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COMANCHE -- A lengthy agenda was on the
table at the County Commissioners Court as they began their regular
semi-monthly meeting on Monday, August 12.
The Court has been working on the
County's annual budget since their last regular meeting and talk about
the budget dominated the pre-meeting chatter. Reinvestment zones and
tax abatements dominated the meeting discussion, however, as many
topics, big and small, were considered.
Judge James Arthur was still suffering
from a loss of voice, and had his court coordinator, Sherry Ward,
present to speak for him. All four Commissioners were present, Garry
Steele, Kenneth Feist, Bobby Schuman and Jimmy Dale Johnson.
Other county officials present at various
times included County Clerk Ruby Lesley, County Auditor Joey Boswell,
Sheriff Jeff Lambert, Justice of the Peace Bill Koenig, County
Attorney Charles Williams, County Treasurer Billy Ruth Rust and
Emergency Services Coordinator Ray Helberg.
Emergency Management Board Meeting
Requirements
Bobby Schuman commented that there had
not been regular County Emergency Board meetings. He noted that the
Mayors of DeLeon, Comanche and Gustine did not know what was happening
since the governing Board on which they are members has not had any
regular meetings.
Ray Helberg responded noting that the
legally required annual meeting had been held. He added that he
regularly attended the City Council meetings in the three cities and
tried to keep the city officials informed of Emergency Management
matters. He noted the Mayors and city officials have been provided
copies of all communications from the state emergency management
office.
Garry Steele commented that once a year
meetings were not sufficient for the Mayors to have any significant
involvement in the County Emergency Management efforts, and that
DeLeon Mayor Danny Owen, in particular, had requested more frequent
Board meetings, and in particular, a meeting to review the budget
before it is acted upon by the Commissioners.
Judge Arthur commented, as best he could,
that the county was following the legal requirements.
Ray Helberg discussed his plans for
holding a budget review meeting with the County Emergency Management
Board.
The Commissioners discussed the need for
additional meetings. It was noted that the Board could act and plan as
many meetings as it desired.
A copy of the interlocal agreement
between the county and the three incorporated municipalities was
circulated and discussed.
It was noted that the County Judge and
City Mayors have some personal legal responsibility for emergency
management.
Garry Steele commented, "I guess it's
been discussed. I have nothing else."
No formal action was taken.
Commissioners Meeting Seating
Arrangements
Kenneth Feist requested a seating
arrangement where he could sit facing the courtroom gallery rather
than with his back to the audience as at present.
Judge Arthur volunteered to sit at the
judge's bench, thus leaving room for Feist to sit at the end of the
Commissioners table.
After some light-hearted discussion in
which other Commissioners agreed with the request, Judge Arthur
relocated to the County Judge's bench and Commissioners Feist and
Steele relocated to the ends of the Commissioners table.
Bid Opening for Sheriffs Pickup
After a break to await the 10:00 a.m.
scheduled bid opening and public hearing, the Commissioners Court
reconvened and two bids for a pickup were opened. They were for a
Sheriff’s Office pickup to replace the one lost in recent flooding.
Both bids were for 2008 models with four
wheel drive and extended cabs. Both were from separate Bayer
dealerships based in Comanche.
Sherry Ward read that the Chevrolet 1500
model was bid at $23,343 plus tax, title and license. The Ford F150
model was bid at $22,853 plus ttl. The details of the bid pickups'
equipment were read to the Commissioners.
Sheriff Lambert commented that the bids
were based on specifications he had issued, and that they were not
optioned beyond the needs for their mission.
Bobby Schuman noted that at the previous
pickup bid opening there had been a larger difference in cost between
the two competing brands, and then questioned whether it was right for
the Commissioners to be choosing between bids from dealerships with
common ownership.
Joey Boswell responded that the request
for bids had been properly advertised and that these were the bids
received, adding that he didn't see anything wrong with the situation.
Both he and Judge Arthur noted that the law required the acceptance of
the lowest qualified bid.
Garry Steele made a motion, seconded by
Kenneth Feist to accept the Bayer Ford Mercury bid, and the vote of
approval was unanimous.
Public Hearing on County Reinvestment
Zone
The next item was a required public
hearing concerning the establishment of a reinvestment zone for the
entire county with the exception of the three incorporated cities.
Ruby Lesley was asked to speak about the
matter. She noted that reinvestment zones were required by law to be
established prior to the granting of any property tax abatements. She
added that they could be for specific properties and areas, or that a
single zone could be established for all unincorporated areas of a
county. She noted that the public hearing notice was for a countywide
zone.
Bobby Schuman pointed out that even
though a countywide zone was being considered, that each individual
request for tax abatement would still have to be individually
approved.
Garry Steele noted that by creating a
countywide reinvestment zone that going through the formalities of
establishing individual zones for each approved tax abatement requests
presented in the future would be eliminated.
Joey Boswell asked County Attorney
Charles Williams what he had found in his research on the subject.
Williams stated that he had talked with
other county officials where windfarms had been established and that
they had reported good experience with them. He confirmed that the
establishment of a reinvestment zone did not require that any tax
abatement must be granted.
Williams stated that reinvestment zones
were required by the State Comptroller’s office in order that they be
informed of all property tax abatements granted. He said the legal
requirements were that the Commissioners must find that the proposed
abatement situations are feasible, beneficial and attract employment
or investment.
Williams pointed out that if a countywide
reinvestment zone were to be established, that any like kind business
would, if granted tax abatement, be entitled to the same abatement
terms as earlier granted. He again noted that there was no requirement
that any abatement be granted, even though a reinvestment zone had
been established.
Williams concluded that he didn't believe
this requirement would be a problem, in that the county would want to
treat similar type businesses the same way in any event.
Two men, William Coats from RES American,
an Austin-based windfarm development company, and Wes Jackson with
Cummings Westlake, a property tax consulting firm in Houston, were
present to speak regarding the reinvestment zone and related tax
abatement request. They fielded numerous questions from the
Commissioners regarding the proposed Roadrunner Windfarm project to be
located in southwest Comanche County and in the northern and eastern
portions of Mills and Brown Counties.
The men noted that each windmill
generator would occupy a space, including access roads, averaging
around one and one half acres. Each would generate electricity
sufficient to serve around 1,500 homes.
One individual in the audience stated
that he favored the windfarm, and then commented that his only
question about the project was whether it would hurt the scenic and
hunting values of adjoining landowners.
John Dudley spoke regarding a high
profile conflict regarding the King and Kennedy ranches in south
Texas, noting that much of it seems to stem from ancient rivalries
between the neighboring ranches rather than from the particulars of
the proposed wind farms.
Garry Steele reiterated his support for a
countywide reinvestment zone.
Judge Arthur stated that he needed a
motion to that effect and Bobby Schuman offered one. Garry Steele
seconded and the vote of approval was unanimous.
Ruby Lesley had a map of the zone and
commented that it included approximately 940 square miles of area,
including all unincorporated land in the county.
Tax Abatement Request for Roadrunner
Windfarm
The next agenda item concerning the
approval of a tax abatement application from the Roadrunner Windfarm
consumed the largest time portion of the Commissioners meeting.
Roadrunner was requesting a five year,
60% property tax abatement for the wind electrical power generation
equipment they hope to install along hilltops in southwestern Comanche
County. After five years the requested abatement will be 40% for
another five years, and thereafter the windfarm equipment would be
fully taxable.
The tax abatement agreement calls for a
minimum investment by Roadrunner of $425 million. The actual
investment is projected to be higher than that amount, however.
County Auditor Joey Boswell made an
approximate calculation of the potential property tax effect on all
county taxpayers if the abatement was granted and the windfarm project
was completed.
Even with the 60% abatement for five
years, the project would increase the taxable property in the county
by $170 million, a 30% increase over the 2007 Comanche County total
taxable value of $563 million.
State law does not allow any taxing
authority to increase net property tax revenues by more than 8% in any
given year without being subject to a tax rollback election. Even if
the county raised its taxes the maximum allowable amount, there would
be an approximate 22% first year reduction in property taxes for all
county taxpayers, according to Boswell's calculations. Further
reductions in county taxes would be in store in years 6 and 11 as the
tax abatements expire.
Property tax consultant Wes Jackson
stated that the wind farm project should have a minimum useful life of
25 years, and likely much longer than that. He noted that there would
likely be upgrades to the turbines as the initial generating equipment
wears out and more efficient upgrades become available. He also stated
that because of cost increases for wind turbines, that it is possible
that their market valuations could increase with time.
Windfarm developer William Coats stated
that an important part of the windfarm project would be a 15-25 year
power purchase agreement with electric utilities which would guarantee
a market for the electricity produced for the minimum life of the
project. He added that the market is "hungry" for renewable electrical
power at the present time and anticipates little problem negotiating
the power purchase agreements.
Coats stated that other areas of the
state further north and west have better wind, however, they do not
have adequate electrical transmission lines to carry the existing
generation. Comanche County, on the other hand, has less wind
potential, but has ample transmission lines available to serve the
state's population centers where the demand exists.
The windfarm is anticipated to be
constructed during the 2009 year and would go on the property tax
rolls for the first time in 2010. A six to nine month construction
period is projected.
Charles Williams reported that Nolan
County had been very pleased with how the wind farm developers worked
with the county to upgrade the county roads to enable them to move the
heavy equipment into place.
Wes Jackson reminded the Commissioners
that the tax abatement terms being requested were consistent with
those being granted in other Texas counties. He noted that without the
tax abatements that the Comanche County project would suffer in
competition with other areas. He cited an example of where a project
planned to be located in both Erath and Eastland counties had been
significantly altered when one county granted abatements and one did
not.
William Coats said that they had
approximately 75% of the needed Comanche County sites already under
lease.
Charles Williams reported that
stipulations that local contractors be used to the greatest extent
possible had been important in other counties he had contacted, and
then asked Coats for his opinion on that.
Coats responded that the use of local
contractors was very important to them and that they had already
contacted a county road contractor company and gave them the right of
first right of refusal on project work. He added that even if it costs
the company a bit more to get the work done locally, that they favored
local area contractors and would be willing to have language
specifying such in the abatement agreement.
Bobby Schuman made a motion to approve
the tax abatement agreement subject to the local contractor provisions
being included.
Judge Arthur declared a second recess for
the language to be inserted into the agreement.
As the meeting resumed, Jimmy Dale
Johnson expressed concern that the Commissioners were presented with
an abatement agreement and being asked to approve it on the same day.
Judge Arthur expressed concern that the
county might lose another important development if they drug their
feet in approving the abatement agreement.
A discussion followed regarding the
various county officials that had read the agreement and approved it,
including Charles Williams, Ruby Lesley and Joey Boswell.
Garry Steele asked what was the downside
to approving the agreement if the project completely fell apart.
Jimmy Dale Johnson said he just didn't
want to see the county get "out-traded".
Steele responded that he agreed, but he
also didn't want to see the county get "left behind" either.
Charles Williams was again asked if he
had any concerns or problems with the proposed agreement and he said
he did not.
Garry Steele then seconded Schuman's
motion to approve the agreement. The vote of approval was unanimous.
Other Business
In other business, the Commissioners:
• Approved an upgrade of the copier in
the County Judge’s office and the transfer of the old copier to the
County Emergency Management office.
•Approved a request by Justice of the
Peace Bill Koenig to upgrade the salary of a clerk in his office to
that of a regular secretarial position. Koenig noted that recent
legislation increasing the dollar limits on items handled in small
claims court will greatly increase his office’s workload beginning in
September.
• Acknowledged an order from the District
Court setting a public hearing date for the annual budget for the
County Auditor and District Court Reporter offices.
• Voted unanimously to re-appoint Buryl
Conger as the Comanche Public Library's representative to the Big
Country Library System.
• Voted unanimously to purchase an
additional copy of the Texas Transportation Code for use by the
Commissioners and that the law book be kept in Garry Steele's office.
The approximate $40 cost will be covered out of the Law Library Fund.
• Voted unanimously to approve the
adoption of the retirement plan for county employees for fiscal year
2008. Billy Ruth Rust noted that the cost for the coming fiscal year
will decline slightly, from $9.16 to $8.98.
• Voted unanimously on a recommendation
by Ruby Lesley to consolidate the 16 county voting precincts into 8
voting locations for the November 6, 2007, State Constitutional
Amendment election.
There will be three voting locations in
Comanche for six precincts, one location in DeLeon for two precincts,
one location in Sidney for two precincts and two locations in Gustine
for four precincts. A request to the U.S. Department of Justice to
move early voting to the Courthouse basement was also reported by
Lesley.
• Agreed to postpone discussion of
issuing Certificates of Obligation for the purchase of road building
equipment during the budget workshop to be held after lunch that same
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