County holds budget hearing

The Morris County Commissioners Court met on Aug. 31 for Public Hearings on the 2016-2017 Proposed Budget for Morris County and on the Proposed 2016 Tax Rate.

While the Court gave the public an opportunity to arrive, they discussed some changes to the proposed budget. One such change was to add a line item to account for an Imaging Clerk for District Clerk Gwen Oney to be able to scan and preserve records in an effort to free space. The Court also discussed the county’s use of the Odyssey System, which should integrate all offices for records usage, transfer, and searching. It was discussed that the program, which has been in use for at least three years, still is not working properly, as some offices cannot communicate and send items electronically.

With no public present for the Budget Hearing, the court moved into the Tax Rate Hearing. Judge Lynda Munkres, in opening that portion of the meeting, stated she wished the public had been in attendance, adding “It is much easier to explain when people are here.” In verbiage that is used by counties when printing their notices of public hearing, Munkres shared the following explanation from the county’s General Counsel: “The governing body of Morris County proposes to use revenue attributable to the tax rate increase for the purpose of funding mandatory services required by the state legislature and the effects of inflation on basic services.”

In further explaining what she called “unfunded mandates,” Munkres said “There are services that the states mandates we must provide. It is not that these services are bad, it is just that we can’t fund them alone.” Some of these “unfunded mandates” that Munkres referred to include the indigent service, both for healthcare and legal services, jail services for state inmates, child protective services appointments, and mental health services.

According to County Auditor Shanna Solomon, the county is proposing a rollback tax rate of 0.452778 for the coming year. With this tax rate, taxes on a property appraised at $100,000 would increase $92.00 in the coming year. The proposed tax rate is based on property values as determined by the appraisal district. With the decrease in tax base due to the Steel Plant idling, the appraisals increased in an ever changing balancing act.

In other business, the court discussed and approved adding budget item appropriating money for an IT staff. This person would be an on-site employee who would be responsible for assisting the different offices with problems with their technology. At the suggestion of Judge Munkres, the court chose to appropriate $65,000 for an IT position, on the contingency that the county would research every option and determine the best option for the county.

There will be a second public hearing on Thursday, Sept. 8 on the budget. The budget will then be voted upon at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Commissioner’s Court, to be held on Sept. 12.