* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:04] ALL RIGHT. WELCOME [A) INVOCATION] EVERYONE. IT IS 9:00 AM WE ARE AT THE HISTORIC COURTHOUSE. I'M GONNA CALL TO ORDER OUR SPECIAL MEETING. UH, COMMISSIONER STACY'S GONNA LEAD US IN THE INVOCATION, AND I'LL LEAD US IN OUR PLEDGES. ALL RIGHT, PLEASE STAND AND BOW YOUR HEADS. DEAR HEAVENLY FATHER, WE ARE JUST THANKFUL FOR THE BLESSINGS OF THIS COUNTY AND OF THIS COUNTRY, LORD, AND IN THIS SPIRIT, AND IN THIS TIME OF JUST POLITICAL CHAOS. LORD, WE JUST PRAY THAT WE FALL ON YOU, TRUST IN YOU, AND, AND GO WITH YOUR WILL. LORD, I PRAY. I PRAY FOR ALL OF US COMMISSIONERS AND EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WORKING THROUGH THIS BUDGET. I PRAY FOR YOUR WISDOM. I PRAY FOR YOUR GUIDANCE AND UH, AND I KNOW THAT YOUR WILL WILL BE DONE IN ROCKWALL COUNTY. PLEASE BE WITH OUR FIRST RESPONDERS AND MILITARY PERSONNEL, WHEREVER THEY ARE AND THEIR FAMILIES. AND IN JESUS NAME I PRAY, AMEN. AMEN. FUEL, HELP ME AS WE PLEDGE OUR ALLEGIANCE TO THE AMERICAN FLAG. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. NOW, THE TEXAS FLAG, HONOR THE TEXAS FLAG. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE TEXAS ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU, COMMISSIONERS. BRINGS US TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE, PUBLIC FORUM. ITS THE PUBLIC'S OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE COUNTY ABOUT ANY COUNTY MATTERS. NO ONE SIGNED UP, BUT IF ANYBODY WANTS TO COME FORWARD AND SPEAK, THEY CAN DO SO. NOW, SEEING NO [2. PUBLIC HEARING (Continuation of Public Hearing Postponed on September 9, 2025) to discuss the proposed FY2026 Budget for Rockwall County, and all related issues] ONE WILL MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM TWO, THE PUBLIC HEARING. THIS IS THE CONTINUATION OF THE PUBLIC HEARING POSTPONED ON SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2025 TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED FYI 2026 BUDGET FOR ROCKWALL COUNTY AND ALL RELATED ISSUES. ANYBODY THAT WANTS TO SPEAK REGARDING THE FY 26 BUDGET CAN COME FORWARD NOW SEEING NO ONE. I'M GOING TO CONTINUE THE HEARING, UH, TILL TOMORROW'S MEETING AND TUESDAY'S MEETING. IT BRINGS US TO AGENDA [3. PUBLIC HEARING (Continuation of Public Hearing Postponed on September 9, 2025) to discuss the proposed 2025 Tax Rate (Fiscal Year 2026) for Rockwall County, and all related issues] ITEM THREE, PUBLIC HEARING. THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE PUBLIC HEARING POSTPONED ON SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2025 TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED 2025 TAX RATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026 FOR ROCKWALL COUNTY AND ALL RELATED ISSUES. ANYBODY WANTING TO SPEAK CAN COME FORWARD. NOW, SEEING NO ONE, I'M GOING TO CONTINUE THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE TAX RATE. TAKES US TO [4. PUBLIC HEARING (Continuation of Public Hearing Postponed on September 9, 2025) to discuss the County Clerk’s Archive Plan FY2026 for the Preservation and Restoration of the County Clerk’s Records Archives, and all related issues] AGENDA ITEM FOUR, PUBLIC HEARING, CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC HEARING POSTPONED ON SEPTEMBER 9TH TO DISCUSS THE COUNTY CLERK'S ARCHIVE PLAN FY 2026 FOR THE PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE COUNTY CLERK'S, RECORD ARCHIVES, AND ALL RELATED ISSUES ANYONE WANTING TO SPEAK ON THAT MATTER CAN COME FORWARD NOW SEEING NO ONE. I'M GONNA CONTINUE THE HEARING, UH, UNTIL TOMORROW AND AGAIN ON TUESDAY. THIS BRINGS US TO AGENDA [5. Discuss/Act on adopting the Rockwall County Budget for FY2026 and take record vote, and all related issues; (Judge New - Auditor)] ITEM NUMBER FIVE, DISCUSS AND ACT ON ADOPTING THE ROCKWALL COUNTY BUDGET FOR FY 2026 AND TAKE A RECORD VOTE IN ALL RELATED ISSUES. I'M GONNA ASK THE RHETORICAL QUESTION. ROLLING AND TUMBLING AS ALWAYS, SIR. YEAH. YES SIR. STANDARD ROLLING. TUMBLING PROCEDURE. I, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT POLICY QUESTIONS THAT ARE MORE JUST WITH THE NEW BUDGET THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK BEFORE WE GET INTO ANYTHING OF, OF SUBSTANCE, IF THAT'S OKAY. UM, I, UH, I WAS LOOKING AND I JUST WANNA DOUBLE CHECK 'CAUSE I, 'CAUSE THE BUDGET ISN'T CLEAR, BUT WE DID TAKE OUT, AND THIS IS ON IT, SORRY, UM, , MELISSA, UM, WE DID PUT THAT $14,000 AGREEMENT INTO THE IT MAINTENANCE OR SOFTWARE INSTEAD OF PAYING FOR THE SANS. UM, I JUST, IT'S HARD FOR US TO SEE THE MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS JUST ON, ON THE DRAFT OF THE BUDGET. AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WASN'T DROPPED. IT APPEARS THAT IT'S IN THERE. YES, IT IT IS IN THERE. YEAH. ELENA DID CONFIRM WITH ME THAT IT WAS ALREADY INCLUDED. OKAY. YEAH, I, I, I LOOKED AND SAW THE, THE, THE DELTAS MOVE, BUT YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS MOVE, SO YOU CAN'T JUST ASSUME BECAUSE A MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT MOVED THAT WE DIDN'T. IT'S JUST THERE WAS SO MUCH OBVIOUSLY FROM ONE REVISION TO THE NEXT. THE OTHER IS ON PAGE ONE 17 OF WHAT WE GOT AND IT'S JUST MORE, UH, ME JUST KIND OF BEING CONFUSED AT WHAT IT SAYS. UM, COMMISSIONER PAGE ONE 17 OF, OF THE BUDGET OF THE BUDGET. GOT IT. AND THAT IS GOING TO BE THE COUNTY SHERIFF'S CAPITAL. I'M NOT SURE WHAT IT'S SAYING WITH ALL OF THESE CARS. UH, I, I THINK IT'S FINE. I JUST WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND, UM, EXACTLY WHAT IS BEING STATED BECAUSE IT, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE [00:05:02] ONE LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLE IN FUND 79 AND THEN SIX AS FY 25 PURCHASES. BUT OBVIOUSLY I DON'T, I'M I'M JUST SAYING LIKE NONE OF THESE NUMBERS KIND OF MAKE SENSE, BUT I KNOW YOU'RE GOING OFF BUDGET REQUESTS AND NOT WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID BECAUSE WE MOVED MORE MONEY INTO THE FY 25 THEN THESE NUMBERS. AND THEN SO ARE YOU SAYING, SO HERE'S MY QUESTION. SO THERE'S NINE VEHICLES. ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE ARE BUYING EIGHT OF THEM IN FY 25 WITH THE BUDGET TRANSFER? WE DID AND WE'RE FUNDING ONE OF THEM IN F UH, IN FUND 79 BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE ALL IN FUND. THEY'RE ALL IN FY 25. OKAY. SO THAT IS A TYPO ON MY BEHALF. SO THE PURCHASE ONE, WE WERE GONNA PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE, BUT CAPTAIN BROWN WAS ABLE TO GET THE PO AND WILL BE BUYING IT THIS YEAR. OKAY. SO THAT'S WHY IT WAS STILL INCLUDED IN THERE. BUT THIS IS ACTUALLY TO OUTFIT THE NINE VEHICLES THAT WERE PURCHASED THIS YEAR. OH, I GOT YOU. SO, SO ONE, ONE OF THE LINE ITEMS IS TO BUY THE CARS. THE OTHER LINE ITEM IS TO OUTFIT THE CARS BECAUSE THERE'S TWO LINE ITEMS ON LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES. THE SIX IS WHAT THEY HAD REQUESTED AND THEN WE CHANGED THAT BECAUSE WE ENDED UP PURCHASING YES. THE NINE VEHICLES. SO THEN THERE, THAT'S WHY THERE'S A NO. AND THEN THAT NEXT LINE THAT SAYS THAT ONLY STATES PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE THAT IS ACTUALLY TO OUTFIT NINE VEHICLES. SO THAT SHOULD BE OMITTED THE PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE. 'CAUSE CAPTAIN BROWN WILL BE GETTING IT BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR. OKAY. SO THEN MY QUESTION IS, DOES THAT $34,680, IS THAT IN THE BUDGET? THAT IS IN FUND 79 BUT IT'S IN FUND 79 CORRECT. BECAUSE IT GOT MOVED IN THERE. CORRECT. SO IT JUST STAYS IN THERE. YES. OKAY. I THOUGHT ALL OF THAT WAS CORRECT. . UM, THEN THE LAST THING, I MEAN I THINK WE ALL BEFORE YOU MOVE ON TO THAT. YEAH, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT. WHERE, WHAT IS THE $34,680 FEE, THAT'S APPROXIMATELY HOW MUCH IT IS TO OUTFIT A VEHICLE. VEHICLE. RIGHT. SO THE FUND BALANCE AND FUND 79 IS APPROXIMATELY $312,000 REMAINING. SO THAT WILL OUTFIT THE NINE VEHICLES THAT WERE PURCHASED THIS IN FISCAL YEAR 25. WE JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO OUTFIT THEM UNTIL FISCAL YEAR 26. SO THAT MONEY IS IN FUND 79 TO SUPPORT THAT. OKAY. I THOUGHT YOU SAID A MINUTE AGO WE TOOK THIS OFF BECAUSE HE'D ALREADY PURCHASED IT. YEAH. THE PER WHERE IT SAYS PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE, THAT SHOULD BE CROSSED OUT SO THAT, THAT'S A CORRECTION THAT WILL NEED TO BE MADE. OH, JUST THE TEXT PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE, NOT THE ENTIRE LINE ITEM. RIGHT, RIGHT. JUST WHERE IT SAYS PURCHASE ONE VEHICLE, THAT SHOULD JUST, THAT SHOULD STATE OUTFIT NINE VEHICLES. GOT IT. AND THEN, UM, I LOOKED AT THIS LATE AND I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT IT AGAIN, BUT JUVENILE PROBATION, I DIDN'T SEE THEIR CAPITAL IN, IN THIS. THEY OMITTED THEIR REQUEST. SO WHEN IT WENT TO THE JUVENILE BOARD, THEY HAD TAKEN THAT OFF. SO THEN I WENT AHEAD AND REMOVED IT. WELL THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, AND THEN KIND OF MY LAST QUESTION ON, UM, PAGE 14 OF THE BUDGET AND THIS LEGITIMATELY IS MY LAST QUESTION. UM, THAT'S A, THAT I WOULD CONSIDER A QUESTION. I THINK YOU HAVE BEEN NEAR COMMISSIONER LICHTY TOO LONG. UM, THE LAST QUESTION IS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE JUST ADDED $15,000 OF TELEPHONE AIR CARDS TO IT. I JUST DON'T REMEMBER EVER TALKING ABOUT THAT. I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT AIR CARDS. YEAH. AND I KNOW WE'VE DONE A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT WE TALKED ABOUT 'EM BEING IN THE IT BUDGET. SO THAT'S GONNA BE THE ADDITIONAL PHONE LICENSES. GOT YOU. AND THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE. OKAY. 'CAUSE IT SAYS TELEPHONE DASH AIR CARDS. PERFECT. NOT, NOT REALLY AIR CARDS, THEN I KNEW THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ANSWER. 'CAUSE THAT JUST STUCK OUT WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING AT THE IT BUDGET, ALL OF A SUDDEN SOMETHING JUMPS UP 10 GRAND. SO THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAD. I DIDN'T KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE HAD QUESTIONS REVIEWING THE BUDGET, BUT, UM, IT LOOKS TO ME AND I COULD HAVE MISSED SOMETHING THAT I THOUGHT YOU DID A FANTASTIC JOB AND YOU GOT ABOUT FOUR MONTHS WORTH OF US GOING BACK AND FORTH INTO A DOCUMENT. SO THANK YOU MELISSA. I THOUGHT YOU DID A, A, A FANTABULOUS JOB AND LISA AND YOUR TEAM AND ALL YOU HARD WORKERS OVER THERE. AND, UM, AND SO THAT'S ALL I HAD FROM THAT. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY I DO HAVE THINGS I WANNA TALK ABOUT, BUT THOSE ARE ALL I HAD AS FAR AS JUST PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS, HOUSE HOUSEKEEPING, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ELSE HAVE ANY HOUSEKEEPING ISSUES [00:10:01] CLEANING UP STUFF BEFORE WE GET INTO, I HAVE QUESTIONS. UM, IS, I'M LOOKING RIGHT NOW AT PAGE FOUR OF THE GENERAL FUND BUDGET, IF I'M READING THIS RIGHT, YOU'VE CALCULATED IN ALL OF THE ITEMS WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING, CORRECT? YES. AND WE NOW HAVE A CONTINGENCY OF $858,643. IS THAT RIGHT? CORRECT. GOOD, GOOD. OKAY. SO THAT'S MORE THAN WHAT WE HAD EXPECTED COMING INTO THIS. AT LEAST MORE THAN I HAD EXPECTED. BUT JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S AN ACCURATE NUMBER THAT GETS ALL THE PAY INCREASES WE TALKED ABOUT THAT GETS, DOES THAT GET THE NEW EMPLOYEE WE TALKED ABOUT FOR IT? YES, THAT'S EVERYTHING. THAT'S CORRECT. OKAY, GOOD. IT DIDN'T INCLUDE HIS LAPTOP FOR THE NEW EMPLOYEE. I SAW THAT THAT WAS STILL A NO. OH YES YOU ARE CORRECT. WE WILL HAVE TO ADD THAT TO THE REVISION SHEET. AND, AND IT STILL DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY FUNDS FOR THE DA EXPANSION. I THOUGHT WE HAD A HUNDRED THOUSAND SIDE THAT'S ON, THAT'S ON OUR REVISION SHEET RIGHT HERE, LISA, THAT'S ON THE REVISION SHEET STILL. SO I, IF YOU RECALL, UH, WHEN I ASKED YOU WANT ME TO PUT IT TOWARDS THE DA EXPANSION, IF YOU HAD ANY EXTRA CONTINGENCY, I THINK EVERYONE SAID PUT IT TOWARDS CONTINGENCY AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT MM-HMM . CORRECT. OKAY. SO WE GOT A NEW SHEET THIS MORNING. GREAT. . UM, YOU'RE THE BEST, LAUREN. I'M LOVING IT. OKAY, SO DA EXPANSION IS NOW 2 25. OKAY. BEFORE I GET, UH, WE'LL DEAL WITH THAT I GUESS IN A MINUTE. UM, OKAY, I'M LOOKING AT YOUR FUND BALANCE CHART THAT YOU SENT YESTERDAY ABOUT FIVE O'CLOCK. UM, THESE ALL ARE BALANCES AS OF SEPTEMBER 8TH IT SAYS. SO THEY DON'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE THINGS WE'RE SUGGESTING FOR THIS BUDGET. DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT WOULD GIVE US A PROJECTION AS TO WHERE WE WOULD BE THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 1ST IF WE EVERYTHING COMES INTO PLAY THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT? NO, UH, MANY TIMES YOU'VE UTILIZED OR THE, ON THE GENERAL FUND, FOR EXAMPLE, THE COURT HAS SAID THEY WERE GONNA UTILIZE FUND BALANCE AND ENDED UP NOT HAVING TO BECAUSE RIGHT. COLLECTIONS EXCEEDED, UH, ANTICIPATION. MM-HMM . UM, NO, I, I GUESS WE COULD, BUT HOW I NORMALLY GO ABOUT IT IS WHEN I LOOK AT A PAGE AND SEE THAT I'M GOING TO USE FUND BALANCE, THEN I LOOK TO THE FUND BALANCE PAGE TO CONFIRM THAT THERE'S ENOUGH IN THERE TO USE IT. RIGHT. SO YOU'RE WANTING, YOU ARE WANTING SOMETHING TO SHOW WHAT IT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE. WELL, I'M NOT SURE I'M ASKING THAT YOU FOR THAT, BUT IT WOULD HELP ME IN MAKING SENSE OF ALL THIS. BECAUSE FOR EXAMPLE, ON THE GENERAL FUND BALANCE, YOU SHOW $33,832,859, WHICH IS 6.86 MONTHS AT OUR CURRENT BURN RATE, WHICH I THINK EVERYONE ON THIS COURT WOULD AGREE IS MORE THAN WE NEED. PROBABLY. OR AT LEAST WE DON'T, CERTAINLY DON'T, WE'RE NOT IN TROUBLE. 'CAUSE WE TALKED ABOUT FIVE MONTHS. SO WHEN WE'RE GOING THROUGH THESE DECISION MAKING PROCESSES, IT WOULD HELP ME IF I COULD KNOW HOW MUCH OF THAT, LIKE I KNOW WE TOOK LIKE 1.1 MILLION FOR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE REMODEL. UH, I DON'T KNOW. REMEMBER IF WE'VE TAKEN OTHER THINGS? I DON'T THINK SO, BUT I THINK WE DID, WE DID TAKE THAT. SO WHERE IT WOULD HELP ME IF I KNEW WHERE WE WERE GONNA BE SETTING ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 1ST, BASED UPON ALL THESE CALCULATIONS WE'VE DONE. OKAY. BECAUSE THE 33 MILLION, UH, IS IS THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME OF THAT, THAT IT'S AN ENCUMBERED FUND BALANCE. WE'RE, WE'RE SHOWING YOU WHAT EVERYTHING IS AT, I SHOULD SAY THAT'S A STATEMENT OF CASH POSITION. RIGHT. FOR FOR MORE, FOR BETTER. RIGHT. FOR BETTER TERMS. IT'S WHERE WE WERE 10 DAYS AGO. RIGHT. AND, AND, AND JUST FOR CLARITY FOR THE PUBLIC, AND I'M SORRY LAUREN, I'LL, I'LL SHUT UP RIGHT AFTER THIS. IS THAT AHEAD? WHEN AHEAD WE TALK ABOUT AHEAD FUND BALANCE THAT WE'RE USING AND WE'RE CALCULATING, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT UNENCUMBERED FUND BALANCE AND THAT NUMBER IS A LOT CLOSER TO 24, 20 5 MILLION THAN IT IS TO [00:15:01] 33 MILLION. THAT'S WHAT I WAS GETTING AT. SO YEAH, I WAS JUST SO I JUST WANTED THE PUBLIC TO KNOW AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THESE NUMBERS, THAT THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO. RIGHT. AND THEN THAT STAYS MORE IN LINE WITH THE FIVE MONTHS. CORRECT. RIGHT. OKAY. SO MAYBE IF YOU COULD JUST LET ME KNOW THAT, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL. WE HAVE, I DON'T NEED ANY FORMAL CHART OR ANYTHING ON THAT SAME PAGE. THERE'S, UH, A FUND 42, WHICH I DON'T REMEMBER. UH, 41, I'M SORRY. NO FOUR, NO. 42. I DON'T REMEMBER US TALKING ABOUT IT. UM, A DISTRICT ATTORNEY FORFEITURE FUND OF $191,632. WHAT'S THAT USED FOR? THE FORFEITURE FUND IS UNDER THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND THE DECISIONS THAT SHE USES TO, TO EXPEND THOSE MONIES. UH, I THINK THE, THE, THE STATUTE REQUIRES US TO SHOW YOU THE BUDGET, BUT, UH, THOSE CAN BE UTILIZED FOR, UH, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OFFICE. UM, SO IS, SORRY, THAT'S AT THE DA'S DISCRETION. MM-HMM . OKAY. SHE, SHE DETERMINES THOSE FUNDS. WE, WE, WE LIST THEM AND, AND HAVE TO SHOW 'EM IN THE BUDGET. BUT, UH, THAT THAT'S SHE SO IS THAT $191,000 WE COULD USE FOR A DA REMODEL? ALRIGHT. INVITATION EXTENDED . THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP. KENDA, COLE PEPPER, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, I'VE ACTUALLY LOOKED AT THIS. THE STATUTE IS VERY CLEAR ON WHAT WE CAN USE THAT MONEY FOR. UM, AND I'VE ACTUALLY LOOKED AT SOME AG DECISIONS REGARDING IT. UM, YOU CANNOT USE FORFEITURE FUNDS ARE VERY SPECIFICALLY, UH, DELINEATED. UM, THEY ARE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES AND YOU CAN'T USE 'EM FOR GENERAL FUND BUILDING PROJECTS BECAUSE THEN YOU COULD NEVER MOVE ANYONE ELSE INTO THAT SPACE. SO I ACTUALLY DID LOOK AT THAT, UM, BASED ON SOME CONVERSATIONS THAT I HAD. UH, BUT THOSE ARE, IN FACT, PEOPLE GET INDICTED USING THOSE FUNDS FOR PURPOSES FOR WHICH THEY ARE NOT SPECIFICALLY STATUTORILY, UM, ALLOWED. SO WE'RE VERY CAREFUL WITH THOSE FUNDS. SO LIKE US, YOU HAVE DISCRETION THIS COMPLETELY LIMITED BY STATE LAW. YES, SIR. . YEAH. SO WHAT DO YOU USE THOSE FUNDS FOR? TYPICALLY, LIKE WE, WE ACTUALLY ARE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT USE THOSE FUNDS. UM, THOSE FUNDS CAN BE USED FOR, UH, CERTAIN AV REQUIREMENTS. THEY CAN BE USED FOR. UH, WE'VE USED 'EM FOR SOME SUPPLEMENTS, UM, IN THE PAST. WE USE THEM TO PROSECUTE FORFEITURE CASES, UM, IN THE INVESTIGATION OF FORFEITURE CASES. AND FORFEITURE IS WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT STOPS A VEHICLE, IT'S CLEARLY INVOLVED IN SOME KIND OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. AND THEY ALSO FIND MONEY IN THE VEHICLE. AND TYPICALLY THAT'S CONNECTED WITH A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION. UH, THE LAW ALLOWS US TO USE THAT FOR CERTAIN OFFICE EXPENSES. UM, WHICH I LOVE USING CRIMINAL DRUG MONEY FOR PENCILS AND PENS. YES, WE GET SOME, WE OFTENTIMES USE IT TO SUPPLEMENT OUR OFFICE EXPENSES IF WE GO OVER BUDGET, UM, TO BUY FILES AND, AND, AND CERTAIN OFFICE EXPENSES. BUT WE ARE VERY CAREFUL USING THAT. UM, BECAUSE DAS ACROSS THE STATE HAVE NOT ONLY GOTTEN IN TROUBLE, BUT IT IS A POLITICALLY, UM, HOT TOPIC, UM, ACROSS THE STATE. AND SO WE ARE VERY CAREFUL, UM, TO USE THOSE THOSE FUNDS IN VERY SPECIFIC WAYS. SO WHILE THEY CAN'T BE USED FOR EXPANSION, BECAUSE LIKE YOU SAID, IF YOU EVER MOVE OUT OF THERE, THEN WE'RE IN, WE'RE IN TROUBLE. MM-HMM . YOU CAN NEVER MOVE FROM THAT SPACE. WHAT ABOUT FOR OUTFITTING THE OFFICE WITH THINGS THEY CAN TAKE WITH THEM? FF AND E AND ALL THOSE KIND OF THINGS? YOU COULD USE FORFEITURE FUNDS. OKAY. OR I COULD USE FORFEITURE FUNDS IF WE DETERMINE IF WE NEEDED THAT. THE, THAT THE GENERAL BUDGET WASN'T SUFFICIENT TO COVER THAT. UM, DO I THINK THAT YOU OUGHT TO S YOU CANNOT SUPPLANT, I CAN TELL YOU STATUTORILY YOU CANNOT SUPPLANT GENERAL BUDGET NEEDS, UM, WITH THE FORFEITURE FUND. OKAY. UH, AND THAT'S WHY THEY'VE MADE ALL OF THOSE, UH, RESTRICTIONS ON IT. RULES AROUND IT. YEAH. OKAY. SOUNDS GOOD. ALRIGHT. THANK, THANK YOU. IF I RECALL THE, THE STATUTE SAYS SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF ONGOING, UH, EXPENSES. SO I, I MEAN YES. AND I AMANDA'S VERY CAREFUL OF HOW SHE SPENDS THOSE. I'M SORRY. I I DON'T YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THERE'S GOTTA BE A A FINE, IT'S GOTTA BE USABLE WITHIN A YEAR. I, I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. I'M SORRY. I DON'T WANNA, UH, UH, SPEAK OUT OF TURN 'CAUSE I'M NOT SURE. I HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THAT. WHAT IS THE 246 OR $221,000? IT'S LINE ITEM 54. FUND NUMBER 54 FOR COURT REPORTER SERVICE. SO THE COURT REPORTER SERVICE FUND, I'M, I CAN'T RECALL OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD HOW MUCH THAT FEE IS, BUT IT'S COLLECTED WITH COURT CASES [00:20:02] AND IT CAN BE USED FOR EQUIPMENT FOR COURT REPORTERS, UH, COURT REPORTER SALARIES, COURT REPORTER RECORDS. UH, WE USE IT. UH, I MEAN WE BUDGET AS MUCH AS WE CAN. UH, IN, IN, IF YOU'LL NOTICE IN THE ACTUAL BOUND BUDGET, UH, WE PUT IN AS MUCH AS THERE IS AVAILABLE JUST IN CASE. SO YOU TRANSFERRED IN THE BUDGET, YOU'VE GOT, YOU GAVE US, YOU'VE TRANSFERRED MONEY TO THE EXTENT YOU BELIEVE IS FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE FROM THAT FUND INTO THE GENERAL FUND ALREADY? NO, I DO NOT. I I, I JUST, UH, FIND THE PAGE. SO THE LOTS OF TIMES WE ARE REQUIRED TO PAY FOR A COURT REPORTER'S RECORD. UM, AND WE'LL CHARGE, UH, SO IF, IF THAT'S THE CASE, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S AN APPEAL AND IT HAS TO GO TO A HIGHER COURT AND WE HAVE TO PAY THE COURT REPORTER FOR HER RECORD, WE WILL CHARGE THE EXPENSE TO THAT FUND. UM, ANY, ANY KIND OF INVOICE THAT COMES IN THAT I CAN, THAT I CAN UH, REALISTICALLY CHARGE THERE, WE CHARGE IT THERE. UM, WE PAY FOR SUBSTITUTE COURT REPORTERS WHEN THEY'RE NECESSARY FOR OUR JUDGES. WHEN THEY, WHEN THEIR COURT REPORTERS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, WE HAVE TO PAY FOR A SUBSTITUTE. WE CHARGE IT THERE. PAY 78. YES. SO MOST WE COULD PAY FOR EQUIPMENT FOR THE, THE REPORTERS THEMSELVES, BUT THEY USUALLY BUY ALL OF THOSE PRODUCTS, UH, PERSONAL EXPENSE OF THEIR OWN. SO THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SOMETHING THAT WE'VE UTILIZED. OKAY. BUT WE TRY OUR BEST TO UTILIZE THAT FUND. IT JUST, IT, IT MUST HAVE A PRETTY GOOD, UH, FEE FOR THE LIFE OF ME. I CAN'T, I CAN'T EVEN GRASP IT WHAT THAT FEE IS, BUT IT'S CHARGED WHEN SOMEONE FILES A CASE. WELL, AND I'M NOT TRYING TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT ON SOMETHING THAT I DIDN'T ASK YOU IN ADVANCE ON, BUT WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH THIS LAST NIGHT, IT KIND OF CAUGHT MY EYE BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I KNOW HAS HAPPENED THIS YEAR IS THERE WAS A PAY RAISE THAT WAS GIVEN TO THE COURT REPORTERS CORRECT. BY THE JUDGES. THAT WAS THE DECISION THEY MADE. AND I'M WONDERING IF SOME OF THIS MONEY WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO HELP PAY THAT. AND, AND I DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY OF THIS NUMBER. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S, IF IT'S 2 21 THIS YEAR, IT WAS TWO 40 LAST YEAR AND IT'S GOING DOWN, OR IF IT WAS A HUNDRED LAST YEAR AND IT'S GOING UP, I DON'T KNOW. BUT WE WERE, UH, THERE, THE JUDGES MADE A DECISION THIS YEAR TO GIVE A SALARY INCREASE OVER AND ABOVE WHAT THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT THOUGHT WAS APPROPRIATE TO GIVE TO PEOPLE. SO I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THIS MIGHT BE MONEY THAT WE COULD USE TO HELP PAY THAT SALARY INCREASE. I HAVE TO, TO TO ARGUE WITH YOU ON THAT. I BELIEVE THAT WHAT THEY GAVE THEIR COURT REPORTERS WAS 4%. I DON'T BELIEVE. OH, WAS IT? YEAH. I THOUGHT THERE WAS A SPECIAL ORDER WE GOT THAT SAID IT WAS INCREASED. AM I IF I'M WRONG, I'M WRONG. SO THE ORIGINAL ONE WAS OVER, BUT THEY CORRECTED IT TO THE 4%. SO WE DID PASS, WE DID APPROVE THE 4% ON THE COURT REPORTERS. OKAY. YEAH. AND THE, THE COURT, THE, THE COURT ORDER IS, IS AN ANNUAL THING. THEY DO THE COURT REPORTER SALARIES ON THE SAME AS THEY DO THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE. IT, IT'S REQUIRED TO GIVE YOU A COURT ORDER ON THOSE. OKAY. UM, SO IN YEARS PAST, I HAVE ALWAYS TRIED TO UTILIZE THAT FUND AND THINKING THAT IT COULD BE A SALARY SUPPORT UHHUH . BUT THE SALARIES THAT THE COURT REPORTERS RECEIVED, RECEIVED ANNUALLY, I DON'T THINK IT'S A SUSTAINABLE IDEA TO, BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY 200,000 IN THAT FUND. SO IT GETS WHAT, 50,000 A YEAR? YEAH. OR 60,000 A YEAR AT MOST IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY GENERATING ENOUGH INCOME IF WE WERE TO JUST DRAIN IT AT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. OKAY. THAT, THAT'S, THANK YOU . ALRIGHT, I'LL, THAT'S FINE. UM, OKAY. SO NOW I'M IN THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS GENERAL GOVERNMENT BARRY COMPTON ON PAGE ONE 12. AND THIS IS JUST A NOTE TO THE COURT THAT I, WE'VE DISCUSSED TWO OR THREE TIMES DOORS ON THIS HISTORIC COURTHOUSE AND THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE OUTLIVED THEIR USEFUL LIFE. AND I KNOW I SPOKE TO COMMISSIONER M**K JUST BEFORE THIS MEETING ABOUT WHETHER WE SHOULD USE WOOD OR ALUMINUM. BUT [00:25:01] THAT MONEY THERE, I DON'T THINK, I THINK THAT 130,000, IF I REMEMBER RIGHT, WAS FOR ALL FOUR DOORS OR EIGHT, I GUESS IT IS NINE, IT'S, I THINK IT'S NINE. NINE. YEAH. BUT FOR THE TWO ON THE EAST AND THE WEST THAT GET BEAT UP BY THE SUN'S, MY UNDERSTANDING, WE CAN MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE THE OTHERS WITH USING ALUMINUM DOORS. SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS IT'S HALF OF 30,000, 130,000 OR WHAT, BUT I JUST WANNA BRING IT TO EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WE EVER REACHED A RESOLUTION. WELL, I'M REMEMBERING HAVING THIS EXACT CONVERSATION BEFORE WHERE I, I THOUGHT WE HAD COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE WANTED TO SEE THE NUMBER OF, OF JUST DOING THE EAST AND WEST RIGHT DOORS. YEAH. BUT I DON'T THINK WE'VE DONE IT YET. I DON'T THINK I'VE NOT SEEN THE NUMBER YET. I DON'T THINK WE'VE GOT IT YET. . AND WOULD THAT, SO WE'LL HAVE THE CONVERSATION AGAIN, BUT WOULD THAT BE PART OF US BEING ABLE TO USE, UM, THE FUND 2 0 2 FOR FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT FUND? THIS IS A FACILITY. THERE APPEARS TO BE A GOOD AMOUNT IN THERE. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ALREADY BEEN ENCUMBERED FOR SOME, FOR SOMETHING ELSE. THAT'S YOUR THIRD FLOOR PROJECT, YOUR FUND 2 0 2. BUT YES. AND, AND WE PUT ALL KINDS OF EXPENSES. THAT WOULD BE EXACTLY WHERE I WOULD WOULD PUT IT TO. BUT THAT FUND DOESN'T GENERATE ANY OF ITS OWN MONEY. IT'LL STILL BE GENERAL FUND COMES THAT WOULD NO, THAT COMES DIRECTLY FROM GENERAL, GENERAL FUND. UM, BUT YEAH, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT AS WELL. 'CAUSE I, I, I THINK I WOULD SUPPORT JUST DOING THE EAST AND WEST DOOR. YEAH. BUT I SURE WANNA SEE THE NUMBER BEFORE I COMMIT TO THAT. SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN GET THAT NUMBER BEFORE NOON TODAY, BUT MAYBE WE CUT 130,000 AND A HALF AND SAY WE GIVE 65,000 AND THAT SHOULD COVER IT. I WOULD THINK, BECAUSE I THINK, IF I REMEMBER RIGHT, THE 130 WAS FOR WOODEN DOORS AND IF ALUMINUM WAS GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT CHEAPER, BUT NOT MUCH. SO IF WE'RE JUST DOING TWO SIDES, MAYBE CUT IT IN HALF FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES, WE COULD GET THERE. YEAH. NOW I, I DO, UM, JOGGING MY OWN MEMORY HERE, I DO REMEMBER, I'M ASSUMING IT WOULD BE BARRY, UH, MAKING THE STATEMENT THAT IT WOULD BE HARD TO GET SOMEBODY OUT TO EVEN GIVE A BED JUST FOR TWO DOORS. UH, SO I THINK, I THINK HE WAS REFERRING TO THE WOODEN DOORS ON THAT. HE, AND I'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THAT AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT IS CORRECT ON THE WOODEN DOORS. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, THAT THAT COMMENT EXTENDED TO THIS OTHER ROOM. GOT IT, GOT IT, GOT IT, GOT IT. WELL, I, YEAH, I I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT. I, I I THINK YOU'RE, I'M ABOUT 90% CERTAIN YOU'RE CORRECT. WE CAN FIGURE 60, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO INCREASE THOSE ODDS JUST A LITTLE IF YOU COULD. IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO BE MORE ACCURATE, ISN'T IT? YES, IT IS. YES. IT'S, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO BE MORE ACCURATE. UM, I HAVE A QUESTION. ARE YOU STILL ASKING? GO AHEAD. I I'LL JUST, I'LL WAIT AND THEN I'LL, MY NEXT QUESTION AFTER YOU, THIS IS JUST FOR MY EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, UM, LISA, UM, FUND 46, WHICH IS THE OPIOID ABATEMENT SETTLEMENT. I, I THOUGHT THAT, THAT, I THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN SETTLED AND I DIDN'T KNOW IF THIS AMOUNT IS IS IN THE FUND OR YEAH. OR IS THERE ADDITIONAL FUND MONIES COMING? I I, I THINK YOU WILL BE EXPECTING MORE PAYMENTS ON, ON THAT. YEAH. THERE, THERE'S, THERE'S MORE MONEY, UH, TRICKLING DOWN AS, AS WE SPEAK. UM, OUR, OUR CUT OF THOSE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IS TRICKLING IS A GOOD WORD. YEAH. IT'S VERY HUMOROUS WHEN WE GET THE MONEY, BUT THANKFUL TO HAVE. RIGHT. SO IS THERE, IS THERE CONDITIONS OF HOW WE CAN USE THAT MONEY? I I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. I I SUSPECT IT HAS TO BE IN SOME SORT OF OPIOID MITIGATION OR YEAH. UM, I, I, IT HAS TO BE IN SOME SORT OF REHABILITA REHABILITATIVE TYPE OF SERVICE THAT IS PROVIDED AND USE THOSE FUNDS FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES. THE, THE OPIOID. YES. AND USE THOSE FUNDS IN THE JAIL, WHICH WE'VE DONE. OH, OKAY. OKAY. THAT WOULD BE IN GOOD USE OF THAT. YEAH. I, I THINK UNLIKE LIKE THE, THE PROGRAM THAT WE JUST GRADUATED. YEP. ACTUALLY I DO BELIEVE WE USED SOME OF THE FUNDS FOR THAT. THAT'S GOOD. THAT'S GOOD. OKAY. YEAH, I THINK IT WAS ACTUALLY A CONTRACT THAT THE COURT APPROVED THAT WE WERE GONNA CHARGE TO THAT. YEAH. OUT HERE. I'M NOT SURE WHERE THIS ITEM WOULD GO, BUT UM, I KNOW WE HAVE THAT THE IT DEPARTMENT [00:30:01] HAS MADE INVESTMENTS IN THE SOUND SYSTEM IN THIS HISTORIC FOUND, IN THIS HISTORIC COURTROOM. UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY THESE MICROPHONES, OURS I THINK ARE ALL WORKING GOOD, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS QUITE FRUSTRATING LAST NIGHT DURING OUR, OUR INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM MEETING THAT WE ONLY HAD THREE OF THESE MICROPHONES THAT WE COULD USE AND WE HAD TO KEEP PASSING THEM AROUND TO INDIVIDUALS. SO I, I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO, AND WE MAY HAVE FUND IN, IN AN IT TO, TO, TO GET REPLACEMENTS FOR THESE. I'M, BUT EVEN, WELL THIS COMES OUT OF THE COUNTY CLERK'S FEES. OKAY. THAT'S, SHE, SHE'S THE ONE THAT'S BEEN BUYING ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY. YEAH. AND, AND OKAY. JUST SO YOU KNOW, I, I SPOKE WITH DANNY EARLIER AND I SAID, NEXT TIME JENNIFER'S HERE, I I NEED A TUTORIAL. RIGHT. UH, 'CAUSE IF PUSHING THE BUTTON DOESN'T MAKE EVERYTHING WORK, THEN THAT'S, THAT'S YOU'VE GONE BEYOND MY SKILLSET. CORRECT. AND, AND FROM WHAT I WAS TOLD, EVEN THE, YOU KNOW, THE NEW, THE NEW, THE NEW, UM, SPEAKERS WE HAVE ON THE CEILING, AND I'M HEARING FROM OUR PIO THAT IT'S A VERY GARBLED SOUND FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LISTENING ONLINE. YEAH. IT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD. I'VE HEARD SEVERAL OF THAT. IT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD. IT DOESN'T SOUND GOOD WHEN PEOPLE ARE AT THAT MIC, AT THE, AT THE PODIUM EITHER. IT DOESN'T EVEN SOUND GOOD OVER HERE WHEN THEY'RE THERE. SO I, YOU KNOW, I'VE SAID IN THE PAST THAT I WOULD RATHER BRING SOMEBODY ELSE IN TO LOOK AT THIS SYSTEM, BUT THAT'S A CONVERSATION WE CAN HAVE LATER. BUT WHATEVER WE'RE DOING CURRENTLY WITH THESE PEOPLE IS NOT, IT'S NOT GOOD. YEAH. AND, AND, AND JENNIFER FOG SPENT A LOT OF MONEY AND SHE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH THESE PEOPLE TOO. AND YES. AND SHE'S FRUSTRATED AS WELL. SO, YEAH. ANYWAY. ALRIGHT. THAT'S WHAT THAT'S WORTH. THAT WILL BE A POST BUDGET THAT CAN GO ALONG WITH THE, THE, UH, COMPUTERS THAT I WANT FOR THIS DAIS. AND I'M OKAY WITH THE POST BUDGET, BUT, BUT FRANK, IF WE REALLY ONLY HAVE THREE WORKING, WORKING, UM, MICROPHONES FOR OUR TABLES, WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO AT LEAST INVEST IN A FEW MORE. NO, I AGREE. YEAH. AND SPEAKING OF, UH, RECORDS MANAGEMENT, UH, THE 225,000 THAT I TRANSFERRED OUT OF FUND 57 AND INTO THE GENERAL FUND IS BEING REVIEWED BY LEGAL. WHETHER THAT SHOULD BE THE REVERSE OF TAKING SOME OF THE GENERAL FUND EXPENSES AND PUTTING IT IN THERE. SO THERE COULD BE SOME CHANGES BEING MADE, BUT IT WON'T AFFECT DOLLAR AMOUNT THERE. THERE'S NOT THE THE, THERE'S NOT AN ISSUE ABOUT WHETHER TO USE THE FUNDS. IT'S JUST HOW WE'RE GOING TO SET IT UP ON PAPER. YEAH. CAN CAN, CAN IT BE A ONE STEP DIRECT OR DOES IT OR CHARGE SOME OF THE EXPENSE TO HER FUND? SO, SO COMMISSIONER LICHTY, UM, BARRY COMPTON HAS GOTTEN BACK WITH US AND HE SAYS IT WAS 111,000 FOR ALL. AND HE SAYS, BUT I GUESS ALLOW 55,000 FOR THE TYPE OF ALUMINUM DOORS. AND I'M CERTAIN HE'S PROBABLY LISTENING ON THE LINE AS WELL. SO, WELL, WHEN WE GET TO THAT POINT, I THINK I, THAT WE'D LIKE, I'D LIKE TO DO THAT. 'CAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO MAINTAIN THE BUILDING. OKAY. JUST TO SHOW YOU HOW MUCH FUN I HAD LAST NIGHT, UM, IF YOU WOULD GO TO PAGE 42, AND I'M SURE LISA, YOU HAVE AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS. SO I'M READY TO BE, UH, EDUCATED, UM, ON THIS SHEET THAT WE GOT AND I DIDN'T HAVE, I COULDN'T FIND YOUR UPDATE ON EVERYTHING. SO I WAS WORKING OFF THE EVERYTHING AS OF SEPTEMBER 5TH MASTER LIST AND ON LINE ITEM 702 97 IN THE ORIGINAL BUDGET, THAT WAS $575,328. HERE IT'S 4 61, 7 58. AND YET ON THIS SHEET HERE THAT SHOWS WHAT ALL THE CHANGES WERE, IT SAID WE WOULD HAVE A REDUCTION BY 132,304. SO SOMEWHERE WE DIDN'T GET ENOUGH OF A REDUCTION OR WE HAD OTHER CHANGES THAT OFFSET IT. BUT I COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING ELSE ON THAT LINE ITEM HERE THAT WOULD'VE MADE THAT NUMBER INCREASE. IT'S PROBABLY THE PERFORMANCE PAY WAS SPREAD, UH, FROM THE PERFORMANCE PAY LINE TO THE BUDGET. SO THAT WOULD'VE BEEN THE 4% BEING ADDED TO THE PEOPLE YOU DID NOT REMOVE FROM THAT BUDGET. BUT HERE WE REMOVED THE GIS COORDINATOR IN THE TEMP MM-HMM . TO GET 132. BUT I THINK IN YOUR, IN YOUR, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET, YOU STILL HAD THE COUNTY ENGINEER, UH, AT 1 53 AND NOW YOU HAVE HER AT 1 59 7 44. SO [00:35:01] THE DIFFERENCE IS AN INCREASE IN HER SALARY THAT WASN'T OTHERWISE REFLECTED. RIGHT. AND, AND, AND THE ALSO THE HEALTH COORDIN AND THE GIS ANALYSTS, THOSE, THOSE LINES IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET HAD, HAD NOT HAD THE RAISE INCREASES PUT TO THEM YET. OKAY. SO I FIGURED THERE WAS SOME EXPLANATION LIKE THAT AND I KNEW YOU WOULD HAVE IT. UM, IN THIS BUDGET AGAIN THAT YOU SENT US YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, UM, WE'VE GOT, LIKE I'M LOOKING AT PAGE THREE NOW AND THERE'S JUST A BUNCH OF BLANK LINES. THOSE WILL ALL BE FILLED IN, I'M ASSUMING AT SOME POINT? OR IS IT PERFORMANCE PAY NOW GONE BECAUSE IT'S SPREAD, ALLOCATED OUT TO EVERYBODY? IS THAT HOW THAT WE GOT ZEROS THERE? YES, SIR. AND THE EMPLOYEE. OKAY. ALRIGHT. OKAY. SO WHERE THERE'S BLANKS, THERE'S GONNA STAY BLANKS FOR THE MOST PART. YES, SIR. OKAY. UNTIL WE BEG NET DATA TO DELETE THE BLANKS. OKAY, GREAT. GREAT. UM, WHICH I THINK WE DID IN OUR SECOND BUDGET AS A COURT AND LIKE GOT LIKE FOUR PAGES BACK, YEAH, IT WAS, IT WAS NOT. UM, WE HAD TO RETYPE IN A LOT OF STUFF TOO. YEAH. SO, I MEAN, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SUGGESTING WE DO THAT NOW, BUT I'M JUST SAYING THERE, IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE THERE WAS SO MANY BLANKS THAT WE WENT TO NET DATA AND JUST GOT A BUNCH OF THEM REMOVED. . WELL, AND, AND SOME OF THE TIMES WHEN, WHEN WE'VE TALKED ABOUT REMOVING A LINE, IF THERE'S HISTORY TO IT, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT APPRE, I I DON'T APPRECIATE IT TO HAVE IT REMOVED IF THERE'S A HISTORY, BECAUSE THEN, THEN THE HISTORY IS GONE. CORRECT. YEP. YEAH. UM, I THINK CHECK ONE OTHER PLACE IN MY MESS OF NOTES FROM LAST NIGHT AND I CAN, BUT I THINK THAT'S IT FOR ME RIGHT NOW. YEAH. RIGHT NOW I, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE. WELL, WE'RE, WE'RE DOING GOOD. WE'RE WE'RE FINDING MONEY AND NOT SPENDING MONEY. SO NO, LAUREN JUST TRIED TO SPEND 60 GRAND. NO, HE, HE SAVED US MONEY ON THE DOORS. NO, THE DOORS WEREN'T IN IT. THE 130 IS NOT IN IT. SO HE'S ADDING 60, TRYING TO ADD 55,000 TO THE BUDGET, NOT SAVE MONEY. YEAH. SO NOW WE NEED TO, NOW WE NEED TO GO THE OTHER WAY. I'M TRYING TO MAINTAIN, WE'RE TRYING TO GO THE OTHER WAY PROPERTIES. I'M TRYING TO MAINTAIN OUR PROPERTIES SO THAT SOMETIME DOWN THE ROAD WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A MASSIVE RENOVATION THAT GOES WAY OVER BUDGET. READ AND THOSE DOORS ARE AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE AND THEY ARE AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER GOANA FOR THIS BUILDING WILL STILL BE USED FOR OUR, OUR, OUR OUR MEETINGS AND GET THAT GUEST AND VISITORS COMING IN. SO WE, WE HAVE TO HAVE SOME DOORS THAT ARE FUNCTIONAL. YES. SO WHETHER I DID GOOD OR BAD, I'M DOING IT. CAN. OKAY. LET'S, LET'S, BEFORE WE GET TO THE, THAT'S ALL, WE'RE GONNA GO THE WRONG DIRECTION. LET'S GO BACK THE FINDING, FINDING MONEY. HOLD ON. SO, UM, DID YOU, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY OF THESE HOUSEKEEPING? OH, OKAY. SO I WANT TO GO TO THE CURRENT REVISION SHEET AND I WANNA TALK ABOUT A COUPLE OF THINGS ON THE CURRENT REVISION SHEET. THE ONE DATED NINE DAY, RIGHT? THE ONE DATED NINE 18. SO, UM, THE, THE FIRST THING IS ON THE ANNEX ALARM SYSTEM, UM, WE, UH, WE WERE ATTEMPTING TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT WITH THE ALARM THAN WHAT WE NORMALLY DO. AND IT BASICALLY, I'M TRYING TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, IT JUST DOESN'T WORK. SO WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING IS JUST DOING THE EXACT SAME THING, MONITORING THAT ALARM AS WE MONITOR EVERY OTHER ALARM IN, IN THE COUNTY. SO EVEN THOUGH IT'S $600 AND IT'S NOT GONNA BREAK THE BUDGET, THE LAST THING I WANTED TO DO WAS PASS A BUDGET AND THEN COME TO THE FIRST MEETING IN OCTOBER AND TELL YOU GUYS, OKAY, LET'S TAKE $600 OUTTA CONTINGENCY TO PUT IT FOR THE ALARM SERVICE. THIS ALARM SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN SITUATED JUST YET, BUT THAT IS 100% THE DIRECTION WE'RE GOING. IT'S TO GET THIS MONITORED FOR $600. UM, AND IT'S JUST GOING TO FIX THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE HAVING. WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE TO BUY A BUNCH OF EQUIPMENT AND THE, ANYWAYS, THIS IS JUST HOW IT'S GONNA WORK. AND WE'RE GETTING THERE, BUT WE'RE NOT THERE YET. SO MY THOUGHT PROCESS IS, LET'S JUST PUT IT IN THE BUDGET, SEND THE GENERAL BUDGET UNDER OUR SERVICES AND WE MIGHT HAVE 40 BUCKS LEFT AT THE END OF THE YEAR IF WE DON'T GET US STARTED UNTIL NOVEMBER. I MEAN, WE'RE SPENDING 20 SOMETHING DOLLARS A MONTH ON, ON KEEPING THESE ALARMS MONITORED, BUT WE WANT THE BURGLAR ALARM OPERATIONAL. SO [00:40:01] THAT'S WHAT WE'RE, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS DOING. SO KIND OF WITH THAT, I WOULD JUST GO AHEAD AND JUST MAKE A MOTION. I KNOW WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF GOING BACK BACKWARDS TRYING TO SAVE MONEY THAT WE APPROVE THE $600 ALARM SERVICE FOR THE ANNEX BUILDING BECAUSE THAT'S 100% THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE HEADED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. WE'RE JUST NOT QUITE THERE YET. HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER STA I'LL SECOND. SECOND BY COMMISSIONER GOLAN, I HAVE A QUESTION. IS THAT 600 MONTHLY ANNUALLY? NO, IT'S ANNUAL. IT'S ANNUAL. IT'S FOR THE ENTIRE BUDGET. IT'S JUST, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A CONTRACT COMING TO THE COURT IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS AND THAT'S WHERE IT'S GONNA BE. SO INSTEAD OF FINDING ANY CONTINGENCY, LET'S JUST PUT IT IN GENERAL GOVERNMENT. I THINK THAT SOUNDS VERY REASONABLE. . YES. YEP. SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER STACEY, A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER GOANA, IF YOU'LL REGISTER YOUR VOTES NOW. SO NOW WHEN THE AUDITOR DOES THAT ITEM, SHE COULD SAY IT IS BUDGETED INSTEAD OF IT'S NOT BUDGETED PASSES FIVE TO ZERO. UM, AND THEN I WANTED TO MOVE TO THE IT TECH. UH, I, UH, THE FIRST QUESTION I WANT TO ASK THE COURT IS, IS LAUREN HAD, UH, THE GREATEST MOTION, I REALLY WANT TO GO GRAB IT AND KEEP IT FOREVER AS FAR AS IF BOBBY'S PLAN COULD POTENTIALLY WORK, THEN MAYBE WE ADD THIS PERSON BECAUSE THERE'S IT PROBLEMS IN THE COUNTY ANYWAYS. NO, I'M KIDDING. I'M JUST GIVING LAUREN A HARD TIME. BUT, SO IF THERE IS NO DESIRE FROM THIS COURT, OR NO ONE WANTS TO MAKE A MOTION TO REMOVE SAID TECH, THEN I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE $1,500 LAPTOP FOR SAID TECH. I, I, UH, CAN TELL YOU, I'M AT THE POINT OF LOOKING AT, I MEAN WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ADDING 29 PEOPLE TO THE HEADCOUNT. NOW SOME OF THOSE ARE UNFUNDED. UH, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE I, I CAN'T HONESTLY LOOK THE CITIZENS IN THE EYE AND SAY, HEY, I, I RAISED YOUR TAXES BY HOWEVER MANY MILLION, UH, AND GREW GOVERNMENT BY THIS HEAD COUNT. SO WE, WE A A AND I SAY ALL THAT JUST TO BE FORTHRIGHT AND LET YOU KNOW HERE VERY QUICKLY IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES, I'M GOING TO BE LOOKING AT FINDING MONEY, WHICH IS GOING TO GET US TO SOME OF THESE POSITIONS. SO, OKAY, I'M GONNA MOVE PAST THAT THEN. OKAY. BECAUSE I'LL, I'LL LET YOU HAVE THAT BATTLE THAT THAT WAS MORE OF A CONSENT ITEM. AND SO IF IT'S NOT CONSENSUAL, WE'LL LET YOU GO AND THEN WE'LL SEE IF YOU GET OUTVOTED OR IF YOU WIN THE VOTE. OKAY. UM, LISA, YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT GONNA ENJOY THIS CONVERSATION. YOU WERE TALKING LAST TIME ABOUT POTENTIALLY LOOKING AT SOME FY 25 FOR THE DA EXPANSION. IS THAT WHERE THIS 2 25 NUMBER IS COMING FROM OR, BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE 2 25 IS COMING FROM AND I ALSO WANT TO HAVE A CONVERSATION. 'CAUSE EVERYONE LOVES TO FIND MONEY. IS THERE ANY WAY TO GET THAT SUCKER FUNDED WITHOUT GOING INTO FUND BALANCE, WITHOUT TAKING $225,000 OF GENERAL FUND REVENUE AND DOING, DOING ANY OF THAT SORT OF STUFF? SO THE 2 25 THAT'S REFLECTED ON THIS, UM, REVISIONS SHEET, IT LOW, IT'S LOWERING SINCE THE CONTINGENCY. AND THE ONE YOU RECEIVED YESTERDAY IS EIGHT PLUS UH, THOUSAND. THAT'S WHERE THAT CAME FROM. MAKES PERFECT LOWERS IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE. SIX. SO, UM, SO WHAT I, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IS, IS TO, OBVIOUSLY I, I THINK IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT WE DO A DA EXPANSION AND I THINK WE ALL AGREE. UM, I KNOW, I KNOW WE HAVE A DISTRICT ATTORNEY THAT'S VERY NERVOUS BECAUSE WE'RE ON ALMOST THE, THE 15TH HOUR AND WE HAVEN'T VOTED TO SAY, YES, WE WANNA PUT THIS IN THE BUDGET, BUT WE ALL AGREE THAT WE WANT TO DO THIS. IF THERE IS ANY SORT OF MECHANISM TO PUT A, A, A PIGEON HOLE IN THERE TO PUT IT IN THE BUDGET AND THEN POTENTIALLY FIND SOME FY TRANSFERS THAT WE MIGHT NOT HAVE TO MAKE, I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION BEFORE WE START SPENDING THE MONEY OR, UM, THE, WE ARE GONNA HAVE SOME OVERAGES FROM SOME OF THE PROJECTS WE CURRENTLY HAVE WORKING TO HELP FUND THAT BALANCE TO SET THAT BUDGET TO GO FORBID AND TO BUILD THE PROJECT. SO I THINK MAKING, SETTING A BUDGET IS, IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING TO DO. AND I'M JUST, I'M JUST OPENING THAT TO THE WORLD AND I'LL SHUT UP. ISN'T THAT WHAT WE'RE THIS IS DOING? I'M TALKING ABOUT WHERE IT'S COMING FROM. OKAY. AS I UNDERSTAND IT, WHAT THIS SHEET WERE HANDED US TODAY IS SAYING THAT OUR CONTINGENCY WAS MORE THAN WE EXPECTED. SO LET'S MOVE THAT MONEY INTO THE DA EXPANSION. UH, I, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THIS SHEET IS SAYING. YES. OKAY. AND I GUESS MAYBE I MISUNDERSTOOD. I DON'T WANNA GO TO THE VOTER APPROVED TAX RATE. OKAY. THAT'S, THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. OKAY. OKAY. WE GOT A, WE'VE GOT A LOT TO TALK ABOUT BEFORE WE GET TO THAT DISCUSSION, I THINK. YEAH, WELL THEN, BUT UH, BUT I, BUT I'M JUST SAYING YOU WERE CORRECT. IF, IF EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT, [00:45:01] UM, IF WE'RE GONNA GET A LITANY OF THINGS THAT WE WANT CUT NOW WHAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING FOR THE LAST THREE MONTHS, I'D JUST SOON HEAR IT NOW. I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING BECAUSE AGREED. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IT IS. YEAH, I'M WITH YOU. BUT I WANTED TO STICK ON THIS FUNDING MECHANISM BECAUSE I THINK WE NEED TO SETTLE THE FUNDING OF THE DA'S OFFICE BEFORE WE START. I'M WITH YOU IN MY OPINION. AND THEN IF THERE ARE LEFTOVER FUNDS FROM PROJECTS WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON, THOSE COULD THEN BE SHIFTED MM-HMM . TO MORE FULLY COMPLETE THAT PROJECT INSTEAD OF KICKING IT DOWN THE ROAD WHEN I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT REDUCED TO A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOR THE DAS. AND, AND WITH THE, THE SAME THEN YOUR GOAL IS TO IS TO FIND THE, THE OTHER MONEY THAT HUNDRED. BUT GOING BACK TO WHAT I ASKED LISA, SO I'M GONNA, SO, SO WHAT, WHAT WERE WE TALKING ABOUT AND WHAT WAS THE NET RESULT? UH, I, AS THE REC, THE WHAT DATA I HAVE TO DATE, I BELIEVE I COULD GET 100 TO 200,000 STILL OUT OF FY 25 AND MOVE IT INTO YOUR FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT FUND. THAT BEING SAID, INVOICES WILL STILL COME TRICKLING IN THROUGH THE END OF OCTOBER. SO UNLESS I'M GONNA RECEIVE SOMETHING THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, WHICH COULD BE A LEGAL BILL, UH, THAT THEN I, I AM LIKE 80% SURE I COULD COME UP WITH SOME MONEY IN FY 25 TO, TO SUPPORT. BUT, AND, AND, AND I, I, I'M TRYING NOT TO GIVE YOU MY, UH, OPINION, BUT I'M GONNA JUST EEK INTO THAT AREA JUST FOR JUST A SECOND. GIMME YOUR OPINION. I WANNA HEAR IT. YEAH. I'M ASKING FOR YOUR OPINION. UM, I, I, I AM, UM, I DON'T, I FEEL LIKE YOU NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE CUSHION IN YOUR FACILITIES IMPROVEMENT FUND. I, I THINK IF SOMETHING WERE TO COME UP TO OCCUR THAT THE WAY THAT YOU'VE CARVED THIS BUDGET, YOU HAVE NO WIGGLE ROOM. AND THAT WOULD BE MY WISH THAT YOU WOULD NOT TRY TO STRIP MORE, BUT, BUT GIVE YOURSELVES, GIVE, GIVE WHAT COULD BE AN UNKNOWN OCCURRENCE. YEAH. TO HAVE, TO HAVE, BECAUSE WE ARE TAKING FUND BALANCES LOWER, WE DON'T HAVE PADDING ANYWHERE THAT IN, IN AN EMERGENCY. AND THAT, AND THAT IS, AND THAT IS A FAIR COMMENTARY. SO I, UM, WE, WE HAVE, WE CURRENTLY HAVE A FUND BALANCE TRANSFER OF $1.1 MILLION. THAT'S WHERE THE FUND BALANCE TRANSFER SITS. AND, AND I KNOW THAT THE, THE COURT ITSELF IS NOT IN FAVOR, AND I KNOW IT'S NOT U UNANIMOUS THAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY GO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, BUT I'M NOT EVEN SCARED TO TAKE 150 TO 200,000 OF FUND BALANCE AND ROLL IT INTO THE DA'S OFFICE RATHER THAN COMING OUT A GENERAL FUND AND COMING OFF THE TAX RATE. AND THEN IF SHE CAN HAVE THAT ADDITIONAL STUFF GOING INTO CAPITAL, THAT WOULD HELP US NOT HAVE THAT MONEY NECESSARILY ALLOCATED AND, AND COULD AND COULD HELP START LOOKING AT HAVING ADDITIONAL MONEY IN OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND SO THAT WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARS ON ALL THESE PROJECTS, WE'RE NOT SITTING THERE GOING, WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE? SO INSTEAD OF MOVING THAT MONEY AND SPECIFICALLY PUTTING IN THE DA, I SUGGEST WE KIND OF DO BOTH. WE MOVE THE MONEY INTO THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND WE POTENTIALLY DO THAT. I THINK I WOULD SUPPORT THAT. UM, BECAUSE THE, THE, THE FUND BALANCE IS IT, IT DOES HAVE AN, AN EXCESS RIGHT NOW, WHICH MEANS WE'VE, WE'VE OVERTAXED IN PREVIOUS YEARS, UH, BEYOND THE BUDGET. SO I, I WOULD, I WOULD BE OKAY WITH UTILIZING THAT MONEY AND NOT HAVE IT ATTACHED TO A, A TAX INCREASE FOR THE CITIZENS. WELL THAT, BEFORE I RESPOND, ONE WAY TO YOUR COMMENT, JUDGE, THAT WOULD GO BACK TO THE FIRST COMMENT I MADE THIS MORNING, WHICH IS I'D LIKE TO, OR ONE OF THE EARLY COMMENTS I MADE, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THAT PROJECTION IS AS OF THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 1ST. THAT'S, AND RIGHT NOW I'VE VOTED IN FAVOR OF MOVING 1.1 MILLION FROM THE FUND BALANCE TO DO THE SHERIFF'S REMODEL. UM, WHICH I STAND BEHIND BASED UPON THE CONVERSATION WE HAD, BUT MOVING MORE. I WOULD LIKE TO, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE WE'RE GONNA BE AT. WE MAY BE ABLE TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE SUGGESTING EACH OF YOU, BUT I, I DON'T FEEL COM THAT I HAVE THE INFORMATION TO MAKE THAT DECISION RIGHT NOW. THAT IS A FAIR STATEMENT. THAT IS A FAIR STATEMENT. UM, [00:50:01] SO, UM, LET'S, I MEAN THAT, THAT, THAT TAKES US AROUND THE EXPENDITURES HERE. SO WE, WE SUCCESSFULLY SPENT $600 , UH, SO WE STILL HAVE AN, AN EXCESS IN OUR CON ONLY TOOK US 50 MINUTES. IT ONLY TOOK AN HOUR. WE DID IT. SO DID, ARE WE STILL NOT VOTING TO FUND A LINE ITEM FOR THE DA EXPANSION OR ARE WE JUST WAITING AGAIN TILL TOMORROW? UM, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? I I, I WOULD LIKE TO, WE GOT, WE GOTTA PUT A LINE ITEM IN THERE. I I AGREE WITH THAT. WE, WE GOTTA PUT A, PUT A, A PEG ON THE BOARD HERE AND SAY, SAY WE'RE GOING, I IT'S A, IF IT'S A HUNDRED THOUSAND FINE, BUT THERE'S, I MEAN THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING MARKED IN THERE FOR NOW. COMMISSIONER GOANA, IF YOU WANNA MAKE A MOTION TO PUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND IN, I WILL SECOND IT. IN FACT, I'M GONNA SECOND IT BEFORE YOU MAKE IT LOOK AT YOU. YOU'RE TRYING TO TALK ME INTO A MOTION LIKE THAT YESTERDAY. LET ME AS A PRESIDING OFFICER COME IN AND RESTORE A LITTLE ORDER HERE. . I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION IF SOMEBODY IS SO INCLINED. YEAH, I'LL, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE A MOTION THAT WE FUND THE DA EXPANSION WITH A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM THE GENERAL FUND. NOW IN THE PROPER ORDER OF THINGS, I WILL SECOND GOT A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ALANA. I HAVE A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER LICK. DEE, IF YOU'LL REGISTER YOUR VOTES NOW PLEASE. OKAY. THAT PASSES FOUR TO ONE. OKAY. SO NOW OUR, OUR CONTINGENCY JUST WENT DOWN TO 158,000, OR I'M SORRY, OUR CONTINGENCY EXCESS WENT DOWN TO, WELL, IT DEPENDS ON WHICH NUMBER YOU LOOK AT. THE, THE, THE MOST RECENT ONE HAS, UH, YEAH, THE MOST RECENT ONE HAS US AT 8 58. AND, AND, AND IF WE PRINTED IT AGAIN NOW, IT WOULD BE EVEN A DIFFERENT NUMBER BE THIS SAYS 2 26 TO GET US TO 600. RIGHT. SO NUMBERS DON'T MATCH. NUMBERS DON'T MATCH SIX EIGHT. CORRECT. CORRECT. , IT'S KINDA LIKE OUR DOORS SOMEWHERE NOT TO EXCEED EVERYTHING IS A SLIDING SCALE. OH. UH, OKAY. SO WE'VE GOT THE DA PEG ON THE BOARD IN THE BUDGET FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. YEAH. RIGHT. YEAH. IT'S 258 OVER 600 AND WE JUST ESSENTIALLY ALLOCATED A HUNDRED OF IT. SO, UH, PAUSING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MOVING FUND BALANCE TILL WE GET THE PROJECTIONS OF WHERE WE'RE AT. LET'S KIND OF GO AROUND THAT BECAUSE THERE'S OTHER CONVERSATIONS THAT, THAT ARE GOING TO AFFECT THAT. SO LET, LET, LET'S, LET'S, LET'S GO AROUND THAT. UH, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THE IT, UH, IN, IN MY OPINION, THAT POSITION, UH, AND THE JP THREE AND JP FOUR SHARED POSITION AND THE, UM, THAT, THAT, THOSE ARE, UM, THINGS THAT I BELIEVE WE CAN WAIT UNTIL NEXT BUDGET. WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU, OH, I'M, I'M, I'M SAVING MONEY. I'M CUTTING HEAD COUNT. YOU'RE TALKING LINE NUMBER 39 AND 40 FOR THE JPS? CORRECT. ON THIS NUMBER TWO, WHERE, WHERE LINE, I THINK YOU WERE REFERRING TO, UM, NUMBER 39 AND NUMBER 40 ON THE, UM, THE, THE, THE, UH, TOTAL REVISIONS OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET AS OF YESTERDAY THAT WE HAVE. I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S THE PART-TIME JP THREE AND FOUR. IS THAT CORRECT JUDGE? THAT THAT, THAT THAT IS CORRECT. AND THEN THE OTHER ONE YOU JUST SAID IN ADDITION IS THE IT WHICH, UM, THAT ONE IS, UM, ON, THAT'S ITEM NUMBER 15. I, UM, OKAY. OR DO YOU WANT, SO WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO? HERE, HERE, HERE. HERE'S, HERE'S MY THINKING WITH THIS. UH, 503RD HAVE TO DO IT JUST THERE. THERE'S HAVE TO HAVE TO, AND EVERYTHING THAT GOES ALONG WITH THAT, WE HAVE TO DO ALL THE DA'S, UH, STAFF. WE HAVE TO THE, THE DISTRICT CLERK STAFF, THE COUNTY CLERK, UH, WE, WE, WE HAVE TO DO THOSE. UM, I'M NOT WILLING TO GIVE UP MY FIRE MARSHAL. UM, AND, AND OF COURSE THAT'S FUNDED THROUGH A, THROUGH A SPECIAL FUND. UH, SO THAT THAT LEAVES US WITH REALLY THE ONLY THING THAT IS NOT WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER AN IMMEDIATE NECESSITY [00:55:01] AND FUNDED THROUGH SPECIAL FUNDS OR FEES. IT LEAVES US, LEADS ME BACK TO THE IT AND THE, AND THE JP THREE AND JP FOUR PART-TIME CLERK. SO I'D LIKE TO SEE US REMOVE THOSE. I'D LIKE TO HAVE SOME CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT. OKAY. WELL IN THAT CONVERSATION, UM, AND, AND MAYBE THIS COURT DOESN'T HAVE A DESIRE TO, LIKE YOU SAID, REDUCE THE HEAD COUNT. WE ALSO HAVE THE RESERVE CONSTABLE DEPUTY AND UH, THAT'S GONNA BE 63. THAT'S $61,000. WHICH LINE? THAT, THAT'S NUMBER 63. OH, I'M SORRY. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY, UM, TO, UH, TO UN FUND ONE OF THE DISPATCH PEOPLE AND THAT'S LIKE $80,000 AND GIVE THEM THE RAISES AND FUND TWO POSITIONS. I, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT'S THE DIRECTION WE WANT TO GO, BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, I WOULD SUPPORT ALL OF THAT, I WOULD SUPPORT ALL OF THAT. UM, OKAY. I JUST WANT TO, I WANT TO REFERENCE US BACK TO OUR STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WE HAVE ALL ADOPTED AND WE HAVE, WE HAVE GOALS WITHIN THAT. AND GOAL NUMBER TWO IS TO POSITION THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT FOR GROWTH. OKAY. AND WE, WE HAVE A DIRECTOR OF IT WHO IS SHARING WITH US THE GROWTH THAT WE, THAT WE EITHER, WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO DO THE, THE, THE NEW DISTRICT COURT JUDGE AND THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE, BE NEED THERE TO SUPPORT THAT. AND WE JUST, YOU, YOU SAID HOW MANY NEW POSITIONS HAVE WE ADDED ON THIS, THIS, THIS 29 BASED ON THE, THE LATEST. OKAY. ALRIGHT. SO RIGHT THERE. AND WE HAVE A, WE HAVE A DIRECTOR WHO'S HAS A LONG STANDING, UM, EXPERIENCE WITHIN OUR COUNTY WHO IS, HAS, IS ASKING US AND, AND, AND SHARED FACTS OF WHAT HE NEEDS IN REGARDS TO THIS GROWTH THAT WE ARE SUPPORTING. UM, THAT'S MY FIRST THING IN REGARDS TO POSITION THE COUNTY GO GOVERNMENT FOR GROWTH. BUT THEN WE GET DOWN TO NUMBER SIX GOAL, WHICH IS TO EXPAND THE SUPPORT FOR THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM, OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIRE EMERGENCY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES. AND AGAIN, THAT THEN SUPPORTS THE, THE, THE OTHER REQUESTS THAT HAVE, THAT WE HAD DISCUSSED. AND TO SOME DEGREE WE'VE AGREED UPON AND NOW WE'RE WANTING TO TAKE 'EM OUT AND I THINK THAT WE'RE MOVING BACKWARDS. I I, I DO KNOW THAT THOSE ARE GOALS, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THIS IS A TAX INCREASE AND A TAX BURDEN ON OUR PEOPLE. AND SO, SO ALSO DOING IT PROPERLY AND DOING IT AT THE RIGHT SCALE AND DOING IT AT THE RIGHT TIME IS ALSO SOMETHING IT'S THAT WE NEED, THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER AS WELL. I AGREE. I AGREE. I AGREE WITH THAT. BUT I ALSO DON'T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH YOUR LANGUAGE OF CALLING IT A TAX INCREASE WHEN WE'VE ALREADY ADOPTED A RATE BELOW LAST YEAR. I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE BURDEN MAY BE HIGHER ON INDIVIDUALS. WE DON'T CONTROL THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT, BUT WE DO CONTROL THE SPENDING AND TO, TO SPEND UP TO THE VOTER APPROVE RATE IN SAYING THAT, THAT WE CAN, THAT STILL INCREASING TAXES. OUR PEOPLE, THE ONES DID I SAY SPEND AT THE VOTER APPROVED RATE? NO, NO, I KNOW YOU DIDN'T. I'M DIDN'T COME OUTTA MY MOUTH. JUST, I'M JUST SAYING THAT'S, THAT WAS WHAT I WAS SAYING IS THAT IF WE SPEND AT THE VOTER APPROVED RATE, WE'RE RAISING TAXES. I DON'T THINK WE'RE AT THE VOTER APPROVED RATE RIGHT NOW. I DON'T THINK WE'RE THERE. THAT'S KIND OF SAYING THAT IS ASSUMING THAT WE'RE THERE AND TELLING THE PUBLIC THAT WE'RE THERE WHEN THAT IS NOT TRUE. WE ARE NOT AT THE VOTER APPROVED RATE TODAY. I I IS THIS BUDGET CALCULATED USING THE VOTER APPROVED RATE? YES SIR. HOW CAN IT BE IF OUR CONTINGENCY IS OVER OUR GOAL, THAT MONEY'S GONNA GO BACK INTO THE GENERAL FUND, REDUCE THE TAX RATE, THAT THAT'S WHAT GOT THE CONTINGENCY OVER IS. SO WE'RE NOT THERE BECAUSE OF WHAT WE SAID WE WERE GONNA LEAVE OUR CONTINGENCY AT. OKAY. SO, SO I WILL, I WILL, I WILL CHANGE AND SAY WE ARE INCREASING THE TAX BURDEN UPON OUR CITIZENS. OKAY. I, AND, AND, AND SO IF WE'RE GOING TO INCREASE THE TAX BURDEN ON THE CITIZENS, WE JUST NEEDED TO, TO BE CAREFUL AND WE HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS. AND ONE OF THE DECISIONS IS WE'RE GETTING A BIG COURT. SO TO SAY THAT WE'RE NOT POSITIONING THE COUNTY FOR GROWTH OR WE'RE NOT SUPPORTING JUDICIAL WHEN WE'RE, WHEN WE'RE FUNDING A COURT, I, I THINK IS ALSO HAPPENING. SO YOU JUST DON'T DO EVERYTHING AT ONE TIME WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO BUDGET LI IT, IT, YOU JUST DON'T GET TO DO THAT NECESSARILY. I I, I, I DON'T DISAGREE. AGAIN, WE HAVE ADOPTED A TAX RATE BELOW LAST YEAR TAX RATE, NOT, WHICH IS STILL AN INCREASE OF TAX BURDEN. WE DO NOT CONTROL THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT AND WHAT THOSE APPRAISALS MAY GO TO. WE CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE TAX RATE. THAT IS OUR JOB. WE HAVE DONE THAT INSTEAD OF LOWER TAX RATE THAN LAST YEAR ALREADY, WHICH IS AN INCREASED BURDEN. AND, AND OKAY. I DON'T, ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE SHEET THAT WE READ THIS MORNING? IT'S NOT AN INCREASED BURDEN. IF WE ADOPT, IF WE ADOPT THE VOTER APPROVED TAX RATE, WHERE DOES THAT PUT THE TAX BILL ON AN AVERAGE PROPERTY IN THE COUNTY? UH, I CAN TELL YOU THE EXISTING CITIZENS WOULD HAVE TO PAY ONE IF, IF, IF, IF WE ADOPTED MY PROPOSED RATE MM-HMM . UH, UH, WHICH IS, IT'S LOWER THAN THE VOTER APPROVED RATE, IT WOULD BE A ESSENTIALLY A $1.3 MILLION TAX INCREASE TO EXISTING CITIZENS. WELL, SO [01:00:01] YOU'RE CALLING IT A TAX INCREASE OFF OF THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE YES. BECAUSE THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE SETS WHAT WE CAN DO. THAT'S RIGHT. IF, IF WE AND, AND MAYBE A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. IT'S A DIFFERENCE OF HOW IT'S SAID. YES. I MEAN, IT'S A NICE POLITICAL WAY TO SAY IT, IN MY OPINION, TO TRY TO GET THE RATE WHERE GOING WHERE YOU WANT IT WE'RE POINT, THE, THAT'S THE OVERALL DOLLARS OF THE BUDGET INCREASE. BUT SO IS OUR GROWTH, THE AVERAGE, AVERAGE HOME VALUE ON THE BUDGET WE'RE UNDER IS 1,027 ON THE ON, IF YOU BUDGET, NO NEW REVENUE. THE BUDGET WE'RE LIVING UNDER RIGHT NOW, THAT THAT'S WHAT IT IS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE NO REVENUE RATE IS. MM-HMM . SO ANYTHING ABOVE THAT IS AN INCREASE OF TAX BURDEN. SO IF WE'RE GONNA DO THAT, WE JUST NEED TO DO IT GINGERLY. AND WE NEED TO DO IT BY MAKING REAL CHOICES AND NOT JUST SAYING, WE CAN'T, SAYING WE CAN'T CONTROL APPRAISALS IS TRUE, BUT WE CAN'T CONTROL THE TAX RATE, WHICH IS THE SPENDING. AND THEY'RE TELLING US IF YOU HIT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, WHICH I THINK THIS COURT PROBABLY CAN'T DO BECAUSE WE'RE ADDING A BRAND NEW COURT, ANYTHING ABOVE THAT IS SOME SORT OF TAX INCREASE, WHETHER YOU WANNA CALL IT A TAX BURDEN OR WHATEVER. BUT IT'S NOT THE CAD'S JOB TO SPEND THE MONEY. IT'S OUR JOB TO SPEND THE MONEY. SO TO SAY WE LOWERED THE RATE, WE ARE STILL INCREASING THE TAX BURDEN. AND, AND SO THAT'S WHAT I JUST WANNA BE CAREFUL OF. AND THAT'S WHY WE HAVE TO MAKE VERY CLEAR AND CONCISE CHOICES. HOW MANY OF THE 29 HEADCOUNT EMPLOYEES ARE RELATED TO THE 503RD? DO WE KNOW THAT NUMBER? UH, LET'S SEE. NOT DIRECTLY TIED TO IT, BUT RELATED NEEDED BECAUSE OF IT. LET ME, LET ME SEE IF I, ALMOST ALL OF THEM. YEAH, YOU COULD. A BIG CHUNK OF, SO THEN AGAIN, WE'RE SAYING THIS GIANT NUMBER, WHICH SOUNDS SCARY TO THE PUBLIC, BUT WHAT WE'RE NOT SAYING IS THE 503RD BROUGHT THAT NUMBER ABOUT. SO WE CAN'T SAY THAT, HEY, WE HAVE THE 503RD COMING UP AND IT'S GONNA COST US MONEY. AND THEN ON THE OTHER HAND, SAY WE'VE GOT 29 EMPLOYEES ADDED TO THE HEADCOUNT, AND WE'RE BEING ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS TO DO THAT POSITION. I NO, I ALSO AGREE COMPLETELY. 110%. I AGREE WITH WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. LET'S JUST STOP PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES AND LET'S JUST GET DOWN TO WHAT WE WANT TO CUT AND TAKE SOME VOTES. HOW ABOUT THAT? THAT, THAT, THAT THAT'S WHAT WE NEED. LET'S JUST, THAT'S WHERE WE NEED EITHER THAT OR LET'S, UH, JUST GO THROUGH EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN DOING. I'D LIKE TO START OUT LINE ITEM TWO. UM, CHANGING ALL CLERKS TO PROPOSE STATE PRE PAY GRADE SCALE TWO. UM, THAT'S $79,971. I'M NOT IN FAVOR OF THAT, BUT MY POINT IS, GUYS, WE JUST SPENT JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, FOUR MONTHS WORKING ON THIS. ALL THESE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT WITH MAYBE ONE OR TWO RARE EXCEPTIONS WERE FIVE OH VOTES. I THOUGHT WE, IF WE'RE GONNA OPEN IT UP, I'M ALL FOR THAT. WE'RE GONNA BE HERE ALL DAY AND ALL DAY TOMORROW. AND I'M GONNA, WE'RE GONNA START GOING THROUGH EVERY LINE ITEM. I THINK WE, YEAH. I, SO I THOUGHT WE ALREADY APPROVED THAT. REMEMBER THAT? WELL, I THOUGHT WE ALREADY APPROVED THE IT TECH AND I THOUGHT WE ALREADY APPROVED THE JP SHARED POINT. AND WE HAVE, REMEMBER NOW WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE IT BACK BECAUSE WE'RE TIMELINES. AND YOU'RE RIGHT. WE DID APPROVE THE MOVING ALL THE CLERKS TO PAY GRADE TWO, AND I VOTED FOR IT FOR THE RECORD FOR ANYONE LISTENING, I VOTED FOR IT. AND I FOUND THE MONEY FOR THAT. WE FOUND THE MONEY FOR THAT YESTERDAY. MY POINT. BUT MY POINT IS, IF WE'RE GONNA REEVALUATE EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN DOING, OKAY, THAT'S FINE. BUT LET'S START REEVALUATING. I'M NOT IN FAVOR OF THAT. I FEEL LIKE WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, LIKE YOU SAID, AND I THINK IT'S TIME FOR US TO JUST TAKE THE VOTE ON THE TAX RATE, SIR. WELL, I I, I I CAN'T SUPPORT, UH, A TAX RATE. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ONES THAT THE JUDGE BROUGHT UP. LET'S JUST, YOU BROUGHT UP LIKE FOUR POSITIONS OR FIVE? I, I, I DID, I DID. LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT THOSE. THAT, THAT'S NOT GOING THROUGH THE WHOLE SHEET, BUT WHY DON'T WE TALK ABOUT THOSE THAT YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT, JUDGE? YEAH. SO LET'S HAVE A CONVERSATION. YEP. UH, THE, THE PART-TIME CLERK FOR JP THREE AND JP FOUR, UH, I, I, I MEAN WE, WE HAVE CLERKS IN EACH OF THOSE AND, AND WHILE THEY'RE DOING THE BULK OF, OF BUSINESS THAT COMES THROUGH THE JP COURTS, JUST, JUST BASED ON DEMOGRAPHICS, UM, I I, I, I THINK WE CAN, I I THINK WE CAN HOLD THOSE OFF ANOTHER YEAR. BOTH OF THOSE COURTS ARE, NOW, GRANTED THAT'S $50,000, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE AT THE POINT TO WHERE, UM, I, I'VE GOT TO GET A A, IN MY OPINION, I'VE GOT TO GET A TAX RATE THAT I'M COMFORTABLE WITH. AND, AND, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE WE'VE ADDED EVERYTHING. NOW WE GOTTA LOOK AT FOCUSING ON THE TAX RATE AND, AND MOVING IT. SO I, I, LET'S TALK DOLLARS, LET'S TALK DOLLARS REAL QUICK. YEAH. WHERE, SO WHERE ARE WE AT RIGHT NOW? AND WHAT, WHAT TAX RATE ARE YOU TARGETING? DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA IN MIND OF WHERE YOU'D LIKE TO, TO GO OR TRY TO GET TO TODAY? OH GOSH, TODAY, I, I TRULY DON'T. UHHUH, I HAVE, I I, I JUST KNOW, [01:05:01] UH, THE VOTER APPROVED RATE, I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE. I, I DO NOT WANT, IT'S NOT IT. AND THAT'S WHERE WE SIT AT RIGHT NOW, UH, IS THE VOTER APPROVED RATE. WE, WE'VE GOT, UH, WHILE I, MY PROPOSED BUDGET, I'M OPEN FOR HOWEVER WE WANT TO DICE UP THE MONEY. I THOUGHT THAT WAS A PRETTY GOOD BUDGET JUST LOOKING AT THE DOLLARS BECAUSE IT FUNDED, UH, THE COUNTY ESSENTIALLY AT THE LEVEL THAT WE FUNDED LAST YEAR WITH THE ADDITION OF THE 503RD. SO THAT WOULD BE TRYING TO CUT $476,000 OUT OF THE BUDGET. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER. THAT IS THAT INCLUDING THE OVER CONTINGENCY MONEY THAT WE HAD IN THERE TODAY OF 200 PLUS THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM THE 600? YEAH. THAT'S INCLUDING THAT. YEAH. SO THAT, I MEAN THAT THE, THE VOTER APPROVED RATE IS $476,000 OVER HIS BUDGET. RIGHT. THAT HE PROPOSED. AND WE HAVE AN EXTRA WHATEVER IS ABOVE CONTINGENCY RIGHT NOW. 150. OKAY. SO THEN WE'RE AT 320,000. WE'RE TRYING TO PICK UP FI FINE. 320,000, THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE AT. YES, SIR. OKAY. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE'S THE ONLY PERSON THAT GETS A SAY, BUT THAT'S IT. IT CLEARLY DOES. TRYING TO PUT A DOLLAR AMOUNT ON IT. YES. IT, IT'S EASIER TO UNDERSTAND SOMETIMES THAT WAY. HAVE WE EXHAUSTED EVERY REOCCURRING FUND POSSIBLE TO PAY FOR THINGS? I WOULDN'T SAY WE HAVE. I MEAN, IN MY OPINION, WHAT, WHAT I WOULD REALLY ENJOY LOOKING AT IS THIS FUND BALANCE IS GREAT TO HAVE, ALTHOUGH IT DOESN'T REALLY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHAT WE'VE PLANNED ALREADY. AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE WHAT GENERATES IN THESE FUNDS ON AVERAGE EVERY YEAR. AND THEN HOW WE'RE UTILIZING THAT MONEY. BECAUSE THIS IS TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN A SENSE, TOO. IT, IT FEES ARE TAXPAYER FEES ARE TAXPAYER DOLLARS. AND SO WHAT OF THESE FUNDS ARE WE NOT USING TO THEIR BEST POTENTIAL? IS THERE ANYTHING, OR HAVE WE PILFERED ALL OF THOSE? LISA? THE REVENUE AND EXPENSES ARE LISTED ON EACH OF THOSE FUNDS. IF YOU GO PAGE TO PAGE ON IT, SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT GENERATES, UM, A LOT OF THE FUNDS, I THINK ARE REPETITIVE OF WHAT THE LEGISLATION COMES UP WITH WHEN, YOU KNOW, AND THEY DON'T REALLY GENERATE ENOUGH TO, TO DO WHAT THEIR INTENT IS. UM, BUT I JUST, I I THINK YOU HAVE UTILIZED WHAT YOU CAN. LISA, WHICH LINE ITEM IS THE FIRE MARSHAL? IT'S IN FUND 51. IT'S ON PAGE 75 OF THE BUDGET TRYING TO READ SOMEONE'S FINGERPRINT. SO THAT'S NOT AFFECTING OUR GENERAL FUND. CORRECT. CORRECT. GREAT. THANKS. OKAY. WELL, I, I, I, YEAH, SORRY. UH, THE SIMONS GOT TO ME. UH, I APPLAUD THE EFFORT TO, TO FIND THE FUNDS. 'CAUSE I, I CAN TELL YOU THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN GONE BACK AND LOOKED AT AT HISTORY, AND IT'S GONE A LONG TIME THIS FIRST TIME, A COURT HAS REALLY FOCUSED ON USE THE FUNDS FIRST AND THEN, UH, AND THEN GO TO THE TAXPAYER. SO I, I APPLAUD THAT EFFORT. UH, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE FUNDS KIND OF RESIST BEING USED THERE. THERE'S STRINGS ON EVERY ONE OF 'EM THAT, UH, ARE, ARE INTENDED TO LEAD US DOWN A BUDGETARY ROAD OF FUNDING SOMETHING, AND THEN HAVING THAT FUND GO AWAY, AND THEN WE STILL HAVE THE OBLIGATION OF FUNDING IT. RIGHT. RIGHT. AND IN FACT, SPEAKING OF FUNDS, I THINK THAT OUR COUNTY CLERK IS NOT IN AGREEMENT WITH US USING THOSE FUNDS FOR THAT BENEFIT, WHICH FUNDS. I GOT A BIG EMAIL FROM HER THAT SAID SHE WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THE WAY WE WERE USING THE FUNDS. HER TWO FUNDS, HER PROPERTY MANAGEMENT AND ARCHIVAL FUNDS. I TALKED TO HER IN DETAIL YESTERDAY. SHE, SHE IS COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH WHAT I PROPOSED. OKAY, GOOD. FOR, FOR THE GOOD, FOR, FOR BOTH SETS OF THE MONEY THAT I PROPOSED. WHAT SHE IS NOT IN FAVOR OF IS REDUCING HER ARCHIVAL FEE BECAUSE SHE IS SAYING THAT SHE HAS A RATHER LARGE PROJECT THAT SHE WOULD LIKE TO START TO WORK ON AS SOON AS SHE HAS A SUPERVISORY POSITION FILLED THAT SHE'S WAITING TO FILL, WHICH WILL TAKE SOME TIME OFF OF HER PLATE SO THAT SHE CAN START TO, UM, GET TO THE BUSINESS OF ARCHIVING SOME OF THESE VERY OLD DOCUMENTS THAT SHE HAS. AND THEY'RE GONNA BE QUITE EXPENSIVE. AND SHE'S CONCERNED THAT IF WE REDUCE THE ARCHIVAL FEE, IT WOULD, IT WAS GONNA REMOVE SOMEWHERE OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM THAT BUDGET EVERY YEAR, AND IT WOULD PUT HER IN A POSITION WHERE SHE WASN'T ABLE TO COMPLETE HER PROJECT. MAYBE OKAY. OVER TIME THAT THAT'S [01:10:01] ALL THAT. WELL, IF SHE TOLD ME SHE DIDN'T BUDGET FOR IT, AND A CON CORRECT. THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS WE CAN SAVE MONEY. YEP. AND BY CUTTING THAT FEE BY $5, WE JUST SAVE THE TAXPAYERS ACCORDING TO HER PROJECTIONS, A HUNDRED AND, UM, 800, $8,500. AND SO THAT'S MAY NOT BE THE GENERAL FUND, BUT WE'RE SAVING OUR TAXPAYERS $108,000. YEAH. JUST SOME OF THOSE FUNDS ARE NOT PAID BY OUR TAXPAYERS DIRECTLY. AND WE'VE GOT, IT'S NOT, NOT, IT'S NOT ALL OF OUR, WELL, NOT ALL OF 'EM, NO. RIGHT. BUT ALL OF OUR AND SPEEDING TICKETS AREN'T FROM OUR TAXPAYERS EITHER. WELL, I WOULDN'T BE LOOKING TO REDUCE THOSE FEES EITHER. YEAH. SO, , MY POINT IS, THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS OF SAVING MONEY, AND WE'VE GOT 158,000 RIGHT NOW OVER THE CONTINGENCY WE ALL AGREED UPON. SO I WOULD THINK, AS YOU SAID EARLIER, BOBBY, THAT WOULD REDUCE THAT CONTIN, THAT VOTER APPROVED RATE TO BELOW THE VOTER APPROVED RATE. WE'RE SAVING, GONNA SAVE OUR RESIDENTS $108,000 BY REDUCING THE ARCHIVAL FEE, WHICH I AM IN FAVOR OF DOING. WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN. SO I'M JUST WELL, NO, BUT I'M, I'M SAYING WE'RE ALL TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO SAVE MONEY. THAT'S THE WAY WE CAN SAVE OUR TAXPAYERS MONEY. I WOULD, I I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION WE WERE GONNA COME IN HERE WITH A $600,000 CONTINGENCY IN THIS BUDGET WITH A TAX RATE OF WHERE WE ACTUALLY WERE. WELL, FRANKLY, SO WAS I, BUT I DON'T NOT, THAT'S NOT WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW. I DON'T, JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO YOU SAID, LET'S ALL GO IN HERE AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN SAVE MONEY. OKAY. WELL, LET'S GO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN SAVE MONEY. I AGREE. BUT I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE WE'RE STARTING FROM. WELL, I STARTED ON LINE TWO ON A TAX RATE , I NEED TO DRAW YOU A MAP. I SAID LIKE A TAX RATE. I, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE WE WERE AT. THAT'S WHAT WE ASKED FOR, I THOUGHT IN THE LAST MEETING WAS WHERE WE, I, I KNOW WE CAN BE AT THE VOTER APPROVED RATE BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE VOTED FOR, BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE WE ARE. AFTER SETTING A $600,000 CONTINGENCY, ALL I, I THOUGHT WE WERE PRODUCING A SECOND RUN OF THE BUDGET WITH ACCURATE NUMBERS, AND WE DID NOT DO THAT. SO IT MAKES DISCUSSION DIFFICULT. THE, THE, ALSO, I WANNA, UH, CAUTION THE COURT AS WELL. UM, EXACTLY WHAT, UH, I THINK COMMISSIONER CELICK SAID SHE DOESN'T WANNA DO, AND I DON'T WANT TO DO EITHER. AND THAT IS, I DON'T WANT TO RE LEGISLATE THINGS THAT ARE DONE AT THE END OF THE DAY. THERE'S GONNA BE THINGS IN THIS BUDGET THAT WE LIKE AND THINGS IN THIS BUDGET THAT WE DON'T, AND WE'RE A GROUP WHAT I'M, BUT I'M WITH FRANK IN THE SENSE THAT I WANT TO TRY TO GET TO A RATE I CAN SUPPORT, AND I'M FINE IF IT'S A THREE, TWO BUDGET, THAT THAT DOESN'T, THAT DOESN'T BOTHER ME. THAT DOESN'T GET UNDER MY SKIN. THAT'S, THAT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. AND I'M FINE LOSING BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THE HEART OF EVERYONE AT THIS TABLE IS TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE CITIZENS OF ROCKWALL. AND I ALSO KNOW THAT I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, AND I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. BUT I AM TRYING TO GET THE RATE DOWN, AND I'M TRYING TO DO IT, BUT I DON'T WANNA SIT HERE AND GO THROUGH ALL, ALL OF THESE ITEMS AND DO IT. AND I DON'T WANNA BE A SORE LOSER TO SIT THERE AND GO BACK ON EVERY VOTE I LOST AND GET LOST AGAIN, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT THAT MAKES SENSE. YEAH. SO I'M TRYING TO CREATE SOME SORT OF ENVIRONMENT. A D DENNIS WOULD ALWAYS, COMMISSIONER BAILEY WOULD ALWAYS SAY, IF YOU VOTED AGAINST SOMETHING AND LOST, YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO BRING IT BACK UP. AND, AND OH, I REMEMBER THAT. AND, AND THAT'S MORE OF A GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT. UM, BUT AT THIS POINT, THE BUDGETS ARE DIFFERENT. SO, BUT, BUT AT THIS POINT, IF, IF FRANK WANTS TO DO IT, MAYBE WE JUST GO MAKE SOME MOTIONS BECAUSE I DON'T SUPPORT GETTING RID OF THE PART-TIME CLERKS IN THE JPS OFFICE BECAUSE I SEE MY JP DYING MM-HMM . AND, AND SAYING, I'M GETTING ALL THESE CASES. I DON'T KNOW WHY PRECINCT FOUR IS GETTING PEOPLE ALL OF THESE CIVIL CASES. AND, AND I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. AND, AND, AND LAUREN, YOU'RE JUST, I GUESS YOUR PRECINCT'S SO BIG. EVERYONE GETS PULLED OVER IN PRECINCT THREE. WE . BUT YOU, YOU SAYING YOU'RE IN FAVOR OF MAKING MOTIONS? WE'VE MADE THE MOTIONS. NO, NO, NO, NO. HOLD ON. I WAS, I WAS GONNA LAND THE PLANE. I'M SORRY. OKAY. I WAS BEING, I WAS BEING LIKE A PASTOR. I WAS, I AC I ACCIDENTALLY, I WAS ACCIDENTALLY GIVING A SERMON, SO I APOLOGIZE. SO SOME OF THIS STUFF WE AGREE WITH SOME OF THIS STUFF WE DON'T. SO MAYBE IF SOMEONE IS SITTING HERE WITH FIRE BURNING IN THEIR SOUL AND SAY, HEY, THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT I DON'T THINK WE REALLY THOUGHT THROUGH, THEN LET'S JUST GO THROUGH 'EM ONE MORE TIME. BUT NOT ALL, NOT THE WHOLE LIST. THANK YOU. BECAUSECAUSE. I THINK IT'S DISINGENUOUS TO GO THROUGH THE WHOLE LIST AGAIN. YEAH. UM, I, I MEAN, AND LIKE, AND SO HERE'S WHERE I WAS GONNA LAY IN THE PLANE. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IS I'M GONNA MAKE A MOTION THAT WE UN FUND ONE OF THE COMMUNICATION OFFICERS TO SAVE SOME MONEY. IF NO ONE AGREES WITH ME, I'M FINE WITH THAT. SO I'M GONNA MAKE THE MOTION THAT WE JUST UNFUNDED ONE OF THOSE POSITIONS AND KEEP THE HEADCOUNT IN THE BUDGET. IT'S JUST A MOTION. AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT COMMUNICATION OFFICERS AGAIN. CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND YOU KE? 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT THE JUDGE HAS DONE THIS TOO. YOU KEEP THE, YOU KEEP, HANG [01:15:01] ON PROCEDURALLY, WE GOT A MOTION. OKAY. SO, OKAY. YES. AND IT COULD DIE. AND THEN IT COULD, AND THEN WE, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON. I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION. WE HAVE A SECOND. OKAY. NOW, SO I, I, I APOLOGIZE, JUDGE. THAT'S OKAY. UM, WE'RE PUTTING A POSITION IN, BUT WE'RE NOT FUNDING IT. IS THAT BEING DISINGENUOUS? I DO. I, I, I BELIEVE THAT, THAT IT IS A LITTLE BIT DISINGENUOUS. I WOULD BE FINE REMOVING THE POSITION. I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND A MIDDLE GROUND SINCE THE COURT VOTED THE POSITION IN TO JUST REMOVE THE MONEY. OKAY. I, I, I, I, THAT'S, I, I THINK HAVING, ADDING TWO COMMUNICATION OFFICERS AND ADDING THEIR RAISES, AND THEN LOOKING AT THE, THE DISPATCH CENTER AGAIN, WHEN IT'S FULLY STAFFED AND WE'VE GOT THE RAISES AND WE HAVE THE POSITIONS, AND NEXT YEAR WE COULD DO THAT. BUT WE ALSO HAVE SB 22. WE HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT COULD FACTOR IN. WE COULD GET TOWARDS THE END OF THE BUDGET AND HAVE MONEY IN THE BUDGET TO HIRE A DISPATCH OFFICER BECAUSE IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THOSE TO BE FUNDED. AND THERE COULD BE MOVEMENT. SO INSTEAD OF TAKING THAT TOOL AWAY FROM THE SHERIFF, IF ALL OF A SUDDEN HE GETS DISPATCHED FULL, BUT HE, BUT HE CAN MOVE SOME MONEY AROUND AND, AND GET THAT POSITION FUNDED, I'M WILLING TO WORK WITH THEM ON THAT. SO IS IT DISINGENUOUS? PROBABLY. I THINK YOU COULD SEE IT THAT WAY, BUT I ALSO THINK THAT THAT GETS US TO A FULLY DISPATCHED CENTER WHERE THE SHERIFF SAYS, THIS IS WHERE I WANT TO GO. SO WE'RE SAYING WE AGREE WITH WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO FIND THE MONEY AND MOVE YOU IN THAT DIRECTION. AGAIN, THAT'S JUST MY POINT. IT'S $80,000. YEAH. I I JUST THAT WE COULD SAVE IN A POSITION THAT WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO FILL. RIGHT. BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE OPENINGS AND WE HAVE TWO MORE POSITIONS TO ADD. AND WE GAVE OUR RAISES TO THE DISPATCH CENTER. I STILL BELIEVE THAT. AND, AND JUDGE HAS EVEN MADE COMMENTS IN REGARDS TO THE S SP 20, UM, S SP 22 ALSO, AND WHAT THAT FUTURE LOOKS LIKE. AND AGAIN, I JUST HAVE A MOTION AND I'M READY TO MOVE ON AND I WON'T TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN. SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER STACEY WI WE'RE STILL IN DISCUSSION. WE ARE STILL IN DISCUSSION. YES, SIR. UM, WE HAVE THE SHERIFF HERE, AND I AM NOT GOING TO GO BACK ON A VOTE WE MADE UNLESS THE SHERIFF TELLS ME THAT'S OKAY. WELL, WHY WOULD HE COME UP HERE AND SAY, GET RID OF A PERSON BECAUSE HE'S AN HONORABLE MAN. FAIR ENOUGH. MAN, YOU, IF YOU DON'T SENSE A TRAP THAT YOU JUST GOT LURED INTO, COME ON, COME ON UP HERE, SHERIFF , AND, AND I AGREE WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT. HAD TO LOOK ON THE WAY UP HERE. MAKE SURE THERE WEREN'T ANY BEAR TRAPS ON THE THE FLOOR THERE. UH, YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE ASKED FOR WHAT WE, WHAT WE NEED. CORRECT. AND, AND IT GOES ALONG WITH THE, WITH THE PLAN, THE STRATEGIC PLAN, AND OUR, OUR OPERATION OPERATIONAL GOALS. UM, CURRENTLY WE HAVE SEVERAL OPEN POSITIONS. IF THOSE, IF A POSITION THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOOKING TO AUTHORIZE THE FUND DOWN THE ROAD, UM, IT TAKES US A WHILE TO, IN ORDER TO, TO HIRE SOMEONE. UH, I THINK IT WAS YESTERDAY, FOR EXAMPLE, WE, YOU KNOW, WE INTERVIEWED TWO AND HIRED ONE. UH, AND SO IT DOES TAKE A WHILE TO DO THAT. IF, IF WE KNEW THAT WE WERE ABLE TO FILL THAT IN A TIMELY MANNER OR THAT IT WOULDN'T BE FROZEN. I MEAN, IT, IT, IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DO NEED. NOW, WE'RE, WHAT, TWO WEEKS AWAY FROM 1ST OF OCTOBER? WOULD THAT BE FILLED BY THEN? PROBABLY NOT. SO THAT WAS A VERY POLITICAL ANSWER. YES, SHERIFF. IT WAS WELL DONE, SIR. OTHERWISE, YES, WE NEED THREE , WHICH IS THAT. YEAH, I THINK IT IS. BUT, BUT YOU, YOU, YOU HAVE BETWEEN TWO WEEKS FROM NOW AS YOU, AS YOU MENTIONED, AND NINE MONTHS OR 12 MONTHS. WELL, AND, AND, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE, THE COMPENSATION WITH THE CURRENT, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, UH, RETAIN AND TO HIRE. SO THAT IS, THAT IS A VERY, UH, IMPORTANT FACTOR AS WELL. UH, IT, WHAT I TOLD YOU IS NOT MEANT TO BE, I KNOW IT SOUNDS VERY POLITICAL, BUT IN REALITY IT DOES TAKE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD HAD TWO OF THOSE OPENINGS, UH, FOR SOME TIME AND, AND CONTINUE TO INTERVIEW TO TRY TO FILL THOSE. UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALWAYS WILLING TO WORK WITHIN WHAT WE NEED TO DO WITHIN THE BUDGET AND TRY TO MAKE SURE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY TO MOVE AROUND. AS COMMISSIONER STACEY SAID. HOWEVER, WE DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE POSITIONS THAT WE CAN, UM, I DON'T WANNA SAY DELAY, BUT IT DOES TAKE TIME TO FILL, BECAUSE WE DO NOT WANT TO FILL THEM WITH THE WRONG PERSON. THAT TAKES EVEN MORE MONEY AS FAR AS TRAINING TIME, UM, GOING THROUGH THE REHIRING PROCESS, UH, WHEN, WHEN THEY DON'T MAKE THE, THE CUT. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, SHERIFF. CLEAR AS MUD. YEP. SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER STACY TO REMOVE THE FUNDING, BUT LEAVE THE HEADCOUNT FOR ONE OF THE DISPATCH. WE HAVE A SECOND [01:20:01] BY COMMISSIONER LICHTY, IF YOU'LL REGISTER YOUR VOTES NOW, PLEASE. IT PASSES THREE TO TWO. ALL RIGHT. SO NOW WE HAVE WHITTLE THIS DOWN TO 204,000 BASED ON COMMISSIONER STACY'S 442 IS WHAT WE NEEDED. WE CUT 158 OUT THAT'S LEFT IN THE CONTINGENCY. WE JUST, WHICH GOT US TO 2 84. WE'VE CUT 80 OUT. NOW WE'RE AT 2 0 4. WE ARE WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE. AND I THINK, AND, AND, AND I'M GONNA AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER LICHTY FUND BALANCE TRANSFERS. I'D LIKE TO SEE WHERE THE SMOKE SETTLES BEFORE WE, WE LOOK AT THAT AND SAY, DO WE HAVE MORE MONEY? DO WE NOT HAVE, ARE ARE WE COMFORTABLE? AND, AND IT, THE ANSWER MAY BE YES, WE'RE COMFORTABLE WITH ANOTHER $204,000 TRANSFER FROM FUND BALANCE, BUT, UM, AGAIN, LIKE COMMISSIONER LICHTY, I'D LIKE TO SEE WHERE WE'RE AT WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARS. I, UM, AND JUDGE, YOU BROUGHT UP ITEM 15, WHICH IS THE IT TECHNICIAN. THAT ONE'S JUST GIVING MY OCDA LITTLE BIT OF PROBLEMS BECAUSE WHEN WE MAKE THAT DECISION, WE ALSO HAVE TO ADD THE LAPTOP. SO I, I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT IT'S JUST BOTHERING ME A LITTLE BIT. I WORK A LOT WITH IT. UM, MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE TYLER SITUATION. I'M, I'M, I'M WITH TYLER. UM, I BELIEVE THAT, UH, I WAS TRYING TO SAY I PROBABLY WORK WITH IT THE MOST, BUT I DON'T WANNA MAKE A STATEMENT LIKE THAT BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA IF THAT'S TRUE. BUT I, I AM IN THE IT DEPARTMENT A LOT. WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, USUALLY IF THERE'S ISSUES, I'M WORKING WITH BRIAN AND I JUST SAY, I SEE BETWEEN THE SHERIFF'S EXPANSION, I MEAN, WE'RE DOUBLING THE OFFICE SPACE IN THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT. I SEE A THIRD FLOOR WHERE WE'RE HAVING TWO OPERATIONAL COURTS. REMEMBER WE'RE ADDING ONE DISTRICT COURT, BUT WE ALSO HAVE AN AUXILIARY COURT, UM, THAT IS FULL OF TECHNOLOGY. CORRECT. COMMISSIONER GALANIS, SINCE YOU HAD TO SIT THERE AND LOOK AT THAT BILL AND WORK IT INTO THE BUDGET, IT'S FULL OF TECHNOLOGY. UM, ALSO, AGAIN, I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER GALANIS ASSESSMENT. LET'S JUST SAY THAT 90% OF THE NEW PEOPLE ARE FROM THE FIVE OH THIRD COURT. AND I THINK THAT'S PRETTY ACCURATE THAT THEY ARE. I WOULD ARGUE THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE. THAT'S PHONES, THAT'S COMPUTERS, THAT'S STAFF, THAT'S STUFF THAT THE IT DEPARTMENT HAS TO, HAS TO, HAS TO SUPPORT. SO I THINK WHEN WE LOOK AT, OKAY, WE'RE ADDING THIS COURT, WE'RE ADDING THIS COURTROOM, WE'RE EXPANDING THE CAPABILITIES OF THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE WITH MORE IT, UH, ITEMS. I MEAN THE, UM, THE EO C'S GONNA HAVE MORE TECHNOLOGY IN IT WHEN WE'RE DONE. UM, AND I KNOW WE HAVE TECH PEOPLE THERE AT THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, WHICH IS, WHICH IS GOOD. WE HAVE AN IT PERSON ASSIGNED TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO DO. AND BRIAN DOES THAT. I THINK, UH, AS WELL AS HE CAN AND, AND DOES WELL. UM, WE JUST HAVE, UH, WE JUST HAVE A LOT OF IT NEEDS. AND MY ISSUE, AND, AND, AND AGAIN, I'M GONNA SAY THAT AND I'M GONNA SAY TH THIS, I MEAN, O OBVIOUSLY, UH, COMMISSIONER GLADNEY, YOU'RE CORRECT. YOU'RE 100% CORRECT. THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE IS POLITICAL, BUT IT IS ALSO A POLITICAL LINE THAT I'VE TRIED TO DRAW. AND I ALSO KNOW WE CAN'T GET TO THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE 'CAUSE WE'RE ADDING A COURT THAT'S $1.7 MILLION THAT WE, WE HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR. IT'S NOT SMART GOVERNMENT TO BUY IT, IT IT TO, TO BUY DOWN A RATE FOR THINGS THAT ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO OPERATE. SO I'M NOT TRYING TO BUY DOWN THE RATE. I'M JUST TRYING TO SAY WE'RE MAKING HARD DECISIONS. THE IT TECH GIVES ME A LOT OF HEARTBURN. I SEE WHAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE SEEN AS A LOW HANGING FRUIT. IT'S NOT AN EMPLOYEE. HE'S NOT THERE YET. IT'S NOT AN OPERATION. IT COULD PROBABLY MAKE IT ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT ANOTHER PERSON, POSSIBLY. I, SO I SEE THAT, BUT I ALSO, AS WORKING WITH THE IT DEPARTMENT, I SEE THAT THOSE FOLKS ARE BUSY AND THEY'RE ALWAYS WORKING. THERE'S ALWAYS THINGS GOING ON. AND THEY'RE RUNNING AROUND THE COUNTY LIKE CRAZY. THEY'RE IN EVERY BUILDING IN THE COUNTY KEEPING OUR IT INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING. I HAVE A LOT OF HEARTBURN WITH CUTTING THE IT TECH OUT. HAD IT NEVER BEEN ADDED, I MIGHT NOT HAVE HEARTBURN TRYING TO ADD THE IT TECH . UM, I'M JUST SAYING. SO I'M JUST TRYING TO BE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT AND HONEST WITH YOU GUYS. UM, I COULD, I COULD BE PERSUADED EITHER WAY. I JUST THINK THAT THE, THE TRUE REALITY IS THAT, THAT I, I CAN DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THE IDEA THAT IT'S, THAT IT'S LOWER HANGING FRUIT I SEE. TO JUDGE MAKING DECISIONS. MY PROBLEM IS, IS THAT I'VE SEEN WHAT MY JP IS GOING THROUGH, AND I KNOW I'M, I'M RABBIT TRAILING A LITTLE BIT WITH HER PART-TIME PERSON. AND, AND, AND, AND I BROUGHT THAT FORWARD. AND THAT'S A VOTE. I'M NOT GONNA BACK DOWN FROM MY JP NEEDS A PART-TIME PERSON. AND LAWRENCE CAME THROUGH AND SAID HIS JP NEEDS A PART-TIME PERSON. AND I BELIEVE WE HAVE THE CASELOAD TO PROVE THAT THOSE CLERKS ARE WAY OVERWORKED. AND, AND, AND THERE'S, AND, AND OVERWORKED CLERKS CREATE A COUPLE OF PROBLEMS. AS YOU KNOW, OVERWORKED [01:25:01] INDIVIDUALS CREATE PROBLEMS OF RETENTION, TURNOVER AND ACCURACY. I MEAN, THESE ARE COURT CASES, THESE ARE JUDGEMENTS. THESE ARE THINGS THAT TAKE TIME AND, AND NEED PRECISION. SO I AM IN THE, THE VALUE OF THAT. AND THEN I GO BACK TO WHAT COMMISSIONER GALANA SAID IS, WHERE ARE WE AT THE RATE? I MEAN, IF, IF, IF $75,000 GETS US TO 0.2 4, 9 9, I WOULD BE ALL ABOUT CUTTING THE IT TECHNICIAN. BUT WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE. BUT WE DO KNOW THAT IT'S THERE AND WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE TO, TO, TO, UM, TO, UH, TO ACCOUNT FOR GROWTH. AND AS A VERY WIVES COMMISSIONER SAID AT THE MEETING YESTERDAY, GROWTH IS NOT LINEAR. THAT WAS ME, BY THE WAY. I'M SORRY. UM, AND SO EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW WE'RE GROWING AND WE KNOW THINGS ARE GOING, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE CAN FULFILL EVERY SINGLE GROWTH NEED, EVERY SINGLE BUDGET. AND THIS FIVE OH THIRD COURT IS A BOOGER. IT'S A BIG, BIG EXPENSE ON THE COUNTY. AND, AND, AND I KNOW THAT NO ONE HERE TAKES THE TAX BURDEN, THE TAX RATE. HOWEVER, WE WANT TO WRAP THAT UP AND SAY, WE DON'T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY. WE, WE KNOW WHAT'S COMING AND WE KNOW, WE KNOW THERE'S ISSUES. SO WITH THE IT TECHNICIAN, IT THAT, THAT'S A REALLY, AND I DON'T WANNA SIT DOWN ON ONE ISSUE, BUT THE PART-TIME JP CLERKS, I'M CLEAR IF THE JUDGE MAKES A MOTION, I DON'T SUPPORT THAT. I WANNA KEEP THEM IN THERE. I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. THE IT PERSON IS, IS HARD FOR ME BECAUSE I SEE THE NEED, BUT I ALSO WANT TO CUT THE BUDGET AS MUCH AS I CAN. ALL RIGHT. FILIBUSTER OVER. SORRY. WE'RE, WE'RE . LET'S, LET'S, UH, LET'S FOCUS ON, I, I, I TRULY THINK WE'RE, WE'RE WITHIN $200,000 OF OF, OF, OF GETTING HOW WE KNOW THAT THAT'S, UH, WELL, I'M, I'M JUST GOING OFF, UH, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER ALANA, I KNOW YOU QUESTIONED OR ASKED ABOUT THE TAX RATE AND APPROXIMATELY WHERE WE WAIT, WHERE WE ARE NOW, THESE ARE ESTIMATES. OKAY. BUT TO REDUCE THE CONTINGENCY $200,000, THAT WOULD PUT THE RATE AT APPROXIMATELY 2 5, 1 3. OKAY. GIVE OR TAKE. OKAY. SO SAY, SAY THAT NUMBER AGAIN. IT'S APPROXIMATELY 0.2513. WHAT IF WE LOWER THE CONTINGENCY 200,000? OKAY, SO 200,000 DROPS US FROM 2 5 1, 3, NO, TWO, TWO DROPS US FROM 2 5 2 1 TO 2 5 1 3. CORRECT. APPROXIMATELY THAT'S MORE THAN, WELL COULD BE MORE THAN 200 TO GET YOU TO BELOW TWO FIVE. IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOVE. IT'S, IT'S 250. I MEAN, IT JUST GOES BACK TO THE TWO. I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S JUST AROUND, IT'S JUST AROUND TWO 90 PROBABLY. OKAY. BECAUSE HIS WAS AT, HIS BUDGET WAS AT 2 4 8. NO, 2 4, 9 8. AND FOR 21,000, WE CAN GET IT TO 2 4, 9 9. SO THAT'S ABOUT FOUR 50. I'M USING VERY BAD ROUND NUMBERS. SO YEAH, IT'S ABOUT JUST OVER TWO 10. UM, COULD YOU REFRESH MY MEMORY, LISA? WE, PART OF THIS PROCESS, I BELIEVE WAS VOTING FOR FUNDING ALL THE PHASES OF THE SHERIFF'S REMODEL, WASN'T IT? YES. OKAY. UM, I WANNA PUT DOORS ON THIS BUILDING. SO I, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR US TO TAKE 55,000 AND REDUCE WHAT WE'RE FUNDING THE SHERIFF'S REMODEL AND ASKING THEM TO FIND $55,000 AND PUT DOORS ON THIS BUILDING? DOES THAT WORK? I MEAN, CAN WE DO THAT? IS THAT YOU, YOU COULD DO THAT PROCESS WISE, WE DO THAT. OKAY. THEN I'M GONNA MAKE A MOTION. 'CAUSE I KNOW THEY'RE WORKING REALLY HARD AND I KNOW THEY'LL FIND SAVINGS. SO YOU'RE, I'M GONNA MAKE A MOTION THAT WE FUND THE TWO DOORS FOR THIS BUILDING, OR FOUR DOORS, I'M SORRY, REPLACING FOUR DOORS FOR THIS BUILDING IN AN AMOUNT OF $55,000. AND THAT WE REDUCE THE FUNDING FOR THE SHERIFF'S REMODEL BY $55,000. ALRIGHT. HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER LICHTY. I'LL SECOND THAT, BUT I'D LIKE I HAVE A QUESTION SECOND BY COMMISSIONER M**K, NOW OPEN FOR COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. SO COMMISSIONER LICHTY, WOULD THAT, THAT UM, REDUCTION THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT, THAT WOULD BE COMING OUT OF OUR FUND 2 0 3? IS THAT WHERE YOU WANTED IT TO COME FROM? IT WOULD BASICALLY COME OUT OF THE FUND BALANCE TRANSFER TRANSFER. SO 1.1 MILLION TRANSFER IS MOVING OVER. YEAH. AND IT WOULD JUST BE 1.045 GOING TO THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND THEN 55 GOING INTO THIS BUILDING. SO, AND KNOWING, KNOWING THAT WE'VE GOT ABOUT A FIVE, WHAT IS IT, 5.77 MILLION? WELL, 2 0 7 $0.5 MILLION BUDGET OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YEAH, THAT'S OKAY. OKAY. I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THAT. FUND 2 0 3 COMMISSIONER STACY, IS WHAT IS FOR THE JAIL EXPANSION AND THAT CURRENTLY AS OF, WELL, I'M LOOKING AT THE SEPTEMBER EIGHT NUMBER. I APOLOGIZE. BOY, IF YOU THOUGHT I FILIBUSTER. ARE YOU READY? THAT'S NOT WHERE ALL OF THE JAIL PROJECTS COMING FROM. IT'S ALSO COMING OUT OF ARPU. I KNOW IT IS AR I KNOW THAT TOO FROM A DIFFERENT, IT'S COMING FROM A [01:30:01] YES. YEAH. BUT, BUT YOU WERE PLANNING ON USING THE MAJORITY OF THAT, CORRECT? THAT 2.30 YEAH. ABSOLUTELY. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. OKAY. AND COMMISSIONER STACY, YOU HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH ANY KIND OF VALUE ENGINEERING OR ANYTHING YET. SO ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH I'M 100% COMFORTABLE WITH THIS MOTION. IT, IT, IT DOESN'T, I MEAN, THE FIRST THING WE DID WAS SAVE $58,000 IN THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE. SO YOU JUST TOOK THAT SAVINGS AND DID IT. AND WE ALSO HAVE A VALUE ENGINEERING PROPOSITION THAT, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AND, AND KNOWING WHERE WE ARE WITH THE ANNEX AND KNOWING WHAT WE JUST FUNDED WITH THE DA'S OFFICE, I MEAN, I'M SURE, UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, CHIEF AND THE SHERIFF HERE. I'M SURE THEY'RE NOT HAPPY TO HEAR TO, TO SAY, HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON? BUT NO, THIS GIVES ME ZERO HEARTBURN AND IT DOESN'T ADD $55,000 TO THE TAX RATE, WHICH MAKES ME HAPPY AND I'M WILLING TO COMPROMISE WITH LAUREN ON THAT ISSUE. SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER LTE. WE HAVE A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER. M**K, IF YOU'LL REGISTER YOUR VOTES NOW, PLEASE. IT PASSES FIVE TO ZERO. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER LTE FOR SPENDING THE MONEY AND THEN FINDING THE MONEY. WELL DONE, SIR. THANK YOU. UM, OKAY. SO THAT'S, UH, THAT'S A REALLOCATION, WHICH AGAIN, I'M, I'M, I'M ALL FOR KEEP OUR, KEEP OUR SIZE OF THE PIE THE SAME AND REALLOCATE IN, IN THE MANNER THAT WE SEE THE BEST. OKAY. I'D LIKE TO GO TO ITEM 44, DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. UM, WE HAVE $10,000 THERE FOR FURNITURE. UM, MY LAW FIRM IS MOVING. WE'RE GONNA THROW AWAY PROBABLY 10 OFFICES OF LAWYERS' FURNITURE. AND IF YOU WANT IT, YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT. YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT, BUT IT SUITED ME FINE. UM, I THINK THIS AND, AND THAT'S A VERY NICE OFFER. UH, BUT I THINK COMMISSIONER GOANA KIND OF STUMBLED ON TO FORFEITURE FUNDS THAT THAT COULD BE USED, COULD BE USED FOR THAT. OKAY, GREAT. I'M JUST TRYING TO SAVE MONEY. AND SO I HAVE A QUESTION, HELP MY DA OUT IF THE DA DOESN'T WANT IT. ARE THERE ANY GOOD COMFORTABLE CHAIRS? GREAT CHAIRS. GREAT CHAIRS. GREAT CHAIRS. YEAH, THEY'RE GREAT CHAIRS. YOU WANNA CHAIR RID? YOUR CHAIR IS SUPER COMFORTABLE. IT WON'T HAVE THE STATE OF TEXAS ON THE BACK OF IT, BUT YEAH. YEAH. WE GOT TABLES, WE GOT DESKS, WE GOT BOOKSHELVES. YOU NAME IT. ANYBODY WANT FURNITURE AND COMMISSIONER, WE CAN, UM, TAKE THE DONATION. WE'LL JUST LET US KNOW AND WE CAN COME GET SOME PICTURES OF IT AND SO WE CAN ACCEPT IT BY THE COUNTY. AWESOME. THANKS. ALL RIGHT. SO I IS BARRY, IS BARRY LISTENING? HE'S GONNA BE SO EXCITED TO TAKE A BIG OLD FURNITURE. SURE, SURE, SURE. HE IS. UM, I'LL MENTION THAT, THAT ACTUALLY, AND THANK YOU. CAN I PLEASE HAVE A CONFERENCE TABLE RIGHT NOW? UM, YEAH, BUT I WILL, I WILL JUST MENTION, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE A CONFERENCE TABLE RIGHT NOW. UM, BUT THOSE OFFICES WE USE, THAT'S WHAT THE BUILDERS DO, IS THAT THEY GO IN AND TO USE THE MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF THAT SPACE. THAT'S THE REASON THAT THEY, UH, HAVE THE, THAT FURNITURE THAT THEY BUY THAT'S THE SAME IN EVERY OFFICE. UM, AND IT'S LIKE MODULAR FURNITURE. SO I JUST WOULD MENTION, YOU KNOW, WE WERE IN THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE AND SEE ALL OF THIS SPACE, UH, WITH FURNITURE THAT'S BEEN TAKEN FROM DIFFERENT PLACES. AND SOMETIMES THAT'S NOT THE MOST EFFECTIVE USE OF SPACE. BUT LIKE I SAID, YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE IT. I, I BET YOU I DO LIKE IT KNOWING, UH, YOUR WIFE PROBABLY BOUGHT VERY NICE FURNITURE FOR YOUR OFFICE. IT WAS VERY NICE FURNITURE. YEAH. SO, AND I WAS ASTOUNDED TO FIND OUT THE OTHER DAY THAT IT'S ALL GONNA BE GIVEN AWAY OR THROWN AWAY. UM, OKAY. WELL THEN IF BOBBY'S GOT, UH, A WAY TO FUND THAT 10,000, LET'S TAKE IT OUTTA HERE ANYWAY AND SAVE 10,000 AND MOVE IT FROM A FUND. RIGHT. AND WE ALSO MOVE 43 THEN TOO. YOU TELL ME. I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. HOLD ON. HOLD ON. KENDA . I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THEY CAN. YOU DO. I I DON'T, I DON'T THINK I'LL HAVE TO RESEARCH THAT, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE WE CAN'T USE FORFEITURE FUND FOR FURNITURE. I THINK THAT IT HAS TO BE EXPENSES, UM, THAT ARE TO BE EXPENDED. AND, AND I WOULD NEED TO CHECK THAT. BUT I'M, I'M PRETTY SURE THAT YOU CAN'T USE FOR FORFEITURE FUNDS FOR FURNITURE, WHICH IS A LONGSTANDING, UH, I, I MEAN, I'LL DEFER TO YOU. YEAH. YOU KNOW A LOT MORE ABOUT THAT. YEAH. I, I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE CRIMINAL CODE OF PROCEDURE ON THAT ONE. WELL, I MEAN, LISA'S GONNA PUT, YOU KNOW, $220,000 INTO THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND. SO MAYBE WE CAN STEAL 10 OF THAT AND PUT IT INTO THE, PUT IT INTO THIS REMODEL. . ALL RIGHT. BACK TO YOUR PLAN OF, OF DONATING FURNITURE OF SOMEBODY'S, I'LL TAKE PICTURES, [01:35:01] . OKAY. OKAY. SO WE'RE NOT READY TO HAVE A MOTION ON THAT, BUT THA THANK, THANK YOU. WHAT I WAS TO, WHAT I UNDERSTOOD KEN TO SAY IS THAT THEY'VE GOT FURNITURE THAT THEY'RE PLANNING TO DO AS PART OF THEIR BUILD OUT, SO RIGHT. IT'S, THAT'S WHAT THAT THAT MONEY IS IN THE BUDGET. YEAH. AND I THOUGHT BOBBY HAD 10,000 HE COULD TAKE FROM SOME FUND, BUT APPARENTLY NOT. WELL, IT'S THE, IT'S, IT'S THE DA'S FORFEITURE FUNDS, BUT WE DON'T KNOW YET. AND WE COULD DO BOTH OF THOSE LINE ITEMS OUT OF THERE. IT IT, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE LAW SAYS, IF THE LAW SAYS WE CANNOT DO THAT. YEAH. I MEAN, IF YOU CAN BUY OFFICE EQUIPMENT, PENS, PENCILS, OTHER THINGS. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE COULDN'T BUY OFFICE FURNITURE OR A LAPTOP OUT OF THOSE FUNDS OR LOOK AT WHAT THE OFFICE EXPENSES ARE, OR I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT'S DIFFERENT, BUT I GUESS, BUT I GUESS THE LEGISLATURE LIKES TO SCREW THINGS UP, SO MAYBE WE'LL FIND OUT. BUT, BUT, BUT THE OTHER THING WE COULD ASK IS, AND AND AGAIN, THIS, THIS GOES BACK TO HOW CLOSE ARE WE WITH THE, WITH, WITH, WITH THE RATE WE CAN GET TO. SO OBVIOUSLY THIS IS AN EXERCISE TO GET THREE VOTES IS MY ONLY POINT. AND AND AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO HAVE A RATE AND, AND WE HAVE TO RAISE OUR HAND, DO A ROLL CALL VOTE AND SAYS, YES, THIS IS A TAX RATE WE'RE WILLING TO PASS. I GET THAT. BUT MY POINT TO YOU, BOBBY, IS WHAT YOU WERE SAYING IS WHY CAN'T WE DO WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE CL WITH THE, WITH THE CLERKS? I MEAN, IF THERE ARE EXPENSES, IF, IF SAME THING IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE TRYING TO INVEST 300, $400,000 INTO A REMODEL PROJECT, IS THIS NOT THE YEAR THAT WE GET INTO THE FORFEITURE FUND, USE SOME OF THAT TO PAY FOR EXPENSES THAT ARE ALLOWED, GET THEM OUT OF THE BUDGET AND POTENTIALLY SAVE SOME MONEY. YEAH, THAT'S WHY I ASKED. AGAIN, IT COMES TO OPPORTUNISTIC YEARS. THIS IS A YEAR WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO DO THIS. WE DON'T HAVE TO DO IT EVERY YEAR. CORRECT. BUT WE'RE ABOUT TO INVEST A LOT OF MONEY INTO THAT SPACE. AND SO MAYBE WE TAKE A DEEPER DIVE INTO WHAT CAN WE USE THE MONEY FOR AND IF WE CAN GET IT OUT OF THE GENERAL FUND. AND THAT COULD BE A REDUCTION. THE FOR, AND MAYBE WE CAN'T, THE FORFEITURE FUND IS NOT AT THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT DISCRETION. CORRECT. THAT THE DA'S DISCRETION, WHICH IS WHY SHE'S HERE AND WE'RE ASKING. YEAH. RIGHT. AND I, AND I, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS, WE, THAT FORFEITURE FUND, BOTH THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND THE DA'S OFFICE HAVE FORFEITURE FUNDS. AND WE HAVE TO BE, I MEAN, WE ARE RESTRICTED BY LAW ON WHAT WE CAN USE. THE WORD USUALLY, TYPICALLY IS FUNGIBLE, UH, THINGS THAT ARE GONNA BE USED UP, WHICH IS TYPICALLY NOT THAT FURNITURE, THE REASON THAT THE, THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE DOESN'T USE FORFEITURE FUNDS, UM, FOR HIS REMODEL IS BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN. SO, UH, I, THIS, THIS IS A, THIS IS AN INTERESTING INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATION. UM, BUT I THINK THAT YOU NEED TO STEER AWAY, UM, FROM USING FORFEITURE FUNDS IN THIS MANNER. ALL RIGHT. COMMISSIONERS AGAIN, I FEEL WE'RE ABOUT $200,000. OH, OKAY. SO I WAS WONDERING THOUGH, IF, IF YOU, IF THERE WAS AN APPETITE FOR US TO MAYBE JUST HAVE A, A, AN ADJOURNMENT FOR A SHORT TIME TO SEE IF WE COULD GO AHEAD AND HAVE SOME OF THE, THE, THE NUMBERS THAT WE'VE TAKEN RIGHT NOW, AND THAT, AND THAT COULD THEN CORRELATE TO WHERE WE'RE AT AS FAR AS A TAX RATE. THAT THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA, KEN. UM, IF WE TAKE, TAKE ABOUT A 30 MINUTE BREAK, DO YOU THINK, WOULD THAT BE SUFFICIENT TIME? ALL RIGHT. SO LET'S, UH, LET'S GOING THROUGH THIS. BEFORE YOU MAKE THAT BREAK, CAN I SAY ONE THING? YES, SIR. YES, PLEASE. I DON'T LIKE PAYING TAXES. NONE OF US DO. OKAY. I THINK WE ALL AGREE THAT WE'D LIKE TO LOWER OUR TAXES AS MUCH AS WE CAN. MM-HMM . WE'VE NOW HAD AT LEAST THREE DAYS. WE'VE HAD DOZENS OF BUDGET HEARINGS. WE'VE HAD AT LEAST THREE DAYS WHERE THERE WAS ON THE AGENDA A PUBLIC HEARING WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME AND SPEAK ABOUT OUR TAX RATE. AND I'M JUST GONNA REMIND THE COURT WE HAVE HAD ONE COMMENT. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT COMMENT WAS? YOU GUYS SHOULDN'T HAVE LOWERED THE TAXES. YOU SHOULD HAVE SPENT MORE MONEY. THAT'S MY COMMENT. ALL RIGHT. AND ON THAT COMMENT, IT'S 10 39. WE'RE GONNA TAKE ABOUT A 30 MINUTE BREAK. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU EVERYONE. AT 1119, WE ARE GOING TO RECONVENE INTO OUR SPECIAL SESSION. WE ARE DISCUSSING, WE ARE ON AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, DISCUSS AND ACT ON ADOPTING THE ROCKWALL COUNTY BUDGET FOR FY 2026 AND TAKE A RECORD VOTE AND ALL RELATED ISSUES. UH, SO THE AUDITOR HAS COME UP WITH A DOLLAR AMOUNT AND A TAX RATE THAT WE ARE SITTING AT RIGHT NOW. IF WE APPROVE EVERYTHING THAT'S LEFT IN THE BUDGET, [01:40:01] WE ARE SITTING AT A 0.2513 TAX RATE. SO TO GET TO MY TARGET RATE OF 2 4 9 9, WE ARE, I AM LOOKING FOR AN ADDITIONAL $215,953. WELL, JUDGE, AS MUCH AS I LIKE YOU, YOU'RE NOT GONNA LIKE ME AFTER THIS. UM, WE HAVE HAD, AS I SAID BEFORE WE LEFT. ONE RESIDENT HAS COMMENTED ON THIS, AND THAT RESIDENT CHASTISED US FOR SETTING WHAT HE FELT WAS TOO LOW OF A RATE. OKAY? UM, TUESDAY WHEN WE STARTED OUR MEETING, WE SET A BASE AND EVERYBODY AGREED TO THAT BASE. THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE, AND AND I KNOW I'M GONNA CAVEAT ALL THIS OR PREAMBLE AT ALL BY SAYING WE ALL KNOW ALL THESE VOTES WERE NON-BINDING. THAT WAS MADE CLEAR BY YOU JUDGE AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS. BUT WE TOOK VOTES AND EVERYTHING. BUT ON TUESDAY WE SET A BASE, NOBODY OBJECTED WHERE WE HAD A $600,000, UM, CONTINGENCY FUND. AND WE SAID THAT IF YOU'RE GONNA SPEND MORE MONEY, YOU GOTTA FIND MORE MONEY. SO THAT'S WHAT I ALWAYS ASSUMED WAS THE BASE WE WERE WORKING OFF. UM, UH, WE DECIDED THAT, UM, WE'RE GONNA, APPARENTLY WE'RE LOOKING RELOOKING AT THINGS THIS MORNING, SO THAT'S GREAT. BUT ONE THING THAT EVERYBODY ON THIS COURT KNOWS I'M A BIG FAN OF IS ROADS. AND LAST YEAR OUR ROAD AND BRIDGE DEPARTMENT RAN OUTTA MONEY. OKAY? UM, THERE WERE FOUR PROJECTS WHICH, UM, THREE PROJECTS WHICH THEY PLANNED TO GET DONE. AND A FOURTH, WHICH THEY WANTED TO GET DONE. SOUTH MUNSON ROAD, NORTH MUNSON ROAD, MCDONALD ROAD, AND JONES ROAD, WHICH BY THE WAY, WHEN YOU GO PAST A CERTAIN POINT, IS STILL A DIRT ROAD, WHICH WE WANTED TO TURN INTO CHIP SEAL SO THAT THOSE WERE NOT DONE. AND WE YET, WE SPENT ALL THE MONEY WE HAD FOR ROAD REPAIRS. OKAY? JUST IT'S, EVERYBODY KNOWS WE'RE TIGHT ON ROAD BUDGET. SO I'VE SPOKEN WITH OUR ENGINEER AND SHE SAID THOSE FOUR PROJECTS COULD BE FUNDED FOR $175,000. 'CAUSE THE FUNDS WE HAD LAST YEAR WILL BE, THEY WERE ALL USED UP. SO, UM, I GET ROAD CALLS CONSTANTLY AND I KNOW I HAVE MORE COUNTY ROADS THAN ANYBODY ELSE, SO I PROBABLY AM MORE SENSITIVE TO IT. BUT AS WE SAW LAST NIGHT IN OUR CONSORTIUM, PEOPLE WANT ROADS BUILT. PEOPLE WANT ROADS IMPROVED. THIS MORNING, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, WE'VE, UH, FROM THE VOTER APPROVED TAX RATE, WE'RE DOWN ABOUT, WE'VE REDUCED OUR SPENDING BY ABOUT $240,000. OKAY? SO I AM GONNA MAKE A MOTION THAT WE INCREASE THE ROAD AND BRIDGE DEPARTMENT FUNDING FOR ROAD REPAIRS BY $175,000. AND THAT, THAT COMES FROM THE $240,000 THAT WE FOUND EARLIER THIS MORNING. I HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER LICK, AND I'M GONNA SECOND IT. WE HAVE A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER STACY. SO THAT GETS US TO DISCUSSION. WE ARE AT DISCUSSION NOW. I'M LOOKING AT ROAD AND BRIDGE RIGHT NOW. AND WE HAVE $569,898 THAT'S CORRECT. FOR CONTRACT. SO YOU'RE WANTING TO ADD ANOTHER YEP. 175. SO, AND I SPOKE WITH JUDGE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT. AND I SPOKE WITH, UH, OUR ENGINEER AND SHE SAID THAT HER BUDGET IS FOR PROJECTS THEY PLANNED TO DO IN FY 26 AND WOULD FUND THOSE, BUT DID NOT INCLUDE THESE, THESE FOUR. WELL, LAUREN, UH, COMMISSIONER LTI, I JUST WANNA SAY THAT, UM, AFTER LAST YEAR'S BUDGET, YOU AND I WENT AND HAD COFFEE ACROSS THE STREET. AND I SAID, WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUDGET? AND YOU SAID, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT BOTHERED ME ABOUT THE BUDGET IS Y'ALL NEVER TALKED ABOUT ROADS. AND I SAID, NO, THAT'S, THAT'S VERY TRUE BECAUSE WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, ROAD BONDS AND, AND, AND OTHER THINGS. SO I JUST WANNA SAY THAT IF YOU'RE ANYTHING, YOU'RE VERY CONSISTENT . UM, I, I, I BELIEVE . SO I'M GONNA SAY SOMETHING AND THEN Y'ALL CAN CHASTISE ME, WHICH IS FINE. I STILL BELIEVE THE DA SHOULD BE OUT OF THE FUND BALANCE. I JUST, I, I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT. SO I, AND, AND THEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT $75,000. SO THIS IS GONNA PUT ME IN A WEIRD SPOT BECAUSE I'M, FOR THIS, I THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA. WE NEED TO BUILD ROADS. I'M, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HEARING. AND, AND I'VE DRIVEN YOUR PRECINCT AND I, AND I KNOW THAT THAT'S BAD. SO I WANNA DO THIS AND SAY, OKAY, WELL WE'VE GIVEN OURSELVES $175,000 PROBLEM. AND I SAID, WELL, I CAN SOLVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND OF IT PRETTY QUICK. UM, SO, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I I, I JUST THINK THAT, [01:45:01] UH, IF WE HAVE FOUR PROJECTS WE DIDN'T GET DONE 'CAUSE WE RAN OUTTA MONEY, THEN WE NEED TO FUND THEM BECAUSE THE LAST THING WE NEED TO DO IS NOT HAVE PRODUCTS BEING DONE. AND I BET YOU I DIDN'T QUITE GET YOUR WHOLE LIST. UM, I KNOW I, I'M PRETTY SURE NORTH MUNSON IS IN MY PRECINCT, BUT MUNSON'S CALLED ALL KINDS OF NAMES AND ALL KINDS OF PLACES. BUT I ALMOST GUARANTEE YOU I MIGHT HAVE ONE OF THESE AND THREE OF THESE ARE YOUR ROADS, RIGHT. AND JONES ROAD. UM, I KNOW I HAVE RECEIVED NUMEROUS CALLS ON FROM PEOPLE THAT LIVE OUT THERE BECAUSE IT TURNS INTO DIRT AND WHEN IT RAINS. AND I DROVE IT THIS YEAR AFTER RAIN IN MY PICKUP. AND IT'S, IT'S BASICALLY IN IT IMPASSABLE. SO, UM, I, I HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT, THANK YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER FOR, FOR GIVING ME CREDIT FOR THAT. I HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED FROM CON CONSISTENT FROM DAY ONE. WE WANNA BUILD ROADS. I KNOW IT'S NOT GOING IN THE DIRECTION YOU WANT, JUDGE. AND UM, BUT I THINK WE HAVE A HIGH PRIORITY TO PROVIDE GOOD ROADS FOR OUR CITIZENS. AND WE'RE THE, THE MONEY THAT WE HAVE IN OUR ROAD BONDS IS NOT FOR ROAD STREET REPAIRS AND STUFF. AND I DO HAVE A QUESTION, BUT COMMISSIONER GOLAN, I WISH YEAH, I JUST, I JUST THOUGHT, I KNOW, AND YOU MAY HAVE ANSWERED MY QUESTION, COMMISSIONER LTI, BUT WE WERE TALKING BRIEFLY LAST NIGHT AT THE CONSORTIUM ABOUT DISCRETIONARY FUNDS, UM, THAT WE HAVE. AND THERE WAS AN ARGUMENT WHETHER THERE'S LEFTOVER DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM THE LAST TIME AND WHAT DISCRETIONARY FUNDS WE HAVE FOR THIS TIME. THOSE FUNDS AREN'T USABLE FOR THESE TYPE PROJECTS. THEY ARE. I THINK THEY ARE, I THINK. BUT OTHER THAN THE POSSIBLE CHANGING JONES ROAD FROM DIRT TO CHIP SEAL YEAH. WHICH IS WHAT WE DID BEFORE. THESE ARE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, BASICALLY ROAD REPAIRS. AND IN MY OPINION, YOU DON'T SPEND 20 YEAR BOND MONEY ON ROAD REPAIRS. UM, PEOPLE FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT THAT. I GET IT. I'VE GOT, AS, AS THEY SAID LAST NIGHT, I'VE GOT THE SAME STR STRATEGIC FUNDS. IS THAT WHAT THEY CALLED IT THAT EVERYBODY HAS? CORRECT. I'VE GOT A COUPLE PLACES THAT I'M RATTLING IN MY BRAIN HOPING TO MAKE HAPPEN, BUT I HAVEN'T IDENTIFIED 'EM. SO YOU'RE RIGHT, THAT COULD BE MONEY, BUT I DON'T THINK YOU USE BOND MONEY TO DO STREET REPAIRS. AND, AND, AND TO TAG ALONG WITH THAT, I DON'T WANT TO USE BOND MONEY FOR CHIP SEAL REPAIRS. I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT WILL LAST 20 YEARS. AND SO I HAVE A HARD TIME USING 20 YEAR BOND MONEY, EVEN IF THERE IS A STRATEGIC PROJECT. UM, I WOULD JUST CAUTION ALL OF US. 'CAUSE WE ALL HAVE COUNT, WELL, ALL OF US, BUT COMMISSIONER PRECINCT TWO HAD COUNTY ROADS. IF WE'RE GONNA DO THAT, THAT IS ROAD MAINTENANCE. AND THEN I JUST WANNA SAY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE WHAT, 22 MILES OF ROAD THAT THAT IS 100% IN OUR POWER TO CONTROL AND MAINTAIN. AND I, I DO AGREE. BEFORE WE START CUTTING TAXES, LET'S, LET'S MAINTAIN THE ROADS THAT THESE PEOPLE DRIVE IN. YEP. I I HAVE A QUESTION THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO, BUT IT'S JUST KIND OF PUZZLING ME. ALL RIGHT. SO WE, WE HAVE THESE LIST OF ROADS THAT WE, WE WERE TRYING TO GET DONE IN 2025 MM-HMM . UH, THIS BUDGET. AND WE RAN OUTTA MONEY. AND SO WE BUDGETED OTHER ROADS NOW FOR 2026. WHY WOULD WE GO AROUND SOME ROADS THAT WE AGREED NEED MAINTAINED AND JUST SAY, OKAY, WELL WE MISSED THEM. NOW WE'RE GONNA GO DO THESE OTHERS AND, AND NOT HAVE THOSE. WHAT, WHAT DID THESE ROADS DO? WHY, WHY THE BUDGET WAS WRITTEN THAT WAY? YOU'RE RIGHT, I DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER, BUT I AM TRYING TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE SUGGESTING BY SAYING, HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT ABOUT THESE? LET'S MAKE SURE WE GET 'EM. AND THE REASON THAT I, WHEN I TALKED TO ERICA AND UM, I, I, SHE COULD SPEAK FOR HERSELF MORE ELOQUENTLY THAN I CAN, BUT SHE SS SAID THAT THE REASON THEY RAN OUTTA MONEY WAS LARGELY DUE TO THE CONCRETE REPAIRS THEY HAD TO DO IN, UM, ON EAGLE PASS. YOU REMEMBER WE DID THAT EARLIER THIS YEAR AND THAT WAS CONTRACTED OUT AND WAS MORE EX, IT ACTUALLY, THE BID WAS VERY FAVORABLE, BUT IT, IT TOOK UP MONEY THAT THEY COULD HAVE USED OTHER PLACES AND WE HAD TO CONTRACT THAT OUT. 'CAUSE WE DON'T, WE DON'T DO CONCRETE REBUILD CONCRETE. RIGHT. YEAH. OKAY. AND ALL OF THE OTHER LISTED PROJECTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY BUDGETED ARE NECESSARY IN THIS YEAR, VERY NECESSARY IN THIS YEAR AS COMPARED TO THOSE THAT SOUND I'LL LET HER ANSWER THAT. YEAH, I JUST, I MEAN, I, AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF PRECINCT THREE. OH, I, I'VE BEEN DOWN YOUR DIRT ROAD. I DON'T NEED A TOUR OF THAT ROAD. , I GREW UP HERE. I'M VERY FAMILIAR. UM, I, UM, OKAY. I JUST FEEL LIKE WE'RE KIND OF FLYING BY THE SEAT OF OUR PANTS A LITTLE BIT ALL OF A SUDDEN WITH THIS ROAD REPAIR BUDGET. AND I WOULD, [01:50:01] I WOULD LIKE, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HAVE A SCHEDULE. IT IS A, A LOT OF MONEY AND JUST BE MORE PROFESSIONALIZED THAN US KIND OF GUESSING RIGHT NOW. I I WOULDN'T AGREE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO THIS POINT OF GUESSING. IT IS A LOT OF MONEY AND I'M SORRY, JUDGE, I DON'T THAT THAT'S OKAY. I'VE, I'VE, UH, WE'VE ALLOCATED $200,000 TO DO A ROAD INVENTORY AND IN THIS NEXT BUDGET YEAH. TO COME UP WITH PRIORITIES OF WHAT, WHERE WERE WE AT IN THE LIFE CYCLE, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE NOW. UM, BUT WE DO HAVE ROADS ALREADY EXCLUDING THE ONES THAT COMMISSIONER LICH D JUST TALKED ABOUT. WE HAVE ROADS ALREADY IDENTIFIED FOR THE FY 26 BUDGET, CORRECT? YEAH. YEAH. WE HAVE, WE DO 569,800 IS WHAT I THOUGHT. $98. SO THIS IS AN ADDITION. 'CAUSE THOSE ROADS THAT YOU'VE JUST ASKED FOR DID NOT GET COMPLETED THIS YEAR. IT IS AN ADDITION AND I APPRECIATE, UH, COMMISSIONER ANA'S COMMENT VERY MUCH. GEE, I WISH I HAD MORE INFORMATION TO, TO UNDERSTAND THIS, BUT I GUESS WE'RE REOPENING EVERYTHING. SO I LIKE TO BUILD ROADS , THAT THAT IS CONSISTENT. IT'S CONSISTENT. OKAY. SO, SO I WANNA SAY I, I, I DID SECOND IT, WE DO, WE DO HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE, BUT I THINK WE, WE HAVE A MEETING TOMORROW AND SO I AM PROBABLY GONNA VOTE AGAINST THIS. BUT IF WE CAN GET SOME STUFF TOGETHER BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, YOU COULD POTENTIALLY CHANGE MY MIND. I JUST WANT TO STATE THAT I, I DO THINK THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS A REALLY GOOD IDEA, BUT IT REALLY IS GOING BY THE SEAT OF OUR PANTS. AND I WOULD RATHER, I WOULD RATHER HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ROAD AND BRIDGE AND, AND, AND JUST HAVE A DISCUSSION BEFORE I DECIDE TO, TO SPEND THE MONEY. BUT I AM OPEN TO IT ANYWAYS. LISA, DO YOU, WHAT'S, WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ON THE STATUS OF OUR ROAD AND BRIDGE FUND? OH, I, I THINK THAT, UH, IT COULD USE SOME SUPPORT FROM THE GENERAL FUND. UM, I AGREE WITH YOU. IT'S SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE PUT IN THERE. RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE, YOU DON'T HAVE MONEY SET ASIDE FOR ANY DAMS. UH, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY IN THE ROAD AND BRIDGE FUND, UH, OTHER THAN CONTRACT WORK. YOU DON'T HAVE AN INCREASE FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, UH, OTHER THAN 25,000. AND WE ALL KNOW THINGS ARE GOING UP, NOTHING'S COMING DOWN. UM, I THINK IT'S A, IT'S A START. THANK YOU. I THINK YOUR 175,000 IS A START. THANK YOU. YEAH, SO WE, WE HAVE 43,833 FOR SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION AND WHICH IS, UH, A REDUCTION. THIS, YEAH. IN 2025, WE BUDGETED 200,000 LINE ITEM. UH, I'M LOOKING AT LINE ITEM 4, 9 4. OKAY. ON, ON PAGE 51. OKAY. BUT WE'VE ONLY SPENT $29,327 AND 83 CENTS THIS YEAR. NOW I KNOW WE HAVE SOME MORE BILLS COMING IN, UH, BECAUSE WE JUST APPROVED SOME REPAIRS, BUT WE, WE DO HAVE 43,000 AND, AND SO WE DON'T CARRY THE LOAD ALL BY OURSELVES. MATTER OF FACT, WE JUST CARRY A SMALL FRACTION, UH, OF, OF THE LOAD AND THAT ON THE WATER CONSERVATION LAKES. YES. YEAH. RIGHT. SO THAT 43,000 WILL LEVERAGE A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF WORK ON, ON THE LAKE. SO, AND AGAIN, IF IS THAT INSUFFICIENT? IT DEPENDS ON HOW MANY WE WANT TO DO, AND UNFORTUNATELY WE REQUEST, BUT WE'RE NOT THE ONES THAT GET TO DETERMINE WHICH LAKES NEED WORK AND WHICH ONES DON'T. UM, RIGHT. BUT THE FUNDS I'M TALKING ABOUT ARE NOT FOR LAKES. SO THAT'S SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION IS NOT, IS THAT, LETS DIAL THIS BACK IN HERE. ISN'T THAT THE NO, HE WAS MEANING TO ADD IT TO, UH, CONTRACT SERVICES. YES. I'M ALWAYS THE ONE THAT BROUGHT UP SOIL AND CONSERVATION. YEAH, NO, NO, NO. I WAS JUST WANT YOU SAID WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING FOR SOIL AND CONSERVATION AND, AND, AND WE DO. WE WE HAVE A, YEAH, I, I PUT THAT IN THERE YESTERDAY. UH, THAT WAS JUST BALANCING IT OUT. UM, NO, MY, UH, I MEANT IF, IF YOU HAD A DAMN FAILURE THAT SOUNDED WRONG. I, I, I LIKE IT. I LIKE IT. IT, THERE WAS A DAMN STRUCTURE FAILURE. DON'T HAVE, THERE'S JUST SO MANY DAMN PROBLEMS SOMETIMES IN THIS COUNTY. THERE, THERE, I, I JUST SPENT THAT, THAT THAT MONEY THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT, THE 20 SOMETHING THOUSAND THAT WE SPENT LAST YEAR, THAT WAS A PORTION OF, OF, OF SOME STATE MONEY THAT WE HAD TO PAY INTO. INTO, YES MA'AM. BUT THAT'S IF THE STATE HAS FUNDING FOR THOSE DAMS. IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE STATE FUNDING, THEN THE COUNTY HAS NOTHING FUNDED. WE HAVE A 600,000 CONTINGENCY, UM, THAT, THAT WE CAN USE. THAT'S WHAT IT'S THERE FOR. OH, JOHN, YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING, COMMISSIONER STACEY, UM, ABOUT SHIFTING SOMETHING TO FUND BALANCE. DO [01:55:01] YOU YEAH. WANT TO MAYBE JUST EXPAND ON THAT A LITTLE BIT BEFORE WE YEAH. SO WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE JUST, AND, AND I'M, I'M OKAY WITH THAT, BUT WE STILL UNDER DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS FOR OUR, OUR MOTION AND OUR SECOND, IT'S GONNA AFFECT MY VOTE THEN. OKAY. SO, SO I, I, I'LL SAY, I WAS GONNA MAKE TWO POINTS. NUMBER ONE, UM, ON PAGE 50, YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S $725,000 OF ROAD REPAIRS BUDGETED. YEAH. UM, UH, JUDGE NEW WAS TALKING ABOUT OUR CONTRACT SERVICES AT 5 69. SO WE, WE ARE MOVING THINGS AND, AND, AND WE'RE KIND OF, I, I WOULDN'T, I DON'T THINK IT'S NECESSARILY A CART BEFORE THE HORSE ISSUE IN THE SENSE OF WE'RE TRYING TO DO A ROAD STUDY TO PUT A PRIORITY LIST TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN BETTER MAINTAIN OUR ROADS AND TO HAPHAZARDLY JUST THROW ADDITIONAL MONEY IN THERE. UH, UH, UH, BUT I, AND I SHOULDN'T SAY HAPHAZARDLY, BUT TO TURN AROUND AND SPEND AND PUT MONEY IN THERE WHEN WE'RE TRYING TO DO THAT, WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY IS THE DA EXPANSION, I STILL BELIEVE SHOULD COME OUT OF FUND BALANCE, UM, BECAUSE THERE IS MONEY IN FUND BALANCE AND THE COURT SAID THEY'RE NOT REALLY PREPARED TO DO THAT WITHOUT REALLY SEEING THAT MONEY. UM, WHEN WE ORIGINALLY STARTED THE SHERIFF'S PROJECT, WE THOUGHT WE'D HAVE TO GET TO ABOUT 1.8, UM, AND WE'RE STILL AT 1.1, AND THE PAST FEW BUDGETS HAVE BEEN AT 2 MILLION. SO EVEN IF WE GOT TO 1.3 OR 1.2 AND AND KEPT BELOW 1.5, I FEEL COMFORTABLE. I MIGHT BE THE ONLY PERSON THAT FEELS COMFORTABLE WITH THAT. I, I FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THAT TOO. BUT COULDN'T WE JUST MOVE THIS MONEY FROM FUND BALANCE INTO THE ROAD AND BRIDGE FUND GUYS? I'LL SAY THE SAME THING I SAID EARLIER THIS MORNING IN GIRLS. UM, I MAY BE IN FAVOR OF THAT, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT ON OUR FUND BALANCE. YEAH, I MEAN, EITHER WAY IT'S, IT'S, IT'S JUST THE, AND I KNOW WE'RE AT ON THESE NUMBERS MM-HMM . AND WE'VE GOT THE MONEY TO DO IT. YEAH. AND AS I SPOKE AND ENCOURAGE EACH OF YOU TO SPEAK WITH ERICA, SHE'S, THIS WASN'T HER IDEA IT WAS MINE, BUT SHE SAID YES, WE COULD USE THAT MONEY AND WE COULD CONTRACT IT. WHAT THEY'D END UP DOING IS CONTRACTING IT OUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A LIMITED STAFF AND THEY'RE, WE SAW A LIST OF ROADS THAT SHE PRESENTED THAT THEY WANT TO FIX THIS YEAR, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE BA BASING ALL THAT ON. SO, OKAY. SO WE HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER LTY. WE HAVE A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER. STACY, IF YOU'LL REGISTER YOUR VOTES NOW, PLEASE. SOMEBODY STILL NEEDS, OH, THERE WE GO. UH, IT FAILS THREE TO TWO. I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT COME BACK UP TOMORROW. UM, WITH MORE INFORMATION. I AM REALLY RESISTING THE URGE TO MOVE A FUND BALANCE TO KNOCK THIS $215,000 DOWN TO A 2, 4, 9, 9 AND, AND BEING DONE WITH IT. I AM WORRIED ABOUT TAKING FUND BALANCE TO BUY A RATE. UM, I, I COULD BE TALKED INTO POTENTIALLY SAYING THIS IS THE REASON WE'RE DOING IT OR THERE'S SOME LOGIC BEHIND IT. UM, SO I'M JUST SAYING, I, I SEE IT, YOU'RE SITTING THERE GOING, HEY, WE, WE FIND ANOTHER 227,000 AND, AND WE GET TO THE ORIGINAL RATE. I, I JUST DON'T KNOW IF JUST BUYING THAT DOWN MAKES THE MOST SENSE. AND, UM, YEAH, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW EITHER. AND I, AND I WANNA SEE THAT BECAUSE I DO WANT TO BRING THIS ROAD, THESE ROAD PROJECTS BACK UP TOMORROW WITH MORE INFORMATION. IF IT HAS TO BE OUT OF THE GENERAL, I'M GONNA BE FOR THAT. IF IT HAS TO BE OUT OF FUND BALANCE, I'D RATHER THAT, BUT, UM, WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE TAXPAYER IMPACT DIFFERENCE FROM WHERE WE ARE NOW TO 2 4, 9 9? DO WE KNOW THAT? DO WE KNOW THAT? LIKE WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT FOR THE TAXPAYER RIGHT NOW? UH, THE IMPACT YOU CAN PROBABLY GET ESTIMATE IT. THE, THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE IS 2 4, 9 8. YEAH. UM, AND THAT'S THAT. NO, THAT'S, THAT'S MY RATE THAT'S PROPOSED. RIGHT? THE, THE NO NEW REVENUE IS 2 4 1 9. RIGHT. I THOUGHT IT WAS 2 4 2. YEAH. NO, NO. WELL, IT'S JUST HERE. I THOUGHT IT WAS LIKE 2 4 2 2 2 4 1 9, 2 4 1 9 IS THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE. IT'S THE NO NEW REVENUE. 2 4 1 9. AND THAT'S WHY MY QUESTION 2, 4, 9, 8 WAS MY PROPOSED RATE. YOU WERE, BUT YOU SAID WHILE AGO WHEN WE, WE DID, BEFORE WE TOOK A BREAK, WE WENT FROM 2.2 0.2521 TO 2.2513. YEAH. WITH 290,000. THE THING IS, I TRAINED LISA TO KNOW ANYTHING I ADVOCATE FOR IS THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE. SO SHE, SHE ASSUMED IF I'M GOING FOR IT, I'M, IT'S, IT IS THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE. UM, I MEAN, BECAUSE MY HEAD'S JUST SPINNING OVER HERE WITH ALL THESE OUT AT LISA. WELL 'CAUSE IT TOO FAR. HEY BOBBY, I'M, I'M ABOUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. I'M I'M DOING THE CALCULATION. I'M SORRY. THANK YOU. I JUST WANNA KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. AND THAT'S GETTING FROM THE RATE WE'RE AT, TO GETTING THE RATE TO [02:00:01] THE 2 4, 9 9 OR LIKE WHAT, BECAUSE I FIGURED OUT WHERE WE'RE AT. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO, WHERE DO WANT, WHERE ARE WE? YEAH. WHERE ARE WE CURRENTLY SITTING? IT'S 10 66. OKAY. AND WHAT IS MOVING THIS, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR THE TAXPAYER FROM 10 66? SO THEN IF WE, LET'S JUST SAY WE, WE HIT THE JUDGES AND THIS IS ON A MEDIAN HOME VALUE, WHICH TWO? 4, 9 9 MM-HMM . YEP. UM, IT'S $6. OKAY. AND THAT, THAT'S, AND, AND THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO DO THE CALCULATION. AND I'M NOT FOR OVERTAXING ANYBODY, BUT WE ARE LITERALLY PULLING OUR HAIR OUT OVER $6 FOR A TAXPAYER AND I THINK $6 THEY'D BE FINE WITH, WITH THE $6 WE'RE SPENDING FOR THESE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. I AGREE. AND IF WE, AND THEN IF WE SPENT THE 1 75, WHAT DOES THAT DO? IT, IT STILL COMES DOWN TO WHAT COMMISSIONER TY SAID. GUYS, WE HAD ONE PERSON SPEAK ON THIS AND I I I, WE DID, I'M TELLING YOU, WE, WE ALL SIT UP HERE. I, I UNDERSTAND. BUT LET, LET ME THROW OUT A WORD OF CAUTION THAT COMES FROM EXPERIENCE AND HISTORY. NO ONE WILL BE HERE TALKING RIGHT NOW. ONCE WE ADOPT THIS RATE AND ADOPT THE BUDGET AND THE APPRAISER SENDS OUT THE NEW RATES, THEN IT WILL ACTIVATE OUR VOTERS. THEY'LL, AND, AND, AND THEY WILL BE ONLINE. I, I SAID, AND, AND WE WILL BE GROUPED INTO THE GROUP WITH EVERYBODY ELSE THAT, THAT JUST DID, DID A TAX INCREASE. WELL, I SAT ON THE ROCKWALL, I DID SIX BUDGETS WITH THE CITY OF ROCKWALL. AND AND DURING THAT TIME, WE HELD THEM, YOU KNOW, WE HELD THEM GO, WE, WE KEPT LOWERING THEM. AND NOW THEY ARE PUTTING A LITTLE BIT MORE, 'CAUSE THEY KICKED THE CAN A LOT. BUT THEY'RE STILL, THIS, THE, THE, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF ROCKWALL IS STILL NOT, WHERE THERE'S NOT ENOUGH OF PEOPLE THAT ARE UPSET ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THE CITY OF ROCKWELL'S NEEDING TO DO. AND WE'RE, WE'RE COUNTYWIDE HERE AND WE HAVE KICKED THE CAN A LONG TIME. A LONG TIME. I, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT I WOULD CHARACTERIZE IT AS KICKING THE CAN. I MEAN, IT, IT, IT, WELL IT'S ON THE THREE YEARS THAT WE'VE BEEN, THIS IS OUR THIRD BUDGET. IT IT LIMITED MINING YEARS. LIMITED COMMISSIONER, LIMITED STACEY'S. YES, IT IS LIMITED FUNDS. I WOULD, BUT WE'RE, WE ARE FULLY FUNDING COUNTY GOVERNMENT. UH, WE'RE, WE'RE TAKING A PROACTIVE, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD. I MEAN THIS COURT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT. HIRING THE DISPATCH IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT. I MEAN, GIVING RAISES TO THE CLERKS AND TO THE CONSTABLES IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF US STAYING COMPETITIVE. SO WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT KICKING THE CAN, WE'RE MAKING HARD DECISIONS. AND I, I'LL GO BACK TO MY STATEMENT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR THREE YEARS, GOVERNING SHOULD BE HARD. AND THE CHIEF DRIVER OF IT BEING HARD IS THE FACT THAT THERE'S LIMITED FUNDS. SO HARD DECISIONS HAVE TO BE MADE EACH AND EVERY BUDGET SEASON. AND $6 IS NOT A LOT. BUT WHEN IT'S PRINTED ON A BIG SHEET OF PAPER ON THE FRONT OF THE BUDGET THAT SAYS THIS IS A TAX INCREASE, IT IS RAISING $5 MILLION MORE THAN LAST YEAR'S BUDGET, AIN'T NOBODY SAYING, WELL, MY PORTION'S JUST $6. THEY'RE GONNA SAY $5 MILLION. YOU INCREASE TAXES, $5 MILLION AND WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO RAISE OUR HAND, TAKE A VOTE AND, AND SIGN ON THE LINE. I THINK THAT'S JUST, AND IT'S OUR JOB TO PROVE THAT THAT'S GOOD STEWARDSHIP WITH THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE GONNA COMPLETE. I MEAN, I I'M ALMOST BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE JUDGING AND I TAKE THIS $275,000 WE'RE BATTING AROUND AND JUST TAKE IT OUT A FUND BALANCE AND MOVE FORWARD. I I BUT NOBODY ELSE IS GONNA WANT TO DO THAT. I WOULDN'T SAY, I THINK THE MONEY, I, I WOULDN'T SAY NOBODY ELSE IS GONNA DO THAT. YOU, BUT I THINK THE MONEY IS GOING TO SHOW UP IN EVERY BUDGET. IT SHOWS UP HISTORICALLY. IT HAS. AND THEN, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON AND GET TO 2, 4, 9 9 AND BE DONE AND YOUR PROJECT'S DONE AND THE DA'S PROJECT'S OUT OF FUND BALANCE AND THEN WE CAN MOVE DOWN THE ROAD. DO YOU WANT TO TIE IT TO SOMETHING? IF YOU TIED IT TO SOMETHING, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET THREE VOTES. I WOULD SAY THAT WE PULL $275,000 OUT OF FUND BALANCE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO FUND THE DA PROJECT $175,000 FOR THE ROAD PROJECTS THAT LAUREN PROPOSED. SO THAT DOESN'T REDUCE THE RATE. 'CAUSE WE SPENT MORE FOR THE 1 75. IT DOESN'T REDUCE THE RATE. IT DOES NOT. UM, WELL THAT'S WHAT I WAS GETTING AT IS PULLING THE 2 75 OUT OF, OUT OF THAT. OKAY. SO THEN I'LL WITHDRAW THE MOTION FOR A MINUTE UNTIL WE FIGURE THAT OUT. I'LL SAY THE SAME THING I SAID EARLIER THIS MORNING. I'D SURE LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THAT CONTINGENCY FUND IS OR FUND BALANCE IS GONNA BE AND BE FINE. OKAY. UM, I'LL GET THAT FOR YOU THIS AFTERNOON, BUT THANK YOU. I JUST, BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA ROLL OVER MONEY FROM LAST YEAR THIS YEAR TOO. SURE. WE WILL. BUT, AND WE'RE GONNA ROLL MONEY OUTTA PROJECT. WE ALSO, WE ALSO DON'T KNOW WHAT APP PRAISE VALUES WILL DO NEXT YEAR. AND I KNOW, UH, I LOOK AT EVERY MONTH I GET A LITTLE MESSAGE FROM MY FRIEND AND OUR [02:05:01] COLLEAGUE, OUR CO-RESIDENT, JERRY WELCH MM-HMM . SHOWING ME WHAT PRICES ARE DOING AND THEY'RE COMING DOWN. THEY ARE, BUT THE, AND I AGREE, WE, IT'S HARD TO PREDICT, BUT THE TAX, UH, TAX RATES WERE JUST, UH, INTEREST RATES WERE JUST DROPPED. THEY PLAN ON DROPPING 'EM THREE MORE TIMES AT THE FED THIS YEAR. AND I THINK THE DATA SHOWS THEY WILL. AND I BELIEVE THE HOUSING MARKET WILL BE ON A RUN. AND I THINK WE'RE GONNA BE FINE AND YOU COULD, MIGHT BE RIGHT. AND I HOPE YOU ARE, BECAUSE THEN A LOT OF PEOPLE GET A LOT OF MONEY WHEN THEY SELL THEIR HOUSES. BUT I THINK WE GOTTA BASE IT ON WHAT WE'VE GOT NOW. AND I THINK WE KNOW WHAT'S IN FRONT OF US. AND WE, YOU'RE RIGHT, UNLESS WE GO THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, EVERYBODY'S GONNA GET THE NOTICE JUDGE NEW REFERRED TO. RIGHT. AND WE ARE LOWERING OUR TAX RATE, WHICH I'M PROUD OF DOING. AND IF THERE'S ONE THING I LEARNED FROM MY TIME IN CITY GOVERNMENT IN HEATH, IT'S THAT IF YOU SHOW PEOPLE WHAT YOU'RE SPENDING MONEY FOR AND IT MAKES SENSE, THEY'RE USUALLY OKAY WITH IT. AND SPENDING $175,000 ON ROADS WILL MAKE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAPPY. WHEREAS IF YOU DON'T FIX ROADS AND IF YOU DON'T PROVIDE THE SERVICES YOU NEED, PEOPLE GET REALLY HACKED OFF AND THEY SAY, YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T FIX THIS ROAD BECAUSE OF $6? YEAH, NO, I, AND I, I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THAT AND I DON'T DISAGREE WITH YOU. LIKE I SAID, $6 TO ME ISN'T A THING WE CAN'T EXPLAIN. UM, BUT I ALSO BELIEVE THAT THERE'S MONEY THAT'S GONNA SHOW UP IN THE BUDGET OUTTA THE ANNEX, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY. AND I BELIEVE THERE'S MONEY THAT'S GONNA SHOW UP FROM THIS YEAR. AND I DON'T THINK $275,000 IS, IS, I THINK IT'S GONNA BE MORE THAN THAT. THAT SHOWS UP IN OUR BUDGET. SO FOR YOU, IT'S HARD TO RAISE TAXES. CORRECT. OVER IT'S HARD. I UNDERSTAND THE POINT OF IT AND TRUST ME, I WAS, I'M ONE WHO'S SAYING I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S A BAD PLAN FOR OUR FUTURE RIGHT NOW. BUT I AM NOT WILLING TO GO HIGHER THAN I THINK WE SHOULD IF I CAN COMFORTABLY FIND THE MONEY SOME OTHER WAY. WELL, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S THE PROJECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON. I MEAN, WE HAVE A MEETING TOMORROW, SO BEFORE WE MAKE A RASH STATEMENT, I MEAN, WE KNOW WHAT'S AHEAD OF US. I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO ADD TO THE BUDGET. I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO SET THIS RATE AND WHERE THE RATE IS. YEAH. AND MAYBE WE JUST HAVE THE AUDITOR GIVE US WHAT SHE SAID SHE WAS GONNA GIVE US, FIGURE OUT WHAT WE ARE, SHOW UP TOMORROW MORNING AND MAKE THAT VOTE. AND AT THAT POINT, I THINK THAT WE'RE DONE DISCUSSING, WE'VE GOT ROAD PROJECTS, WE HAVE WHAT'S SITTING IN FRONT OF US, AND NOW WE KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE RATE. I, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY ADD TO COMMISSIONER ALANA'S POINT OF, OF, YOU KNOW, INTEREST RATES DROPPING AND HOUSING STARTS AND, AND, AND, UH, UNOCCUPIED HOUSES BEING SOLD. WE, WE SIT AT THE CONSORTIUM, THE INFRASTRUCTURE CONSORTIUM LAST NIGHT, AND RISD DID A PRESENTATION. UH, AND THEIR CALCULATIONS ARE, ARE SHOWING, UH, A LOT OF NEW STARTS. UH, AND UM, SO THEIR CALCULATIONS ARE SHOWING A LOT OF NEW STARTS, WHICH MEANS WE'VE GOTTA BUILD A LOT OF ROADS, . AND, UM, I SAY, I HATE TO SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, BUT, BUT COMMISSIONER GOANA, I'D ALSO, AND AND COMMISSIONER STACY RESPOND TO WHAT YOU GUYS JUST SAID BY, IF WE JUST DO WHAT WE'VE DONE TO RIGHT NOW, WE'RE COMING DOWN FROM THE 2 5 1, OR HOLD ON HERE, GET MY GLASSES. WE TALKED, WE VOTED TO, WE WEREN'T GONNA GO MORE THAN THE VADER, WHICH IS 2 5 2 1 1 3. OKAY. REGARDLESS, WE'RE GONNA BE DOWN BELOW THAT BASED UPON THE BASE WE SET FOR OUR CONTINGENCY. WE COULD BUILD $175,000 A ROADS AND WE'RE STILL GONNA LOWER THAT NUMBER. SO NOT ONLY WILL OUR TAX RATE BE LOWERED BASED UPON WHAT WE VOTED ON AT THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST, IT'S GONNA BE LOWER THAN WHAT WE VOTED ON THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST. SO, UM, WE ARE BEING, AND, AND I KNOW EVERYBODY UP HERE IS WE'RE ALL TRYING TO BE WISE WITH TAXPAYERS MONEY. AND UH, JUDGE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. GOVERNING IS HARD. UM, AND UM, WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB OF IT. WE'RE SAVING MONIES FOR OUR TAXPAYERS AND WE'RE TRYING TO PROVIDE SERVICES. AND, UH, ALTHOUGH I KIND OF, UH, TOOK US DOWN A DIFFERENT PATH WITH THIS ROAD MOTION I MADE, I DID IT SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE WE HAVE SERVICES WE HAVE TO PROVIDE. AND I, I GET CALLS ALL THE TIME ABOUT ROADS AND YOU GUYS DO TOO. IT'S THE NUMBER ONE COMPLAINT IN THIS COUNTY IS ROADS, UNLESS YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DEVELOPMENT, BUT THAT FLOWS, ROADS FLOW FROM DEVELOPMENT. YEAH. THEY'RE TIED AT THE HIP. YEAH. UM, I, I WOULD BE HAPPY GOING EITHER DIRECTION. THERE'S SEVERAL PAGES THAT HAVE A $275,000 EXPENSE ON IT. THE DISTRICT COURTS [02:10:01] HAVE LINE ITEMS, UH, THAT LEMME JUST, UH, OR, OR WE CAN WAIT TILL THE DUST SETTLES AND, UH, WE CAN, AND CERTAINLY HAPPY TO CONTINUE CONVERSATION, BUT I THINK WE'RE KIND OF AT THE POINT TO WHERE WE'RE WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE OF, OF, OF HAVING A BUDGET AND A RATE SET. SO, UH, I I WOULD, UH, WE, WE CAN KEEP GOING TODAY OR WE CAN RECONVENE WITH, WITH DATA IN THE MORNING. I, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A LUNCH BREAK EITHER WAY, SO I CAN EITHER COME BACK IN THE MORNING OR, OR WE CAN COME BACK AFTER LUNCH BECAUSE I, I JUST, I HAVE TO SIT AND DO SOME MATH IN MY HEAD BEFORE I'M COMFORTABLE WITH THAT NEXT AGGRESSIVE MOVE. I AGREE WITH THAT. AND I CAN'T COME BACK AT, UM, LIKE AT ONE OR ONE 30. I HAVE ANOTHER COMMITMENT, SO. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WELL WE WILL [6. Discuss/Act on adopting the Rockwall County Tax Rate for 2025 (Fiscal Year 2026) and take record vote, and all related issues; (Judge New - Auditor)] ROLL ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX. DISCUSS AND ACT ON ADOPTING THE ROCKWELL COUNTY TAX RATE FOR 2025 FISCAL YEAR 2026 AND TAKE A RECORD VOTE AND I WILL SAY NO ACTION TAKEN. AGENDA ITEM [7. Discuss/Act on approving the County Clerk’s Archive Plan FY2026 for the Preservation and Restoration of the County Clerk’s Records Archives, and all related issues; (Judge New - County Clerk)] SEVEN, DISCUSS AN ACT ON APPROVING THE COUNTY CLERK'S ARCHIVE PLAN FY 2026 FOR THE PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION OF THE COUNTY CLERK'S, RECORD ARCHIVES AND ALL RELATED ISSUES AND SAY NO ACTION TAKEN. MATTER OF FACT, I'M GONNA SKIP RIGHT OVER COMMISSIONER COURT REPORTS AND I'M GONNA SAY AT 1151, WE'RE ADJOURNED. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.