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The highlight of today’s meeting was definitely the public participation.  Six individuals gave public comments related to data centers and immigration enforcement.  The item on the agenda related to the disaster declaration concerning illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug smuggling drew the most attention, with many participants and passionate discussion between the public and the Court...

The court made short work of the agenda today in an hour-long meeting with very little discussion on most agenda items.  Three members of the public delivered public comments related to the proposed data center in Winchester and the Court proclaimed National Catholic Daughters Day in Fayette County.  Listen to it all right here...

Today’s meeting was very routine.  The Court approved all budget and tax rate matters without public comments or discussion in 4-1 votes (except the debt rate, which was approved unanimously).  All discussion and decisions were made previously.  In other news, the Court declares Constitution Week in Fayette County, they discuss moving JP#1 Hartmann’s office and repairs to the AC at the jail.

After a brief and somewhat spirited discussion, the Court approved the proposed budget as presented.  Taxes will increase by 6% this year, with a 5.3% ($1.9 million) increase in spending, for a total spending increase of 32% over the last four years.  Commissioner McBroom was the one dissenter throughout this year’s budget process.

The hot topics today were of course the budget and tax rate.  The updated numbers indicate $2.1 million in new revenue & a tax rate increase of 8.4%.  The Court discussed cutting the rate & the budget, but decisions were postponed to a special meeting next week.  The majority seemed to coalesce around a one cent rate cut (approximately $600k) while the minority wanted even more cuts.  List...

In these two agenda items, the Court hears presentations from Tim Krause with TCDRS concerning increasing the retirement match made by the county from 175% to 200%, and from Kim Wilder of Coregridge regarding retirement plan options.

In this final budget workshop, the proposed budget is approved.  The Court discusses tax department requests, the Chief Appraiser comments on the tax rate, department requests again, Road & Bridge salary caps, pay scales, Road & Bridge extra salaries, County Clerk extra salaries (the salary contest continues), tax rates and much more.

In this budget workshop, the Court completes most of the budget discussions and makes most its decisions.  Frustration with the process is apparent, tensions build and frustration becomes visible.  The Court discusses tax rates, the cash balances, the contingency fund, the retirement increase, department requests and more.

In this brief budget workshop, the Court discusses employee and dependent healthcare increases.

In this budget workshop, the Court discusses specific department requests, Road & Bridge salary policy (must listen), salaries, community assistance, salaries again and elected official salaries.  This is the primary and most substantive salary discussion.  It was also the longest of the workshops.

In this budget workshop, the Court discusses salaries, the nature of Road and Bridge employees, the difficulty staffing EMS, community assistance and more.

In this budget workshop, the Court discusses community assistance, lacking budgets from 12 departments, salaries, retirement, employee dependent health care increases, a salary survey and more.  It was a detailed and pleasant discussion.

This is the first significant budget workshop for the 2027 budget year (the first workshop is usually brief, covering general topics like the tax calendar).  The main topics are salaries, retirement increase and community assistance.

Today in Commissioners Court, the ownership of the Round Top Courthouse was debated as the County authorized an application to the Historical Commission for its historical preservation. Also of interest, the Elections Administrator details the election night debacle related to the malfunction of the ballot counting machine.

The Round Top Town Council went into closed session to discuss 4 potential lawsuits.  After over two hours in closed session, the Council voted on item 1 to go to arbitration, on items 2 and 3 they took no action and on item 4, the courthouse square and precinct courthouse ownership dispute, they voted to "file suit against Fayette County for claims related to the Round Top Town Square, the action...

On this day in Commissioners Court, I was attacked personally by two members of the Court for several minutes and thrown out.  They were trying to send me a message; a public spanking.  It didn’t work.  Listen to the audio, read my explanation and my response.

The entire population of the Town of Round Top must have attended tonight’s meeting.  I counted nearly 80 members of the public in attendance at one point, not including the council.  The tiny Courthouse was packed wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder, standing room only.  Obviously, this controversial topic has elicited a lot of interest from the public.  The conversation lasted 63 minutes and you...

The Fayette County Republican Party was treated to a visit from the Senior Editor of Texas Scorecard, Brandon Waltens.  Brandon shared his thoughts on the successes and failures of the past legislative session, the Republican priorities and took questions from the audience.  You may also enjoy “Highjacked?”, his short documentary on the high jacking of the Texas House, which can be found on YouTub...

It was a crowded room for today’s 98-minute meeting with lots of public participation.  There were public comments, a proclamation recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, an uncommonly lengthy public hearing on the speed limit for Bruno Road and a presentation by Cintas Uniform Company.  The budget hearing and workshop were brief with few comments, and the remainder of the meeti...

Today’s 3-hour marathon was another delightful, substantive, meaningful and consequential budget workshop.  The salary contest was on full display as the County Clerk pleaded passionately for the ladies in her office.  The Court finally settles on a 4% payroll increase for most employees and discusses creative ways to build the contingency fund.  It’s must-listen audio, listening to a room full of...

EXCLUSIVE – Today’s 3-hour budget workshop didn’t dismiss until after noon and it didn’t disappoint!  During the community support phase, some area non-profits made presentations for budget requests.  Then the Court turned to departmental budget requests, most notably from the Sheriff’s Office and EMS.  And finally, some general discussion and decision making.  Overall, it was a fruitful, producti...

Much of today’s 134 minute meeting was routine.  We heard an interesting history lesson related to Revolutionary War Patriot Private Pvt John Sorrell, who will be memorialized on the courthouse square, and discussion related to a mass gathering for a family reunion and trail ride was very informative thanks to our new mass gathering permit process, but the gem of this meeting was undoubtedly the f...

Today’s 83-minute meeting had some substantive and consequential discussion.  The top items were the elections reports (major changes and new equipment), a $700k request for new body and in-car cameras for the Sheriff’s Office and budget season slowly rumbles to life.  Not much has been revealed publicly yet but the salary contest simmers behind the scenes and shows signs of boiling.  Other inform...

In today’s 45-minute meeting, the court chooses a employee health benefits option.  In short, the deductibles for both plans will now be $2,500, the employee’s share of the cost will increase a little and the county will realize about $200,000 in savings.  In other news, a local disaster was declared over “illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug smuggling” (related to Texas’ Operation Lone...

The Court discussed the county employee benefits package renewal for another 83 minutes today and are homing in on their preferred adjustments for the new enrollment period.  In short, the Court plans to shift some of the cost burden to employees and change the balance of benefits between the existing HRA and PPO plans.  The final decision will be made at the regular meeting on 6/26.  In my nearly...