County Commissioners meet for first time in 2019

The Stephens County Commissioners’ Court met for the first time this year in a lengthy meeting that aimed to take care of business and procedures that will impact the year. Some of this business included a presentation from a healthcare company that helps the county with inmate healthcare, a discussion of burn bans, as well as budgeting discussions.

County Judge Michael Roach led the meeting, in his first one as the new county judge. Commissioner Mark McCullough for precinct two and Eric O’Dell for precinct four also were part of the meeting for the first time.

Tim Quintana from the Southern Health Partners gave a presentation to the court detailing the annual contract between the firm and Stephens County. He said there would be a three percent increase from last year’s total, which would bring the contract from $86,000 to about $89,000. This would be about a $215 increase per month for the county.

Stephens County Sheriff Will Holt also chimed in on this discussion, and said while he was happy with the services provided, he was not happy with the three percent cost, which he said has been tacked on in each of the last three years he has been here. He said he would like to limit those increases and have it better explained the pros and cons of certain plans offered, as opposed to a blanket change with no questions asked.

Roach also talked about the budget outlook for the year and noted a significant drop in revenue the last three years, after a drop in 2016 and staying fairly steady for the years after. Roach noted the efforts to help the budget have resulted in cutbacks in the roads and bridge budget. He also broke down the budget decrease for each precinct, which each hovering between $60,000 and $70,000 in losses between 2008 and 2018.

Tax collection reports were also given by Christie Latham, the tax assessor-collector for Stephens County. Her report said through December they have collected $1,709,195. This is about 41 percent of what is to be collected, which is down one percent from last year at this time. Latham also explained they expect to be at around 74 percent by the end of the month based on historical trends. This would mean collecting about $1.3 million in the month of January.

She continued to talk about her collecting strategies, and laid out the penalties for not paying, as well as a status update on the number of accounts they are trying to collect from who are delinquent, and what they do collect.

Treasurer reports for the month of November were presented at the meeting by County Treasurer Sharon Trigg. According to her report, the county had a closing balance of $1,461,780. The total for all funds is $1,883,135.

The burn ban was also discussed at length, and included bringing in Jim Cooper and Nick Dawson from the Texas Forestry Service. They explained what their criteria was and what they look at when deciding whether or not to recommend a burn ban. They also explained the powers the court held in regards to what they could and could not ban. The discussion ended with Breckenridge Fire Chief Calvin Chaney saying to leave the ban off until their next meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 28.

Other items on the night included a discussion about potentially re-keying the county courthouse, installing an electronic fence around the county yard to prevent people from throwing their trash away there, and a discussion on where to hold the commissioner’s court, which they decided would be moved on a case-by-case basis depending on the expected turnout.

They also passed an ordinance that would allow for setting a speed limit on all Stephen County roads in the event that in the future the court feels the need for one in a particular area. This does not mean there is a hard speed limit on each road now, and a speed limit is not enforceable without a sign. The measure was passed as a future precaution.

Roach, as well as Mc-Cullough and O’Dell will be gone from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17 for a mandatory school for newly elected officials in Austin.

The Stephens County Commissioners meet on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in the Stephens County Courthouse. Their next meeting will be on Jan. 28.