Court proposes tax rate

Lavaca County tax assessor-collector, Deborah Sevcik, presented the 2023 appraisal roll and tax rate calculations at Monday’s, Aug. 14, Commissioners’ Court meeting.
Sevcik told the court the total appraised value is up nearly 20% over last year’s values.   
Following the court accepting the county and farm-to-market road certified values for 2023, Sevcik presented the calculated no-new-revenue tax rate (NNR) and the voter-approval tax rate (VA).
Sevcik said based on her calculations, including the General and Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) fund, the calculated NNR tax rate for 2023 is .4381 cents per $100 valuation, which is calculated to be .3420 cents for the General fund and .0961 cents for the FMR.
In addition, Sevcik reported she calculated the 2023 VA tax rate at .5132 cents per $100 valuation, which includes both the county (.4137 cents) and the FMR (.0995 cents).
The voter-approval tax rate is the highest rate that can be adopted without holding an election.  
Prior to voting on receiving the proposed rate, County Judge Keith Mudd delivered what might be considered his State of the County address in regards to this year’s budget.
Mudd addressed the various areas regarding the budget including steady taxation, inflation, unfunded mandates, building repairs, reserve funding, salaries, contingencies, first response, population growth, subdivisions, inmates, telecom system, training and infrastructure.
“We have steadily been declining on our tax rate and there is no reason why we can’t continue that path,” Mudd said.  “Property values have been increasing, and we once again have the ability to lower the tax rate accordingly, while simultaneously taking in new tax revenue.”
Mudd said the county had a lot of adversity and things facing the county right now and referred first to a high inflation.
“In the past year, the national, state and local economies have experienced high and rapid inflation,” Mudd said. “The county has been highly affected and slow to respond. Everything we buy, including labor, is costing the county more money.
Mudd cited they have also been facing a shortage of readily available parts, equipment and labor to fill positions.
Mudd talked about the state placing mandates on counties and the affect it has on them.
“An unfunded mandate by the state means a mandated property tax to our citizens,” Mudd said. “The cost of housing and providing medical services to inmates is rising. The cost of trials is rising and in addition, the state keeps mandating training for county officials and employees.”
Mudd listed various areas that the county faces including building repairs on the courthouse.
“The courthouse and annex are in dire need of some major repairs,”  Mudd said. “Anything ‘historical’ is going to cost us more money to repair. We could easily spend $3 million in repairs to the courthouse alone.”
In regards to salaries, Mudd said the county has adjusted salaries across the entire county to accommodate for inflation and to better compete with surrounding counties.
“Five county seats are within 30 to 45 minutes driving distance, and employees will drive for higher pay,” Mudd said. “We have reorganized most all departments to create better paying jobs. I thank all of you for working with me on this.”
Mudd spoke about the continued priorities are on EMS, and the Fire and Sheriff’s departments.  
“We have to continue pushing forward with the best first response that taxpayers can buy,” Mudd said. “We now have the best EMS department in the region. We need to focus on hiring the best sheriff’s deputies we can find and afford. We also need to remain dedicated and pay closer attention to our five volunteer fire departments, and be ready to grow with these departments, especially with volunteerism on a major decline.”
According to Mudd, the county is growing in population.
“We are between Houston, Austin and San Antonio and we’re growing,” Mudd said. “The census population does not adequately measure our weekend population,” Mudd said. We need to continually monitor  this growth and be better prepared to change with the growth.”
Another area mentioned by Mudd involves landowners dividing their land.
“Subdivisions are hitting us every single commissioner court session,” Mudd said. There are people dividing up their land for growth. We see this growth happening on a weekly basis.”
Rudd said a five to ten acre tract, literally sells over night and is bought people out of Houston.
“Houston wants out of Houston,” Mudd said. “Our population will continue to increase and roadways are going to cost  us more monies in the next 10 years.”
Regarding the jail, Mudd said the jail population is growing and averages around 35 inmates each day.
“Crimes such as theft, drugs and sexual offenses are on the rise,” Mudd said. “We have at least two murder trials in the coming year, with the possibility of adding a few more. Our court/trial system is back in full swing, and we need additional jail space. If and when the time comes, we may need to expand our jail.”
Mudd spoke about the state mandates that require training to be provided for departments in the county.
“In the coming years, it will cost us more to train new hires,” Mudd said. “The trend is to hire a deputy, road hand or EMS paramedic, the county will need to find ways to compensate for training. This trend has already occurred in the private sector, and we are experiencing a decline in qualified applicants because we have ‘nothing extra to offer’ in terms of training at the present time.”
Lastly, Mudd spoke of county road repairs and the needs for keeping roads in good working order, which also is a major cost for the county.
“Probably the most pressing concern on a daily basis is roads,” Mudd said. “We have 871 miles of roads in Lavaca County, which is nearly double of most other counties, and the estimated cost to pave one mile is $150 thousand. Eventually, we need to focus on roads, roads, roads. We are in a constant state of repair.”
Following Mudd’s presentation, the court voted to propose the VA tax rate of .5132 cents per $100 valuation. Through a show of hands, the court voted 5-0 on the proposal.
Last year’s total tax rate was .5239 cents per $100 valuation.
Due to the court proposing above the NNR rate, but not more than the VA rate, the court set its one required public hearing for Monday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. prior to regular commissioner’s court meeting.
At this time the court is expected to consider adopting the 2023-24 Fiscal Year and consider adopting the proposed tax rates.