A full courtroom of department heads, employees, and even a few citizens attended today’s budget workshop of the Commissioners Court. The workshop was called by County Judge Brint Carlton to discuss ways to recoup the more than three million dollars spent in the settlement of the Montano lawsuit against Orange County.
The consensus of those that spoke during the nearly two-hour workshop was it would take the county more than four years to recoup the expense of the Montano payment. Commissioner John Gothia expressed the sentiment of those attending the workshop that the county does not want to reduce expenditures if it means cutting services to the citizens. Serving the community is the top priority. Gothia stated, “That’s what we are all here for at the end of the day.” The commissioner added he hopes the county can eventually start putting more funds into economic development, but that may have to wait until the reserve fund is restored.
Elected officials Judge Derry Dunn, Sheriff Keith Merritt, and District Clerk Vickie Edgerly provided input as did a few county employees. All that spoke were against cuts in personnel or benefits and said their departments were willing to cut back on other expenditures to help build the county’s reserves back where they were prior to the settlement from the lawsuit.
Judge Carlton believes the workshop is a good start to preparing this year’s budget and looking down the road. “We want to go ahead and start these conversations now to see if there is anything we need to do different and to get it out there where everyone’s thinking about it if any changes need to be made in this year or going into next year,” Carlton concluded. No action was taken because it was a workshop session.
Social Media