The DeWitt County Commissioners Court held a special meeting Friday, Sept. 5, at 9 a.m.
Items on the Aug. 25 meeting agenda were revisited and action taken on them again, as notice of the Aug. 25 meeting was not posted on the county website. County officials said the court’s intent and obligation is for proper notice to be given for citizens to be aware of items under consideration and have the opportunity to attend and address the court.
The court scheduled a public hearing on the 2026 proposed budget and the 2025 proposed tax rate for Monday, Sept. 22. A handout entitled “Taxpayer Impact Statement” compared the taxes assessed on a homestead with the 2024 appraisal value and tax rate and the 2025 appraisal value and two possible tax rates.
The tax rates the court is considering would increase taxes by 1.73% or by 5.39 %. The factor that will result in the larger assessment taxpayers can expect is the 2025 appraisal values which increased an average of 13.25%. The increase in appraised value was mandated by the state. Judge Daryl Fowler said he wants people to know that the court puts considerable effort into the decisions it makes.
Other public hearings were scheduled for Sept. 22 to consider the plan for funding preservation and restoration of the county clerk’s records and to consider placing a stop sign at the intersection of Kulawik Road and Emil Zielonka Road in Precinct 3.
The court approved the renewal of a professional services contract with Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc., effective August 25. It was explained at the August 25 meeting that the county has obtained legislative consulting services from Cornerstone since 2012. Largely due to those services, the county was able to facilitate the passage of bills in 2013 and 2019 to make state funds available for road repairs necessitated from the heavy traffic of Eagle Ford Shale activity and in 2016 to allow counties to receive the mineral lease on land in the right of way of county roads. The latter has amounted to $2–3 million/year. Legislation that would prevent counties from utilizing the services of professional consulting services was introduced in the legislature this year but was not enacted.
Other action was taken with a retroactive effective date of Aug. 25, as implementation of the action had already been taken. This included a 90-day burn ban for unincorporated areas of the court, authorization of IT services for the new Precinct 4 building, approval of an agreement with the City of Cuero for 24-hour Police Dispatch Services, adoption of an agreement with Gonzales County to house inmates for $59/day, approval of permits for temporary water lines along roads in Precincts 1 and 3, renewal of a contract for residential services for juvenile offenders, adoption of fees for sherrifs and constables, and approval of expenditures for repair of the A/C at the courthouse and windows at the Dewitt County Heritage Museum.
Routine business included approving financial reports, salaries, and pay scales, receiving a certificate of completion of training, and receiving a statement of award of $24,397 from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. Fowler said that the latter is about one-tenth of what the county spends for those services.
