Court receives annual financial audit report

By JIMMY APPELT

tribunenewsroom@sbcglobal.net

The Lavaca County Commissioners’ Court met in a regular meeting Monday morning and heard the county’s annual financial report for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021.

Certified Public Accountant Wayne Beyer with Beyer and Company of Pleasanton presented the report saying his firm found nothing in this audit to be brought to their attention. He also said all information that was asked for was provided for the audit.

Briefly covering the audit report, Beyer informed the court of the financial statements for the various departments in the county.

“You have excellent employees,” Beyer said at the close of his report. “The people in your departments, I would say are superior.”

Proclamations

The court recognized two proclamations with the first one declaring May 1 through May 7 as National Correctional Officer’s Week in Lavaca County.

County judge pro-tem Dennis W. Kocian, who presided over the meeting, read from the proclamation saying, “Correctional officers have the difficult and often dangerous assignment of ensuring the custody, safety and well-being of the over 600,000 in our Nation’s prisons and jails. Their position is essential to the day-to-day operations of these institutions without them it would be impossible to achieve the foremost institutional goals of security and control.”

Sheriff Micah Harmon complimented his department’s correctional officers saying, “I would like to recognize our officers. The job they do is not the most glamorous and they do a great job in the back. We have some long-tenured employees and we’re very proud of them.” The court also recognized the proclamation declaring this week, April 24 through May 1 as Soil and Water Stewardship Week.

GCRPC Nominees

The court voted to nominate County Judge Mark Myers and County judge pro-tem Dennis W. Kocian to serve as voting delegates on the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission.

Employee Resignation/Transition

Addressing an employee transition, the court approved the transition of employee number 897 from full-time to part-time in the OSSF department.

In addition, the court approved the resignation of Shay Mertz, a correctional officer with the Lavaca County Sheriff ’s Office.

Miscellaneous

A managed IT services agreement between James Teleco of Cuero and the Lavaca County Auditor’s office was approved by the court.

County auditor Shana Opela said the services include network monitoring, patch management, managed anti-virus and malware protection and vendor management and liaison from the company on there computer system.

Opela said the cost is around $300 per month and a $150 savings each month to her department.

The court adopted an order authorizing the sale of fireworks to the public by retail fireworks permit holders during the Memorial Day holiday period.

The period for allowing sales in the county begins Wednesday, May 25 and ends at midnight on May 30.

Lavaca County EMS

The court approved a request from Lavaca County EMS chief Michael Furrh to continue staffing Medic 3 (Shiner) with funds from the American Rescue Plan funds.

Furrh also presented the EMS report for March saying the department had 173 calls for service of which 125 patients were transported.

He said 911 emergency calls for the month was 141 and 28 transfers.

Furrh reported the district response breakdown showed Hallettsville with 78, Shiner 54 and Moulton 33.

Regarding transport by destination, there were 41 for Lavaca Medical Center; 27 for Yoakum Community Hospital; 20 for DeTar Victoria; 13 for Victoria Citizens Medical Center and two for Gonzales Memorial Hospital. Monthly collections amounted to $91,471.

County Tax Report

County Tax Assessor-Collector Deborah Sevcik reported that 96.49 percent of the 2021 county taxes were collected through March leaving an unpaid balance of $418,101.41.

Sevcik also reported that 96.48 percent of the 2021 Farm Market Road (FMR) taxes have been collected through March leaving an unpaid balance of $113,525.43.

In other action taken by the court:

• Approved all consent agenda items.

County judge pro-tem Dennis W. Kocian presided over the meeting with commissioners Edward Pustka and Kenny Siegel present for the meeting.