The stakes are high, we may be nearing $500 million in debt by the end of 2013, perhaps even without voter approval
Editor's note: County financing and budgets admittedly are not the sexiest topics around. Where it does get interesting though is when our local elected officials start spending our taxes unwisely, throwing money around because they think they can and without much of a challenge from the public. Several projects worth tens of millions and more debt are on the drawing board. They deserve a lot more public scrutiny than what commissioners court and Judge Cobb, the county's budget officer, have been willing to allow. The court and judge should bend over backwards for the taxpayers to ensure they are getting a square deal. That should include a series of public hearings in each precinct, before the expenditures are made and before the budget writing process gets too far along. No sweat. Put all the spending and debt on the table and let the taxpayers ask their questions. We'll have more information on some of the projects on the county's spending list in upcoming posts.By Sam Brannon
Guest Commentary
The 93 members of the Hays Citizens’ Budget Project are justifiably concerned about the level of debt and spending at Hays County in recent years. With over $100 million in road projects soon to begin, and with our county elected officials already planning tens of millions in dollars in new projects (new Pct. 2 building, jail, 911 dispatch consolidation, roads, LCRA water pipelines, and others), we taxpayers would be well-served to pay closer attention to the money being spent.
A growing number of Hays residents are joining our call for full-on Public Hearings. We feel there needs to be more honest public discussion on debt and spending at the county government. We must also discuss whether it makes sense to move forward on all of the construction projects as they are currently designed and scheduled, or whether a re-prioritization of spending makes sense in these difficult economic times.
We want open discussion and straight answers on debt, spending and taxes. That’s not radical. It’s very reasonable.
County Officials Refuse to Level with Us
I first met with County Auditor Bill Herzog in November of 2010 regarding the budget and debt. In our several hours of meetings, Herzog never once pointed out that the information in the official Budget Book was incorrect. In our several reviews of the data that I was to present, he consistently confirmed to me that our presentation was on-target.
At the March 22nd Budget Workshop, I asked Mr. Herzog directly “What will be the end-of-year debt for 2011?” Herzog responded with a year-end 2013 number of $360 million. I restated my question, “How about the end of 2011?” Herzog responded with a 2012 number. Once again, “How about the end of 2011?” Rather than answer the question directly, Herzog gave me a series of numbers to calculate.
Why all the secrecy? The County Auditor’s job is to provide an accurate picture of finances to the public, but it appears that he and our elected officials felt they would get more mileage with smoke and mirrors. Herzog’s incorrect numbers have since been quoted to the public in at least two news publications. Shame on our auditor and the entire court for this taking place (and shame on the publications for not following up with the right questions).
County Judge Bert Cobb in particular ran on open and responsible county government. Since taking office, he has twice committed to me that he would support full-on Public Hearings in each precinct, giving taxpayers a chance to weigh in on finances and scheduled road projects. Frankly, I knew he didn’t intend to keep his word the first time he said it, so I made a point to ask him again – better to have him backtrack early before I started telling very many people we had his support on it.
When I asked him again a week later and he reconfirmed his commitment, I sensed that even he didn’t believe what he was saying, but I chose to take him at his word. So while I’m not necessarily surprised, I am very disappointed that our new County Judge is capable of being so insincere.
Until we can get straight answers from our elected officials and our County Auditor without pointed cross-examinations, formal Public Hearings are certainly in order, and we expect them to take place sooner rather than later. The stakes are high – we may be nearing $500 million in debt by the end of 2013, perhaps even without voter approval.
And just so you know, the 2011 end-of-year debt is scheduled to be $311 million. The last road bond debt issue is scheduled for March 2012, and Hays County debt will then stand at more than $357 million (plus any other new projects).
That’s not so hard to say, unless you’re trying to hide something. If you feel that straight answers on debt, spending and taxes should be forthcoming, I suggest that you contact Judge Cobb and each of our county commissioners today to let them know.
County Judge Bert Cobb
bert.cobb@co.hays.tx.us
(512) 393-2205
Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe (Pct.1)
debbiei@co.hays.tx.us
(512) 393-2243
Commissioner Mark Jones(Pct 2)
mark.jones@co.hays.tx.us
(512) 262-2091
Commissioner Will Conley (Pct. 3)
will.conley@co.hays.tx.us
(512) 847-3159
Commissioner Ray Whisenant(Pct 4)
ray.whisenant@co.hays.tx.us
(512) 858-7268
10 comments:
I am disappointed in the fact that only Will Conley and Mark Jones had the professional courtesy to respond to any of my emails. Both these men generally respond to any and all of my emails.
Judge Cobb never responded.
Commissioner Ingalsbe has not responed recently; however, in the past she has responded to a few of my emails.
Ray Whisenant has never responded to 4 of my emails and he is our district commissioner.
I am starting to feel very sorry that I supported and voted for Cobb and Whisenant. Both wanted open government, both wanted some "connections" with voters and yet neither one responds when they are contacted.
Why am I stating this on the Hays County RoundUp blog? Because I want you all to know which of our elected officials is professional, who communicates and who does not. We need to remember for the next election.
Good grief... This just in... On Tuesday's agenda at the Commissioners Court is...
1) The proposed LCRA waterline purchase. This will likely be in the 10s of million of dollars, but only serves 12,000 Hays County residents. Its on the agenda withhout any backup materials, which is HIGHLY unusual. It sure seems like they're trying to hide something or avoid a cross-examination on this.
It will be interesting to see if they'll sell it as an "emergency" again. Stuff like this is why we need Public Hearings.
2) The Old Bastrop Highway road project (about $6 million) is on the agenda for Executive Session (secret meetings), presumably to buy right-of-way.
I was in the middle of writing an article on it when it hit the agenda for Tuesday. This road is one of the least necessary in our stack of road projects. Pct 1 Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe's property is in the middle of the 1.8 mile sretch of road improvements.
I'll be writing Will Conley about the LCRA lines to understand the agenda item. You may want to as well.
I'll also be writing Debbie Ingalsbe for an explanation on what value is to be realized from the Old Bastrop Hwy project. You may want to as well. The last time I asked her she explained that a lot of bicycle riders use the road (though I've never seen one).
You boys here at the Hays Roundup Rodeo got you a good program going for these old Texans like myself. The problem is we got all these newcomers, people who've only lived in the county for four or maybe even ten or twelve years. Another problem,,,? These people expect to have the county provide some services, like roads they can drive over 35 on and maybe even a few parks they can have access to.. Have you ever seen some of the nice county parks in other states,,,and even other counties in tx? Hell yeah you can criticize the hard working county employees for not remembering if they started a sentence that they wrote two weeks ago with word "the" or "there" but what is your accomplishment? Is it to demonstrate that you are better than they are? Because you pointed out a fault? Well nobody Is perfect and no politician is going to satisfy everyone, they have to look at the whole county, not just you three or four guys here to satisfy. What is your real goal here? It doesn't seem to be in the interest of the average county resident. It's definitely good that you boys are around to point out some of the projects. But these politicos have a big job and it's not just to please you,,and btw, if you want to see some bicycle riders on old bastrop, just go pull up a lawn chair with your Sunday paper from about 8am to 1pm and you will see plenty
Stay on their asses Sam! It is very troubling to hear of the lack of meaningful responses from the Hays County officials. I have lived in several states and I can tell you it is the same everywhere. It is caused by voter apathy or the "vote and forget" life style of the populace. Many people feel they have done their duty when they vote and do nothing more. In many cases they don’t even know why they voted the way they did. A sad commentary on our once great country. If the County is planning on buying the LCRA properties maybe they should look to see why the LCRA is selling. Most of us know that they are selling since they are losing tons of money on them. The County thinks they can do better since they have some unlimited financial backing called Bonds.
I agree with Anonymous #4 when
s/he says:
"If the County is planning on buying the LCRA properties, maybe they should look to see why LCRA is
selling. Most of us know that they
are selling since they are losing
tons of money on them. The County
thinks they can do better since they have some unlimited financial
backing called Bonds."
The last I read, LCRA won't sell
just one property -- or even the
Hays County properties. They want
to sell all of the properties on
which they are losing money (and on
which they expect to spend millions
to repair) in one package to one
buyer. Otherwise they fear they'll
be cherry-picked for a few decent
properties and be left holding the
most dismal ones. There is something like $142 milllion in
indebtedness that the buyer would
have to assume as well, and so if
Hays County bought the whole
package, we'd have to assume the
$142 million debt, PLUS pay the
asking price for the properties.
Like Anon #4, I don't see why we
should want to take on a bag of
liabilities when our county isn't
even nearly as well off financially
as is LCRA.
I'm agin it!
Curious:
Commissioners Ray Whisenant and Will Conley want Hays County to buy the LCRA pipeline boondoogle.
The proposed 450-house and luxury hotel project named Caliterra lists
LCRA as one of its main sources
of water.
Looks like another developer-friendly deal in the works at the
Hays County Courthouse.
And good old Isaac is shepherding
th enabling bill (HB 3832) for
HCDD#1 through the Lege while
Whisenant/Conley get us to buy
LCRA for water for Caliterra.
A new triumvirate of greed (Isaac,
Whisenant, Conley) replaces the old
(Rose, Conley, Barton).
To the 1st Anonymous who consider those who lived here "even 10 to 12 years" as NEWCOMERS:
I am responding with all due respect --- What is your point here, that commissioners can do whatever they want, even if it's the wrong thing to do?
What does it matter if someone has lived in Hays County for 50 years or for 5 years? They still live here and should have a say in how commissioners act on behalf of the county.
Sorry, but I for noe (and I don't know about any other of the readers) really don't understand what points you are making.
I wish you would write here again and make a short list of your points. If I don't understand what you are saying, I'm sure some others don't.
So, please list what you see wrong and what you see right.
While obviously developments will continue, can't we plan more intelligently?
Roads need upgrading and improving, we all know this, but can't we do this in an intelligent and less costly way?
Yes, county government needs new facilities, but is building the Precinct 2 structure the most intelligent and least costly way?
I thought you commissioners were NOT tax and spend liberal democrats? Am I wrong?
You can watch live broadcasts on
your compter of any Commissioners
Court meeting by going to
www.co.hays.tx.us/commcourtlive.
The link is active only while
Court is actually in session.
“The link is active only while
Court is actually in session.”
Not true, the last Court’s streaming video didn’t come live until about 15 minutes before it was over. I missed most of it especially the part about the County’s absurd idea of buying the unprofitable LCRA properties. Coincidence? I think not!
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