We begin by welcoming the newly elected sheriff, pubic administrator and surveyor to county government and also congratulate the re-elected officeholders. We also welcome our newly elected state senator, representative and two new circuit judges. We have already met with both Sen. Cunningham and Rep. Ross and we believe they will do their best to work for the best interest of Texas County. We would like to thank former Sen. Chuck Purgason and former Rep. Don Wells for their years of service to Texas County.
Our first concern starting in January was the county’s 2013 budget. Due to our budget officer having an injury and some other health issues, the budget process got off to a slow start and thus causing some minor delays. We were able to approve our 2013 budget on Jan. 23. We want to thank the budget officer for the work he did, when we know he wasn’t feeling well.
As many counties in Missouri are experiencing, Texas County continues to lose revenues and the cost to operated county government continues to rise. In the past year the state has reduced their reimbursements to the counties for housing their prisoners in our jail, the amount they pay per parcels to operate the assessor’s department and the amount they pay for the IVD Child Support operation.
We have also seen a decrease in our sales tax revenue. This is partly due to a Missouri Supreme Court ruling dealing with what is known as a “Use Tax.” This ruling eliminated sale taxes that Texas County had been collecting since 1981. This ruling could not have been anticipated and adversely affected numerous counties in Missouri. It also seems the county is not receiving adequate revenues from the court system when dealing with prisoner’s board and room cost and their medical cost. We are not at all blaming the court system but there is a problem somewhere and we need to address it. Members of the court system have agreed to have some roundtable discussions with the commission, prosecuting attorney and the sheriff to try to make some improvements.
Now that the budget has been approved, we would like to thank the elected officials for working with the commission during the budget process. We regret that the county was unable to grant any pay raises to the employees. Most offices were only allotted what was budgeted to them in 2012, without any increases. Even though expenses on just about everything continues to rise, we know our dedicated officials will do what needs to be done for county government to provide the services for the citizens of Texas County Once again, thanks for doing your part.
We would like to inform you that Texas County is involved in two court cases. The first case is Clarence W. Dailing and Thomas W. Dalaviras suing the Texas County Commission, all three commissioners and 17 townships within Texas County for a “CC Declaratory Judgment” on the way the county distributes its road and bridge funds. The county’s insurance firm has hired an attorney to represent the county in this case. The second case is Melissa Dunn v Texas County Commission. In this case, she is requesting three weeks of vacation pay for 2013.
The last day she worked for the county was Dec. 31, 2012. She had previously been paid for all her 2012 vacation time. The commission does not believe she is entitled for any 2013 vacation time. Our insurance company has also hired an attorney for this case. We regret these cases have been filed but we think it is our duty to do what we believe is best for the citizens of Texas County.
We will be addressing some critical issues this year. One is how to maintain the Wri-Tex E-911 with the continuing loss of revenue and the increasing expenses. Wri-Tex E-911 receives its funding from a voter approved 15 percent fee on the base amount charged for land lines. Since, Missouri is the only state out of our 50 states that does not consider cell phones as telephones, there are no fees collected on cell phones. Many people are replacing their home telephones with cell phone which is causing the decrease in revenue. A 911 service is an extremely vital public service and many may not realize this until they have to call 911. Wright and Texas counties form the Wri-Tex E-911, and Wright County has indicated they are wanting to split the partnership. The commission will be considering several options on ways to address this issue.
The loss in sale taxes revenue (especially the “Use Tax”) is another issue that we will be addressing in the near future. One of the best ways to increase county sales tax revenue is for people to shop locally. Not only does this help support our local business, it helps to provide your county services.
The county has contracted the services of an engineer firm to inspect, inventory and give a GIS location for culverts and bridges in four townships that have forestry land within their township. This was paid for with Title III funds. There are limits on how these funds can be spent but we are in hopes we will be able to continue this project thoughout the county.
The county commission is considering hosting a few town hall meetings at different locations within the county. We believe this would give people that work during the day the opportunity to ask us questions and share their ideas with us. It would also allow the commission to share their concerns with the public. The county commission makes many decisions for the county, and we would be happy to explain how and why these decisions were made. As always we invite anyone to call us at 417-967-3222 or stop by the office at 210 N. Grand Ave. in Houston with any questions or concerns.
Presiding Commissioner Fred W. Stenger
Associate Commissioners John Casey and Linda L. Garrett