COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SET PROPOSED TAX RATE
Washington County’s tax rate is expected to jump nearly six cents after the rate was adopted at this (Tuesday) morning’s Commissioners Court meeting.
The rate will jump from 46.26-cents per hundred dollars valuation to 52.11-cents—and increase of 5.85-cents.
This after the county takes over emergency dispatch operations, slated for October first.
The City of Brenham’s rate will drop due to the change in responsibilities.
The County rate includes 36.70-cents for the County’s general fund, 13.55-cents for the county Road and Bridge Department and 1.8-cents for interest and debt.
Two public hearings have been set for tax rate. The first will be Tuesday morning, September 2nd at 9:00, with the second to be held Monday night September 8th at 5:45.
The Commissioners are schedule d to vote on the tax rate at their meeting, Tuesday, September 16th.
I too believe that an ESD would make better sense than taxing us for the communications center. The commissioners continue to pay the bare minimum to the Fire Departments, forcing many of them to use antiquated equipment and hand me down gear. Is it going to take a death in one of the county depts for the commissioners AND the fire chiefs to get their head out their butts?? How can they turn down the ESD tax and then so blantaly raise the taxes for something that the ESD tax would ultimately take care of?? As Brian said, why reinvent the wheel, when the solution is already there??
Why is the county wanting to take over communications anyway? Aren’t most emergency needs inside the city limits? County of only 35-40 thousand population and 50% of that population is the city of Brenham. I’m all for lowering my city taxes though so I’m all for it! How much will the tax rate go down for city residents?
I usually try to stay away from politics, but I held my comments long enough on this issue, this makes no sense.. If the possibility of a grant is out of the question then other options need to be explored..
SIX cents per hundred! WOW!
That would have been a great starting rate for an Emergency Service District!!
I would have rather seen my tax dollars go toward County Fire Departments and first responders. Hear me out.
Had ESD’s been in place, the ESD would/could be responsible for funding “their portion” of dispatch, As do most ESD’s. The money would have came from each ESD’s budget for communications and a contract agreement drawn up between the City FD and county ESD’s for Rescue alarms, thus letting THAT issue work itself out between the fire departments. This happens all the time in counties that have ESD’s. It’s called progress. The Court (& Council) over see it, and approve or disapprove the decision.
Let me be clear, I’m not talking about having a “Paid” County Fire Department, And by no means am I stating that County Fire Departments can’t do their jobs! They are great people and do great work!
(Keep in mind your going to be paying more taxes anyway)
The down side; Yes, it is more taxes (but it’s capped at 10 cents per hundred by the State).
But it’s not tax money used to “reinvent the wheel” or duplicate/replace existing services. It’s money well spent to move the county forward and improve emergency services. I don’t see how the Court can say no to ESD’s because the voters don’t want more taxes, then raise the taxes? We are still paying the same amount!!
Moving dispatch back and forth between the city and county is, “Passing the Buck”, and it’s getting nowhere but costing more money! WAKE UP! We are paying more money for the same services! What’s done is done and it’s time to move forward. Lets not keep making the same mistake over and over.
Another note, by giving the County Fire Departments the ability to Govern themselves (Their own budget based off tax monies). It would free up money the county spends/budgets each year to aid county fire departments funding (Example; Insurance cost) (Unless I’m wrong and this practice has changed. I’d have to refer to the County budget) This money could help fund another deputy position or raises (or a dispatch center).
I know that I’ll be met with great opposition on this issue, but I challenge those opposing ESD’s to do more research on the topic. I have worked 16 years for an ESD and have seen the benefits first hand for the customers (aka tax payers)
ESD’s do not replace the BBQ dinners and fundraisers, but do help improve the overall benefits of better equipment (Which includes communication systems), more highly trained personnel, and most important The safety of EVERYONE (Which are Volunteers and tax payers, some are one in the same.)
The Commissioners court needs to get their head out of the weeds and Explore more options before making a decision of redundancy. How many times is dispatch going to move?? (This makes it the 3rd move since 1996, that I know of.)
There is also another option that would greatly benefit both the city and county (That would involve the establishment of a ESD) It’s an option that should have been explored before the agreement was made, but I’ll keep it under my hat for the time being. Lets see if my phone starts ringing.
It’s time to move forward!
If I’m going to be paying more taxes, then I want the most “Bang for my Buck”, Not a duplicated wheel!
The results of an ESD in our County would be OVERWHELMINGLY positive. Especially because boards would be elected by members of the community that have knowledge of public safety and could decide where the money would go. Unfortunately, the knee jerk reaction by most when you introduce the idea of an ESD to people is that it’s another “tax” that they have to pay. They don’t realize the benefit of having properly equipped, and well funded “Emergency Service” is far greater than the negative aspect of the increased tax dollars. What they don’t however realize is that with an ESD board, the money spent on public safely could be spent more effectively, with less politics being involved in the decision making process. You couldn’t have written your comment better though sir, and I wish more in this county shared your sentiment. Maybe one day…. I suggest that (if you haven’t already done so) you contact your Judge, Commissioner, and local Fire Chief if you truly believe that an ESD would be beneficial and relay your feelings to them.
That is an increase of over 12%! Really, if it costs county residents 12% more tax to operate the emergency dispatch system for the county the least the city could do is to set up garbage collection sites for those living in the county but not receiving any city services. This would save us from paying for garbage pickup- otherwise this whole thing is garbage. Sheriff deputies do not get big enough raises, but we take over the costs of running the emergency dispatch for the city! Time to vote these idiots OUT!
Where does all the money go from these new businesses moving into Brenham? Oh, that’s right they get deferred. In the mean time, here we are taking another hit from both Willy, and the county. Thanks, Judge, I was having trouble trying to figure out what to do with all that extra change in my pocket everyday anyway. NOT!
Are the taxes in this county not already high enough?