Good fiscal news echoed through the ears of the Burnet County commissioners during their recent regular session, During the Oct. 18 meeting, County Treasurer Karrie Crownover reported the county finished Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 with a cash and investment balance of more than $62 million.
The balance for FY 2024 (which ended Sept. 30) indicates an increase of more than 5% from FY 2023, Crownover said.
After her report, Crownover urged the commissioners to endorse Operation Green Light for Veterans, sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACO).
Operation Green Light assists veterans seeking employment, quality mental health care and cope with other priority needs as they adjust to civilian life after their departure from military service, according to the NACO web site (www. naco.org), In turn, County Judge James Oakley indicated the county courthouse and the county jail plan to display patterns of green lights through their windows Nov. 4-11.
“It (the green lights) will give Burnet County a way to show we appreciate our veterans,” Crownover said. “I encourage all members of other communities to do the same.”
Also during the meeting, Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Jeff Gasaway appeared before the commissioners to brief them on several issues related to the MFISD Voter Approved Tax Rate Election (VATRE) planned for Election Day, Nov. 5.
During the election, voters within MFISD must decide whether to increase the current tax of 88.78 cents to 99.22 cents per $100 property valuation.
Several factors have forced MFISD officials to propose the tax increase, including inflated costs for fuel, insurance and utilities, also depleted state funding for district schools, Gasaway told the commissioners.
Consequently, current MFISD accounting records show the district is struggling with a deficit of $4 million, he added.
“All of our effort (for the tax increase) is for a balanced budget,” Gasaway said.
Most probably, he added, if the increase fails to pass, the district will have to reduce class sizes, school programs and staff.
At the end of his remarks, Gasaway urged MFISD residents to vote.
“Educated voters are the best voters,” the superintendent said.
The commissioners thanked Gasaway for his appearance.
As the commissioners turned to other matters, they approved the bid of more than $445,000 submitted by the Lone Star Paving Company for the County Road 114 paving project.
“It is the low bid,” Oakley pointed out.
In response to a question by Bertram resident Charlie Parker, Oakley confirmed Asphalt Inc. is the parent company of Lone Star Paving, the same company which plans to build a rock crusher quarry in Burnet County near Hoover Valley Road.
Last month, hundreds of county residents assembled in Burnet at the Hill Country Fellowship Hall to announce their opposition to the quarry, due to several environment concerns.
According to officials, the release of a permit for the quarry is pending review by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Also during the meeting, the commissioners:
• Agreed to apply for the FY 2025 Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) Indigent Defense Program grant;
• Agreed to apply for the Texas State Library Archives Commission Family Place Library grant and;
• Approved an interlocal agreement to allow the hire of one part-time employee in Bertram at the Joann Cole Mitte Library.
Before the meeting began, Oakley called for a moment of silence to remember the late Patricia Withers, “a great person” and long-time owner of Burnet County Supply, who died earlier this month.
The commissioners convened the third Friday of the month Oct. 18, five days ahead of their usual meeting time, the fourth Monday of the month, which would have been Oct. 22, because Oakley, Pct. 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle and Pct. 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery made plans to attend the annual County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas Conference Oct. 21- 25 in San Marcos.
