Bartley: ‘We have to work on a tight budget’
Concern over a proposed tax increase was the focus during the commissioners court’s public hearing Monday morning, and to clear any confusion, the court clarified there would be no tax increase for their constituents.
“The rate has not changed,” Precinct 3 commissioner Wade Barley said. “It [tax payments] has gone up because the values have gone up.”
Citizen Jerry Lamb voiced his concern over the proposed tax rate, thinking it was an increase from last year. He acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic will have far-reaching effects, but he urged the county “do more with less” to make funds available for road maintenance.
“It’d be great if you could retain all of your employees,” Lamb said. “But sometimes, someone has to be sacrificed for the greater good of all.”
Daniel Bobay followed up Lamb, saying he was a recent transplant and wanted to avoid unnecessary tax increases like he saw in California. He suggested the county defer any tax increase until after the pandemic.
“What I would encourage you to do is to consider the burden on people of your districts [precincts], the jobs that they’ve lost, and all the things that have happened to them over the last year,” Bobay said. “And maybe defer this tax increase to another time.”
Keith Goodell is another transplant from Washington State who moved to Hopkins County in February, and he expressed his annoyance with increasing tax values and early deadlines for tax exemptions.
“I was just talking to my tax assessor, and they pretty much doubled my taxes, just on my property taxes alone, so pretty much twice what my mortgage is,” Goodell said. “When I bought my home in February, I missed the deadline of Jan. 1 by one month.”
Bartley addressed the audience members, saying the county “has been blessed” with rising property values over the recent years, allowing the county to establish a healthy general fund and a maintenance program.
“Ten or 12 years ago, finances got bad, and they [the county] had to lay people off,” Bartley said. “We’ve been in a positive mode for the last several years.”
According to County Judge Robert Newsom, the county’s financial adviser recommended that no tax rate change be done until after January 2021, when most of the tax collection is done.
“In October through January, people pay their taxes for the most part because penalties kick in Feb. 1,” Newsom said.
In other business, the court approved a $4,500 budget amendment to accept the donation from Steve Alcorn for road materials. According to Bartley, Alcorn wanted the county road he lived on paved with rock instead of sand.
“He paid for the materials, and we provided the labor and machinery,” Bartley said. “The work has been done, and it is completed.”
The court also approved a lease agreement between the county and North Hopkins Independent School District for a communications tower installed on the school’s campus. The tower is used for law enforcement and first responder communications, according to emergency management coordinator Andy Endsley.