Transcript
SOURCE TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is downloaded from the source you provided but we haven't reviewed it for accuracy. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record. You can also request an AI-transcription of the audio file with the button to the left.
These are YouTube's auto-generated captions, not a human transcript — expect occasional errors, especially with names and technical terms.
[0:05]
Okay. Well, it's 9:00, so we'll call
this special meeting of the
[0:07]
commissioner's court order here on the
second day of September, 9:00 in the
[0:11]
courtroom. Everybody please stand for
the pledge of prayer.
[0:18]
Heavenly Father, I just come to you.
Thank you, Lord, for many blessings,
[0:22]
Lord. So we just uh ask if you would
send some money
[0:27]
[snorts]
[0:29]
and
we just ask you right now that you
[0:36]
our president
take care of him or to give him wisdom
[0:42]
to make decisions
is good for the country.
[0:49]
else we that we need
to to prot
[0:58]
your your guidel
[1:02]
Amen.
[1:14]
God for it stands one nation under God
indivisible with liberty and justice for
[1:21]
all.
[1:28]
Number one is opening up the Titus
County 2027 uh proposed budget hearing
[1:34]
and then we'll move on to number two
which is the public comments and I have
[1:38]
Mrs. Lily Weatherford to speak.
[1:45]
Make sure that's on you. There you go.
Good.
[1:50]
» Good morning, commissioners and judge.
I wanted to speak this morning about
[1:54]
hopefully opening up some dialogue
between yourselves and the residents
[1:57]
about the timing of these meetings. I
know they have likely been held at 9:00
[2:01]
a.m. on weekdays long before any of
y'all took office and that it wasn't a
[2:04]
personal choice you've made, but I
respectfully ask that you consider
[2:08]
adjusting the time and maybe even the
day to better suit the residents so they
[2:12]
might be more involved and attend
Commissioner's Court. I've heard several
[2:16]
people say that they just can't make it
work 9:00 a.m. on a weekday and they
[2:20]
would have to take off work and they
have to save those days for emergencies
[2:23]
or other personal matters. Even when
issues they really cared about were
[2:26]
going to be the topic, they couldn't
come. Uh my husband couldn't be here
[2:30]
today due to work. I'm not claiming that
court is being held early in the morning
[2:34]
as an effort to keep things quiet or
keep residents from speaking up or
[2:38]
impacting decisions, but I do think it
would be a show of good faith to
[2:42]
consider adjusting the schedule. uh
maybe bringing it to a vote or creating
[2:46]
a poll residents can fill out. I'm sure
having it at the current day and time
[2:51]
makes y'all's jobs easier and office
work runs smoothly, filing the
[2:54]
paperwork, scheduling the rest of your
workday and the rest of the week around
[2:58]
it and what decisions are made. But I
think maybe having people more involved
[3:02]
in their local government is more
important and I really think that might
[3:06]
happen or at least be a noticeable start
if timing were to be adjusted.
[3:10]
As far as discussing salaries and
proposed budget, [snorts] uh my own
[3:14]
opinion on is on this is every year
taxes go up and those numbers are looked
[3:19]
at and budget build around it. And every
year, excuse me, every year there's an
[3:26]
opportunity to say we didn't make enough
to do everything. Taxes should go up
[3:29]
again. In households, that's not an
option. You budget based on what you
[3:33]
[clears throat] already have and cut the
fat where you can. And in bigger things
[3:37]
like a county, there is always excess
that can be cut. and I asked that to be
[3:41]
looked at and considered when making a
budget. This is not just money for a
[3:44]
county. This is every individual's
hard-earned dollars and we don't have a
[3:48]
lot of say in where that money goes, but
that's the purpose of these meetings.
[3:52]
And I am saying that I would like to see
where it goes and ask to cut what is
[3:56]
absolutely what isn't absolutely
necessary.
[4:00]
Uh I also wanted to bring up that many
people have learned and been concerned
[4:04]
about the Muslim prayer center outside
town and the community center breaking
[4:08]
ground. I'm not defending or condemning
it, but I wanted to say I know you
[4:12]
cannot legally deny something like that
if all proper permits and paperwork are
[4:16]
filled. Um, and that it would be against
the Constitution to deny it. Just wanted
[4:21]
to say that because you no doubt have
gotten calls and emails about it or will
[4:25]
at some point because of concerned
people. Again, I won't say whether I
[4:29]
believe those concerns are valid or not,
just that as far as the laws of this
[4:32]
state and country go, you have to
approve any religious building that is
[4:35]
being filed properly. Thank you. Thank
you, Miss Li.
[4:45]
All right. Number three, conduct public
hearing of the 2027 proposed budget. Uh
[4:51]
we do have that uh in our hands here and
the net gives us all a copy of that that
[4:55]
we voted on the other day. Uh, Miss Lily
saying that not to not to go to
[5:00]
answering her questions, but in our
budget this year, it's about 900,000
[5:04]
less than last year's budget that we
planned for last year. So, we moved from
[5:10]
uh 184. It was going to 17,000
17,333,711
[5:17]
with the added addition of our uh
insurance, which is $166,612,
[5:24]
which was a increase. We had increased
it in that budget uh but also uh got
[5:29]
more increase than we were expecting. So
with that being said that moved our
[5:32]
budget to 17,500,323
[5:37]
which is still 99
95
[5:41]
920,000
less than it was the year before.
[5:47]
Any
[5:50]
questions on on what Nette gave y'all as
far as Scotty broke down there what the
[5:55]
payroll was? Uh we'll go on further and
and do an amendment to this budget
[6:00]
because of some things that we did left
out just for transparency of one of the
[6:04]
one of the sheriff's departments uh
spots was some confusion on that and
[6:09]
then also the insurance uh to add into
that so it would be up to date on that.
[6:15]
Heat. Heat.
[6:51]
Do I have a motion to approve the
budget?
[6:54]
» I make a motion to approve the budget.
>> You can't. We consider we go down to
[6:58]
number four. Set the salaries.
>> We go to the salaries. Go to the
[7:04]
salaries.
for the salaries. Number four, consider
[7:08]
and possibly approve setting the salary
expenses and other allowances for
[7:12]
elected county officials. Those are not
any changes in those changes.
[7:30]
I'll make a motion to set the salaries
and expenses for the elected county
[7:36]
officials.
>> Have a motion made by Commissioner
[7:38]
Mitchell to set the salaries and
expenses for other allowances for
[7:42]
elected county officials.
[7:48]
» A second by Commissioner Parker. All
those in favor? I.
[7:52]
» All those opposed I.
>> Carries 3 to one. Number
[8:00]
five, consider and possibly approve the
amended proposed budget amendments.
[8:03]
Commission Ned, if you want to speak on
those three things.
[8:09]
The proposed budget amendments totaled
$166,612.
[8:14]
It was an increase that we got at the
last minute for our medical and dental
[8:18]
insurance, which makes up about $100,000
of that. We also had a small reduction
[8:24]
uh because we got an increase um in our
indigent defense which I went ahead and
[8:29]
built into the new budget. Um we also
had a couple of corrections for the
[8:33]
district clerk's office and we had to
add a position for the sheriff's office
[8:37]
and those are the total adjustments we
have for the budget.
[8:48]
Motion to approve the amendment.
>> Got a motion made by Commissioner Parker
[8:52]
to approve the amendment to the proposed
budget.
[8:54]
» Second.
>> Second by Commissioner Mitchell. All
[8:57]
those in favor?
>> I.
[8:59]
» All those opposed? I
>> 3 to one.
[9:04]
Number seven. To conclude the public
hearing of the 2027
[9:09]
proposed budget.
Consider and possibly adopt this number
[9:13]
six first. Considering possibly adopt
the 202627
[9:18]
budget.
This is where we need a motion for it.
[9:25]
» I'll make a motion to approve it.
>> Got a motion made by Commissioner
[9:28]
Mitchell to approve the 2627 county
budget.
[9:37]
Second by Commissioner Parker. All those
in favor.
[9:41]
» All those opposed. carries 3 to one.
Number seven, conclusion of the public
[9:47]
hearing. This is concludes the proposed
budget hearing.
[9:54]
So now we'll move on to the
[clears throat] public hearing of the
[9:57]
tax notice. Conducted a public hearing
of the 2026 total tax rate of 40 41300
[10:06]
which is less than the voter approval
rate which is 4343.
[10:16]
And then how much we got in fund balance
now? How much do we have in fund
[10:21]
balance?
[10:42]
So, how much do we how much do we
legally have to keep in our fund balance
[10:46]
at all time?
Well, 50% of your expenses is a standard
[10:53]
um but%
[11:00]
expenses.
[11:24]
I make a motion to approve the voters's
approval rate.
[11:28]
» Got a motion made by Commissioner
Mitchell to approve the voter approval
[11:31]
rate, which is less than the voter
approval rate of 41
[11:36]
4130, but it's not welded on that yet.
We don't vote on that yet.
[11:42]
We're doing
>> the public hearing.
[11:58]
No more comments. We'll end the hearing.
[12:04]
Now you can make the proposals over
there. I'll make a motion to uh for the
[12:10]
voter approval rate. Got a motion made
by
[12:18]
item.
>> Number nine, considering possibly
[12:21]
approve the maintenance and operations
tax rate of 37130.
[12:30]
» Never need a motion on that.
>> I'll make a motion to approve it. Got a
[12:34]
motion made by Commissioner Mitchell to
approve the approved maintenance and
[12:37]
operations tax rate of 37.1371300
[12:43]
0.
[12:48]
» Second by Commissioner Parker. All those
in favor I. All those opposed I carry
[12:56]
three to three to two with me voting for
consider and possibly approve the debt
[13:03]
service tax rate of 041700.
[13:21]
I'll make a motion to approve it. Got a
motion made by Commissioner Mitchell to
[13:24]
approve the debt service rate of 0.0470.
[13:36]
» Second by Commissioner Parker. All those
in favor?
[13:39]
» I.
>> All those opposed.
[13:42]
» I I vote I. So pass three to two.
Public comments.
[13:52]
No public comments. So we'll move on to
number 12. Conclusion of the public
[13:57]
hearing of the 20 26 27 tax rate.
[14:08]
Any comments?
[14:13]
like to wish Commissioner uh Hartzman a
happy birthday today. It is his
[14:17]
birthday, so he got to vote on the tax
rate on his birthday. So, a special
[14:21]
welcome to the birthday party. Uh with
that being said, uh we do need some some
[14:27]
rain in a severe way. We ask that you
still take precaution on burning out in
[14:31]
the county. Also, we want to pray for
our people down in South Texas as
[14:35]
they're uh getting the brunt of the
storm down there. Hope that all is safe
[14:39]
and well down there and hopefully we
will get some rain from that. With all
[14:43]
that being said, I'll entertain a motion
to adjurnn.
[14:46]
» I'll make a motion to adjourn.
>> Got a motion to adjurnn by Commissioner
[14:49]
Mitchell. Second.
>> Second by Commissioner Parchman. All
[14:54]
those in favor? I.
>> All those opposed, we will adjourn at
[14:58]
9:15. Thank you.