The Scurry County Commissioners’ Court approved the 2016 budget and tax rate after no one spoke during today’s public hearing.
The court also approved the proposed tax rate of 32 cents per $100 valuation. The current tax rate is 31.27 cents per $100 valuation.
Commissioners unanimously approved the budget and tax rate.
The balanced budget projects estimated expenditures and revenues of nearly $18.7 million, and will raise nearly $2 million less in revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget. That represents a 17.65 percent decrease.
The county had originally considered taking money out of its reserve fundss, but County Judge Ricky Fritz said the county was able to balance the budget with other cuts.
The appraised values for the county are just under $3 billion, an 18.83 percent decrease from last year.
The real estate and personal property value is projected to be $1.75 billion, a 5.5 percent increase from a year ago. The mineral values are appraised at $1.23 billion, down 38.6 percent from last year.
The budget also includes a 1.7 percent cost of living adjustment for all county employees.
Also during today’s meeting, commissioners accepted a fire protection agreement with the Fluvanna Volunteer Fire Department.
Commissioners also approved the certification of $7,630 in new revenue from the CKORP, LLC, which is recouping a portion of damages to repair the bridge on CR 253.
The money will be put back into the county road and bridge budget for maintenance and repairs.
“If you haven’t been out there, (the bridge) really looks good,” said Pct. 2 Commissioner Marianne Randals.
Commissioners also approved the certification of new revenue for Winston Field, including $40,000 from Avfuel for oil and fuel costs, as well as $21,540.34 from the Texas Department of Transportation for a maintenance grant applied for by airport manager Bob Snedeker.
The court accepted donations to the Scurry County Library and Scurry County Senior Citizens’ Center.
Commissioners also approved line-item transfers within the Scurry County EMS. The transfer totaled $41,500 and included moving money from capital expenditures into communications ($2,000), maintenance agreements ($2,000), equipment ($2,000), other equipment ($12,500) and professional services ($23,000).