Orange County Commissioners adopted their budget for next year following another packed public hearing Tuesday. The hearing lasted just under half an hour compared to the three and four hour hearings on the tax rate held the first week of the month. The Commissioners Court during its regular meeting then approved a budget which includes a $3.8 million deficit by a vote of 3-2.
County Judge Brint Carlton is of the belief the county will tighten its belt and will not be in the red by the end of next fiscal year. He said it took a lot of hard work to get the budget this close and is confident the county will work to under spend in order to reduce the deficit to zero. Carlton is still hopeful to get the county’s fund balance to 25 percent of the budget.
Also approved by a vote of 4-1 was no change in the current tax rate of 54.4 cents per 100 dollars value for next year. Commissioner John Banken voted against the budget and the tax rate that were adopted by the Court. Banken opposed the deficit budget being approved and felt the tax rate although not changed still will mean an increase in taxes for citizens adding that the tax rate should have been lowered if citizens were to pay the same tax next year as this year.
Commissioner David Dubose cast the other dissenting vote against the budget saying he wanted pay raises for elected officials, but not for the Commissioners.
Dubose attributed the costs saving measures taken by elected officials and department heads as the reason the county met its budget this year. He felt those elected officials deserved a pay raise which only represented less than one percent of the county’s overall budget.
Dispatchers with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office were removed Tuesday from inclusion in the collective bargaining agreement covering the Sheriff’s Office Employees Union. It was determined the agreement for police unions does not specifically cover the dispatchers. The Commissioners Court approved setting up a separate pay scale for the dispatchers as recommended by Sheriff’s Chief Deputy John Tarver that would include certificate pay as part of it.
The Court approved making no change to the county’s contribution rate to the employees’ retirement system plan. By law each employee deposits 7 percent of their wages and the county deposits 14 percent of the employee’s gross wages in the retirement system.
The two County Court at Law court reporters were approved by Commissioners the same 2.24 percent salary increase that was awarded to the three district court reporters for next fiscal year by the Board of District Judges previously. Mike Hale was reclassified as a NE-6 from a NE-5 as the head of the Parks Department. It will mean a pay raise of about $6,000 for Hale. The Commissioners Court is still considering combining the Parks Department with the Maintenance Department, but they want to consult with the Parks Board before doing so.
The Commissioners Court unanimously approved renewing the contract for another year with Member’s Building Maintenance for janitorial service on the county’s buildings. This was done despite numerous emails sent from department heads to the Commissioners on the poor quality of the service received from Member’s Building Maintenance.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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