GROVETON — County officials discussed aspects of the upcoming budget and how to make up shortfalls in revenue.
County Judge said the main objective with budgeting this year was to get to a surplus without a tax increase, and the additional requests could put the county at a disadvantage.
Commissioners reviewed certain requests, such as for additional personnel, and were of the opinion that any hiring should wait until the county gets a true revenue picture. Of concern is an increase in the cost of employee health insurance, and the loss of more than $100,000 in grant funds from the Texas Forest Service.
Department budgets, according to Commissioner Tommy Park, were looking at anywhere from 11 to 18 percent increases. He also said that a lot of the increases don’t make sense.
Commissioner Neal Smith advocated for setting any requests for additional funding, including for vehicle allowances and education.
“We’re going to have to save this county some money,” Smith said. “If this bond passes, we’re going to have to have a bunch of money to run this jail and to pay for it.”
Of particular concern was how many jailers were hired at the Sheriff’s Office and how many more were needed. The court was admonished by Chief Deputy Jeremy Carroll that the idea that the SO had more jailers than they needed was wrong, and that the loss of a variance allowing the county to house 15 prisoners instead of seven was the fault of the Commissioners Court.
The Sheriff’s Office had hired four jailers because of the variance, which was revoked in February after a meeting between the Sheriff’s Office and the state Jail Commission when the county was accused of inaction.
Since then, commissioners have questioned whether those additional jailers were necessary.
Smith said he felt the jail should be shut down and all prisoners housed elsewhere, as that could save the county quite a bit of money, and that keeping four extra jailers on staff in case the bond issue passes was not sound fiscal management. If the bond were passed, it would take up to three years to complete a jail.
While no decisions were made, Park said budget discussions should start with last year’s budget and then consider a wish list and what can be added.
