Brewster considering emergency service district

Brewster County Commissioners rolled through a hefty agenda Tuesday, setting dates for public hearings on the tax rate, approving salaries, setting new fees for services such as warrants and writs, approving grant applications, lifting the burn ban and preparing for big construction projects.

Commissioners also considered, but didn’t vote on, a proposal to create an emergency service district (ESD) in northern Brewster County. Pct. 2 Commissioner Kathy Killingsworth gave a presentation on the ins and outs of such a district; she was instrumental in getting ESD No. 1 set up in southern Brewster County and helped Jeff Davis County get its ESD off the ground.

“An emergency services district is one means of providing a dedicated income stream for firefighting and emergency medical services,” County Judge Val Beard said before Tuesday’s meeting.

Such a district can, under Texas law, impose and collect taxes one of two ways — either through an ad valorem tax or through a sales and use tax. Killingsworth said ESD No. 1 chose to assess the sales/use tax.

“It’s been beneficial to us,” Killingsworth said. “It generates about $104,000 to $106,000 a year … it’s very positive.”

Beard added, “The changes in South County have been dramatic: Before the ESD, we went from crisis to crisis to crisis.”

Both the judge and commissioner cautioned that it would take about two years for a northern Brewster ESD to become reality — all the legal steps would have to be followed and approved, from a petition seeking the ESD’s creation to public notices and hearings, to approval or denial of the petition, to an election.

After commissioners approved salaries for elected officials, they set dates for adopting the budget and calling public hearings on the tax rate. The Commissioners Court will have a called meeting next Tuesday (Sept. 2); if there are no amendments, the court can adopt the budget, Beard said.

If there are amendments or changes, they will meet Sept. 4 to deal with those items.

The first of two required public hearings on the tax rate will also take place Sept. 2 — which is when the audit also will be presented — and the second hearing will be Sept. 8.

Commissioners will vote on the tax rate on Sept. 12; Beard told commissioners, “You may not be sick on that date … [we must] have a quorum that day.”

Before the court approved new fees for services such as warrants, property seizures, citations and more, they heard Sheriff Ronny Dodson compare the old fee schedule with the new one. He said a large portion of sheriff’s and constables’ fees go toward paying high fuel costs.

The sheriff and Chief Deputy Ryan Skelton also discussed a couple of grants that help pay for some personnel, vehicles and equipment such as communications, cameras, cell phone boosters and other technology. They got commissioners’ approval to apply for the grants.

The court then gave Beard authority to begin issuance of certificates of obligation, which will finance these community infrastructure and public safety projects: South County emergency response center (to house Terlingua medics, Volunteer Fire Department, deputy and justice of the peace); Alpine/north Brewster County area emergency response center and fire department; Marathon law enforcement facility (housing for a deputy, justice of the peace and training room); South County vehicle and equipment storage building; outdoor meeting space for Marathon Town Square; and repairs and modifications to existing Alpine Public Library.

Killingsworth and Pct. 3 Commissioner Ruben Ortega were tagged to do preliminary site work for the projects in their precincts, including declaring some equipment as salvage and perhaps setting an auction. Beard will contact a company to conduct soil tests on some of the construction sites.

In other business, commissioners: