

[55:10] And and if we don't take care of them, if we're not competitive in being able

[55:15] to provide a living wage for those people,

[55:19] then we're not going to have employees to do the jobs that we have.

[55:23] And because the county is at the bottom of the totem pole locally,

[55:26] we're going to be the first ones to start losing employees. And what do we

[55:29] do when we can't replace them? Uh and I don't want to single out uh

[55:34] Kelly and Road and Bridge, but we've had open positions in road road and bridge

[55:38] now for how many years now, Don? Four or five years?

[55:41] » two crews right now. >> Yeah.

[55:43] » We train them in Texarkana. >> Texarkana hires them away every time.

[55:48] Which and it's like clockwork. And so you get them trained and

[55:52] Texarkana comes and takes them. And I get I get to worrying about, you

[55:54] know, I'm looking over there at Courtney and I'm going to come take his out.

[55:58] But but but we don't want that. We want the people to be able to

[56:02] make a a a living wage here. Because if we don't, then we're going to

[56:06] lose the ability to perform our government functions.

[56:09] And if we do that, uh then I think we have faith.

[56:14] So, my recipe for success here is let's treat our help fairly.

[56:20] Let's give them uh a living wage. Uh

[56:25] let's give them an opportunity to be able to grow in their position and know

[56:29] that the better they get at what they do,

[56:31] we'll have salary studies there to confirm it. Uh and the more they the

[56:35] better they be compensated. Uh

[56:38] Now, if if the decision is not to do that,

[56:41] uh that's the decision of this court

[56:43] and the input they get back from y'all, from the public employees as well as the

[56:47] taxpayers and

[56:51] people that are active here in the community.

[56:55] I'm just sounding the trumpet because I see it coming.

[57:01] And if we don't do something, then this is not going to be anything,

[57:05] it'll get worse, and eventually get to a crisis

[57:08] situation. Uh

[57:11] And so, uh

[57:13] that's the way I'm putting together my recommendation

[57:16] and I can uh

[57:19] I get together with my smart ladies cuz they're really good at this. We'll

[57:22] crunch the numbers and come back and I will have a recommendation along these

[57:26] lines uh ready.

[57:29] Be submitted What was it? August 13th? Is that the new deadline I've got?

[57:34] To be submitted there. And then uh

[57:37] we'll be able to get that on the agenda. We'll get that plan right away uh so

[57:41] that we can deal with it. Uh and then we'll just see where we go from

[57:45] there. But that's that's kind of where I am

[57:47] with my recommendation.

[57:53] And uh normally in in a commissioner's court

[57:58] meeting, I'll ask for input, but I can't do that in a workshop because those

[58:01] aren't the rules. You don't get public input.

[58:05] But I've tried to give you the essential information for you to know

[58:09] where I'm coming from uh and be able to talk knowledgeably

[58:13] with your respective commissioners uh as to where they're coming from on it.

[58:18] Uh and uh

[58:21] so I'll I'll just I'll just leave it at that.

[58:24] So I'll ask for any other observations or

[58:27] comments or questions that uh this is your opportunity to drill me. So, drill.

[58:32] » Just one one thing I want to make sure is that

[58:35] this year's flood has not changed any of the budget requests.

[58:38] » It is not. >> And one thing I thought in particular

[58:40] was and we need to make sure is JP3's vehicle.

[58:44] I saw JP3's vehicle was on there. I want to make sure it's not the same vehicle

[58:47] that just got flooded out. Uh which he's going to get insurance.

[58:56] I'm sorry. You know what I mean. Yeah. Paul Gonzales.

[58:59] Possible three. So, that's not the same vehicle.

[59:03] That's in the request. >> He's also received a grant for a replace

[59:07] for a new vehicle. >> Right.

[59:09] So, I remember there's a grant for new vehicle and he's going to get another

[59:13] vehicle replaced by insurance money. So, we taking that into account

[59:20] with that vehicle request that's on there?

[59:22] » I I I'd have to send that up.

[59:23] » I think he owes you

[59:28] which that's to make sure. >> That's an answer that that needs to be

[59:31] provided.

[59:34] It's not the vehicle itself. >> That's his equipment for his inside of

[59:39] the vehicle. >> Okay.

[59:41] » The grant does cover some equipment, but not all of it.

[59:44] » Well, it's just a it's a fair question. >> One small thing.

[59:47] » And then I and I will get an answer to it and be able to explain it.

[59:51] » Fair enough. >> I think

[59:55] » Yes. >> Also,

[59:58] one step of the plan of the whirling study getting it implemented is once you

[1:00:04] get your plan figured out, you would ask Sylvia and I who would

[1:00:08] meet with the different department heads and commissioners to

[1:00:12] kind of go over what that detail would look like.

[1:00:16] So, um we meet with whirling tomorrow

[1:00:19] morning, and so hopefully after that we'll be able to move forward

[1:00:25] with putting these dollars where whirling suggests.

[1:00:33] » One thing I did not mention is that my proposed budget

[1:00:37] for elected officials uh

[1:00:41] proposes that we keep the same rate that we've been paid.

[1:00:45] I'm not I'm not recommending any raises for elected officials.

[1:00:52] Okay. Thank you for coming. Uh I hope this is

[1:00:56] helpful. Uh

[1:00:59] and thanks to to to Lewis, his organization for doing this. That will

[1:01:03] be posted on the website, so if you want to go back and look at any of it,

[1:01:06] you should be able to track it down.

[1:01:10] So, with that then we stand adjourned.

Kerr County Commissioners' Court Workshop Agenda, July 27, 2026

Transcript