Scurry County officials were accused of being fiscally irresponsible and employing scare tactics by an angry group of residents who spoke out against the county’s proposed tax rate during today’s commissioners’ meeting.
Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of a proposed 2020 tax rate of 44.98 cents per $100 property valuation, the same rate currently being assessed. That rate is more than 10 cents above the rollback rate, which could trigger an election that, if successful, would force the county to adopt a tax rate of 34.97 cents per $100 valuation.
The reason commissioners voted for the proposed rate, County Judge Dan Hicks said, was to avoid having to cut $2.5 million in projected expenses, give employees a 3 percent pay raise and to place $1 million into reserves.
The commissioners’ move drew angry, vocal protests from those in attendance today.
“I worked in the oilfield for years and when money got tight, the first thing those companies did was cut staff,” Mel Heard said. “When times are tough, employees have to take a pay cut. That’s what they do in the real world. If you go ahead with this tax rate, I feel deeply assured there will be a rollback election, so why don’t you do the honorable thing and cut the rate ahead of time?”
Sheila Eckert pleaded with commissioners to “stop the freaking frivolous spending” and cut the proposed rate.
“This does not make economic sense,” she said. “I’m not against giving pay raises to the people in the road department. They’re out there in the sun and heat maintaining our roads. But you all are sitting here in an air-conditioned room. What about the people who will have to pay for this tax increase? What about the mom-and-pop businesses that will have to charge more for their goods to pay for this tax increase? Some of them may have to go out of business.”
Morgan West also said the county was being fiscally irresponsible.
“This county has a big problem and that’s spending,” West said. “This business-as-usual stuff has to stop. If you don’t apply the brakes, something bad is going to happen. The county has always had ample money in its budget, but has always overspent.”
West also accused commissioners of using “scare tactics” to convince residents of the need for the new tax rate.
“You should be ashamed of trying to scare people,” he said. “Work on ways to decrease the budget instead of increasing the budget.”
West, who said Scurry County pays its employees more than any other adjoining county, suggested cost-cutting measures such as requiring department heads to cut 10 percent from their budget and not filling employee vacancies.
Bonnie Nussey said she was “surprised” by the commissioners’ proposal.
“I was surprised to hear one of our commissioners admit that the county has engaged in frivolous spending in the past,” she said. “But rather than request a modest increase to our tax rate, you all want to go with 44 cents. I know you want to give your employees a raise, but in effect, you’re giving them a pay raise paying their insurance rates.”
Gayle Summers objected to perceived scare tactics on the part of commissioners.
“We are called a ‘loud group’ just because we speak up,” she said. “You try to intimidate employees against speaking up. As citizens of this county, we have every right to attend these meetings and we have every right to speak up. Quit spreading doom and gloom and using scare tactics. We don’t want you to cut things. We want you to cut spending, and there is a difference.”
Ron Shaw said a good place to start cutting spending was for the county to cut all ties with U.S. Consults, which has partnered with the Local Government Corporation.
Mike Tatum said he was “sick” of the county’s scare tactics.
“I cannot adequately express how sick I am of your scare tactics,” he said. “I’m very disappointed in all of you.”
Mitch Hickman also defended the group’s right to speak up at meetings.
“The people are the voting power in this county. You are just our representatives,” he said. “I have been in East Texas caring for my sick mother and I came back here because I was that concerned about this issue.”
The meeting also featured a brief back-and-forth between Heard and Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Merritt. Merritt was explaining that he, too, has always hated paying more in taxes, but better understood the reason behind the county’s action now that he is a commissioner, which prompted Heard to ask, “Does the Kool-Aid taste better over there?”
After the public’s comments, Hicks defended the county’s move.
“We’ve been put in a bad position, and it’s been a long time coming,” Hicks said. “Cutting a little bit here and there won’t get the job done. We’re trying to hold the line as best we can and get the county back to a good place.”
The county will hold two public hearings on the proposed tax rate this month before adopting the new rate and budget in September.
Commissioners approved two line-items transfers today. The first, for $2,000 from contract labor to operating supplies, was to adjust line items to cover supply expenses in the Hermleigh Water Works budget. The other, for $13,600 from court-appointed attorney to administration expenses and court reporter in the district court budget, was to cover increased court reporter’s fees and to adjust for failure to pay a portion of last year’s assessment from the Court of Appeals.
They also approved payment of $1.3 million in payroll.