Burnet County’s 2024-25 fiscal year budget might include raises of at least 6 percent and, in some cases, as high as almost 18 percent for elected officials and employees. The proposed increases are attributed to a few factors, including cost of living.
The pay increases were a main topic of discussion during the Commissioners Court’s regular meeting on Tuesday, July 23.
The proposed cost-of-living increases for county employees align with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.
“While it is a raise, in theory, it’s just the cost-of-living increase to keep up with rising home and auto insurance and everything else,” Burnet County Judge James Oakley told DailyTrib.com.
In addition to a 4 percent cost-of-living raise, employees could receive an extra 2 percent step-grade increase for a total 6 percent raise. Step-grade raises are typically based on employee longevity.
PAY INCREASES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Before any raises for elected officials can be approved, the county must notify the public of proposed potential changes to their salaries per Texas Local Government Code 152.013.
The Commissioners Court voted to post the potential increases on Tuesday to meet the code’s press deadline, although the amounts might change between this story’s publication and the vote.
Some officials could have their salaries adjusted to match comparable positions in Burnet County and receive slight increases in longevity pay.
For example, all four Burnet County constables could each get a $13,046-a-year raise to put their salaries on par with those of Sheriff’s Office patrol sergeants. Constable salaries would increase from $74,026.29 a year to $87,072.39 as of Oct. 1, when the 2024-25 fiscal year begins.
Raises for all four Burnet County commissioners would bring them up to the same level of countywide positions rather than precinct-only positions. The proposed raise for each commissioner is $8,729 more a year than their current $85,352.27 salary.
“The thought on the commissioners is that, while they are elected on the precinct level, they wear a county-wide hat,” Judge Oakley said.
The salaries of elected officials in Burnet County totaled $1.69 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year budget. If the proposed raises for the 2024-25 budget are approved, that total would be $1.85 million.
The county’s total budgeted expenditures for 2023-24 were about $64.54 million. The budget for 2024-25 is still in the works, but a public hearing to discuss it is Aug. 27.
Below are the current salaries and proposed raises for Burnet County elected officials from highest paid on down:
Burnet County Attorney Eddie Arredondo
Fiscal year 2023-24 salary: $114,599
Proposed raise: $6,968, or 6.08 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $121,566
Burnet County Judge James Oakley
FY 2023-24 salary: $106,841
Proposed raise: $6,496, or 6.08 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $113,337
Burnet County Sheriff Calvin Boyd
FY 2023-24 salary: $105,159.
Proposed raise: $6,634, or 6.19 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $111,553
Burnet County District Clerk Casie Walker
FY 2023-24 salary: $93,084.89
Proposed raise: $5,660, or 6.08 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,744
Burnet County Clerk Vicinta Stafford
FY 2023-24 salary: $93,084
Proposed raise: $5,900, or 6.33 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,984
Burnet County Tax Assessor-Collector Sheri Frazier
FY 2023-24 salary: $93,084
Proposed raise: $5,660, or 6.08 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,744
Burnet County Treasurer Karrie Crownover
FY 2023-24 salary: $93,084
Proposed raise: $5,660, or 6.08 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,744
Burnet County Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Luther
FY 2023-24 salary: $90,244
Proposed raise: $8,729, or 9.67 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,984
Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle
FY 2023-24 salary: $90,255
Proposed raise: $8,729, or 9.67 percent
FY2025 proposed salary: $98,984
Burnet County Precinct 3 Commissioner Billy Wall
FY 2023-24 salary: $90,255
Proposed raise: $8,729, or 9.67 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,984
Burnet County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery
FY 2023-24 salary: $90,255
Proposed raise: $8,489, or 9.4 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $98,744
Burnet County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Roxanne Nelson
FY 2023-24 salary: $89,852
Proposed raise: $6,929, or 7.7 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $96,781
Burnet County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Lisa Whitehead
FY 2023-24 salary: $89,852
Proposed raise: $6,689, or 7.83 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $96,541
Burnet County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Jane Marie Hurst
FY 2023-24 salary: $89,852
Proposed raise: $6,929, or 7.7 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $96,781
Burnet County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Debbie Bindseil
FY 2023-24 salary: $89,852
Proposed raise: $6,689, or 7.83 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $96,541
Burnet County Precinct 1 Constable Leslie Ray
FY 2023-24 salary: $72,642
Proposed raise: $13,046, or 17.95 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $85,688
Burnet County Precinct 2 Constable Garry Adams
FY 2023-24 salary: $72,642
Proposed raise: $13,046, or 17.95 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $85,688
Burnet County Precinct 3 Constable Scott Davis
FY 2023-24 salary: $72,642
Proposed raise: $13,046, or 17.95 percent
FY 2024-25 proposed salary: $85,688
Burnet County Precinct 4 Constable Millicent “Missy” Bindseil
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Lake Travis is up 6.77 feet as of 9 a.m. Friday, July 26, due to the abnormal summer flooding of the Llano River, which began Monday. The lake, which is also reservoir, is now at its highest level since October 2022, but it’s still not full.
The Llano River is a major tributary of the Colorado River watershed. It pours into Lake LBJ and, after passing through Wirtz Dam and Max Starcke Dam in Marble Falls, contributes to Lake Travis.
Lake Travis gained 6.77 feet between 7:30 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Friday. The rise began when massive amounts of water surged downstream from the western reaches of the Llano River watershed in Kimble, Edwards, Gillespie, Sutton, and Kerr counties.
The lake now sits at 641.25 feet above mean sea level, up from 634.48 msl on Monday. It is considered full at 681 msl. According to data collected from the Lower Colorado River Authority, this is the highest Travis has been since October 2022, when it was at 641.34 msl.
The reservoir has not been completely full since July 2019.
Lake Travis has gained 69,983 acre-feet of water since Monday—the equivalent to about half of the 140,000 acre-feet of water used by the city of Austin in a year, according to the LCRA. It is also roughly eight times the amount of water held in Lake Marble Falls.
As of Friday, the combined storage of Lake Buchanan, the other Highland Lakes reservoir, and Lake Travis was 58 percent, up from 54 percent on Monday.
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Agendas are posted 72 hours before a meeting so are not always ready by the time this list is published. Check links for more information.
The Aug. 1 regular meeting was canceled due to a lack of agenda items. The next regular meeting is Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Council Chambers at City Hall, 800 Third St. in Marble Falls.
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The process that determines the amount of taxes property owners will owe for this year began July 25, when local central appraisal districts send out certified appraisal numbers to all taxing entities in Burnet and Llano counties.
Those entities, including cities, school districts, and counties, must submit their budgets, hold public hearings, and vote on tax rates before the 2024-25 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. (The maximum allowable increase is 3.5 percent over the previous year’s rate. Any higher requires an election. Officials rarely approve a rate over that amount.)
The new rates will determine how much each taxpayer will owe when the bills come due in January 2025. The central appraisal districts in Burnet and Llano counties mail the bills, collect the payments, and distribute the funds to the taxing entities.
Preliminary budgets must be submitted no later than Aug. 27, and public hearings must be held within 15 days after that. Tax rates are adopted on the same day as the public hearing.
However, any of this can occur sooner. Dates differ and are most often based on when a particular governing body holds its regular meetings.
DailyTrib.com will report on the meetings before and after they happen and the rates as they are approved. In addition to individual stories, readers can refer back to this story to find information on all of the entities in one place.
Here are the taxing entities in Burnet and Llano counties. As hearing dates and proposed tax rates are determined, that information will appear below. Incoming figures/dates are marked as parentheses (_).
BURNET COUNTY
2024-25 proposed tax rate: 0.3541 per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: 0.3541 per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is the same as the current rate but will raise over $3.8 million, or 9.11 percent, more revenue than last year.
2024-25 proposed budget: $33,363,572
2023-24 budget: $30,107,002
Public hearing on the proposed rate is at 10 a.m. Aug. 27 on the second floor of the Burnet County Courthouse, 220 S. Pierce St. in Burnet.
MARBLE FALLS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
2024-25 proposed tax rate: (_) per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: (_) per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is (_) percent [higher/lower] than current rate.
2024-25 proposed budget: (_)
2023-24 budget: (_)
Public hearing on the proposed rate will be held on (_).
BURNET CONSOLIDATED ISD
2024-25 proposed tax rate: maintenance 0.6769 per $100 valuation; debt service 9.1950 per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: maintenance 0.67920 per $100 valuation; debt service 0.71735 per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is 3.54 percent higher than the current maintenance rate; 11.62 percent higher than current debt service rate.
Public hearing on the proposed rate is at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 in the Central Office Board Room, 208 E. Brier in Burnet.
Proposed budget figures to come.
CITY OF MARBLE FALLS
2024-25 proposed tax rate: $0.535 per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: $0.54 per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is 1 percent lower than current rate.
2024-25 proposed budget: $22,010,930
2023-24 budget: $20,278,022
Public hearing on the proposed rate is at 6 p.m. Aug. 20 in the Council Chambers at Marble Falls City Hall, 800 Third St.
Possible action on adopting a new budget for the coming fiscal year will be on the agenda for a meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 3, also in City Hall Council Chambers.
CITY OF BURNET
2024-25 proposed tax rate: (_) per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: (_) per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is (_) percent [higher/lower] than current rate.
2024-25 proposed budget: (_)
2023-24 budget: (_)
Public hearing on the proposed rate will be held on (_).
CITY OF GRANITE SHOALS
2024-25 proposed tax rate: $0.5417 per $100 valuation
2023-24 tax rate: $0.5080 per $100 valuation
Proposed rate is $0.0337 per $100 higher than current rate.
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The Granite Shoals City Council voted to halt online public comments at council and commission meetings. The unanimous vote came after a lengthy discussion on Tuesday, July 23. People still will be able to livestream meetings and access past recordings, but they won’t be able to participate in them virtually.
City leadership has grappled with whether to allow online participation in open meetings since COVID-19 pandemic protocols were lifted in September 2021. Everyone, including council members, met virtually during the pandemic lockdown.
“I think that it’s time that we let Zoom go,” said Place 6 Councilor Catherine Bell, opening the discussion on Tuesday night. Zoom is a video call and virtual meeting software that allows live messaging.
The city is under no legal obligation to allow online public participation, and it is the only government body in the Highland Lakes that has done so. Granite Shoals is also one of only a few Highland Lakes entities to livestream meetings, along with the Meadowlakes City Council and Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Councilors cited a variety of reasons for the online public comments decision, including low virtual turnout for meetings, distractions, and the desire to have more face-to-face interactions.
Bell told DailyTrib.com that low online turnout was why she pushed to end the practice.
“We’ve been noticing there are just one or two people on (Zoom),” she said. “We would rather have everybody come in. It’s easier face to face for me. I want to see them in person and hear their questions and get to know them personally.”
According to a Granite Shoals city staff report, an average of 4.5 residents participated in the city’s 30 council and committee meetings between Feb. 1 and July 11.
While average attendance and participation online is low, Zoom viewers have turned out in force during especially controversial meetings. In December 2023, 61 online participants logged on for a City Council meeting concerning the proposed killing of feral cats. January 2024, another well-attended month, was not included in the numbers used for averages.
“We didn’t really get any benefit from (online participation),” Place 1 Councilor Brian Edwards said at Tuesday’s meeting. “A few of the citizens may watch, (but) they rarely make any comments. And when they do, it slows meetings way down.”
Mayor Ron Munos said he doesn’t “have a problem with Zoom,” but ultimately voted along with the rest of the council to discontinue online participation. However, he strongly advocated for continuing meeting livestreams and making recordings available to residents.
Place 3 Councilor Judy Salvaggio closed out the meeting by affirming her support for public participation in all forms.
“We want all of the citizens to participate in our council meetings in any way, form, or fashion,” she said. “We want the citizens to be involved.”
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Burnet County was accepted into the Texas Broadband Development Office’s Technical Assistance Program, which could connect it to millions of dollars in state and federal funding to help close its digital divide. Burnet County was one of 32 counties chosen for the statewide program.
The July 19 acceptance is the result of efforts by Connected Burnet County, a once informal internet-access advocacy group that became a formal county committee in May.
As part of TAP, Burnet County was assigned a private sector consultant—infrastructure and development firm CobbFendley—to guide its plans to bring high-speed internet access to residents.
“We don’t quite know the extent of what (the consultation) means, but (CobbFendley) is going to come in and help us with our broadband on the technical side and the layout and, hopefully, give us a leg up on planning,” said Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle during the Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, July 23. Beierle is also a member of Connected Burnet County.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 designated $65 billion in funding to ensure U.S. citizens have access to broadband, or high-speed, internet. The money is being divided among the states. The Texas Broadband Development Office is managing the funds statewide, and the TAP-assigned private sector consultants will advocate for their county’s portion.
Burnet County officials and broadband advocates have been seeking ways to improve connectivity for residents since at least 2022.
According to previous state and federal connectivity maps, Burnet County has widespread broadband access, but local officials have challenged these results.
“People can get internet (in Burnet County), but they can’t get internet they can afford,” Beierle told DailyTrib.com after the Tuesday meeting. “Rural people can’t afford it.”
Many county residents rely on internet service providers that charge over $100 for slow and unreliable access. (Read this June 2024 DailyTrib.com story to learn more about the reality of broadband in Burnet County.)
Higher-quality providers with faster speeds, like Starlink, can charge $500 for setup and $120 for monthly access.
“(Participating in the Technical Assistance Program) will be that extra component that will help us get Burnet County connected,” Beierle said.
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An unidentified motorist was killed in an accident on Sunday, July 21, after reportedly hydroplaning across U.S. 281 near Park Road 4 into oncoming traffic.
According to an incident report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the driver of a Toyota RAV4 might have been traveling on U.S. 281 in Burnet County at an “unsafe speed” in the rain at around 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Toyota reportedly hydroplaned and crossed from southbound to northbound lanes and was struck by a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado on its right side.
The driver of the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene by Burnet County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Roxanne Nelson. The occupants of the Chevrolet were transported to a Burnet medical facility.
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Llano native Bradley Tatsch died July 19 from injuries sustained a few days earlier while working as a power company lineman. The Llano community has rallied to support his family, setting up a GoFundMe donation page and two benefits in his honor.
The 33-year-old Tatsch leaves behind a wife, Angela, and two sons, Layten and Roston.
According to unofficial reports, Tatsch was working for a Florida-based utility company on a project in Liberty Hill on July 16 when he was shocked by an energized powerline. He succumbed to his injuries on July 19.
His wife told DailyTrib.com she could not release or verify any details publicly at this time.
“He was a good man, a good husband, an overall genuine man,” Angela Tatsch said. “He was a great fisherman.”
That description was echoed by lifelong friend Cody Wisdom, who set up the GoFundMe page to help the family with expenses. As of the afternoon of Monday, July 22, it had raised over $70,000.
“Make sure you talk about how good of a man he was,” Wisdom said. “He was always happy and smiling. He was the jokester. He was a really good guy who did a lot of things in town. His whole family is that way. His whole family is a damn good family.
The Llano community is holding at least two benefits for the Tatsch family.
A barrel racing fundraiser is July 31 from 4:30-7 p.m. at the John L. Kuykendall Arena and Event Center, 2200 RR 152 West in Llano. Entry fees range from $25 to $50, and all proceeds go to the Tatsch family. For more information, text 334-355-0898.
Another benefit is Aug. 3 at 11 a.m., also at the JLK Arena. It features a silent auction, barbecue, a cornhole tournament, and goat roping. For more information, visit its Facebook event page.
“Bradley was not just a dedicated professional but a cherished colleague and friend to many here at Central Texas Electric Co-op,” reads the post. “His passion for his work, his courage, and his cheerful spirit left an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of knowing him.”
Tatsch was also recognized during the regular meeting of the Llano County Commissioners Court on Monday.
“Please keep (the Tatsch family) in your thoughts and prayers,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Linda Raschke in a public address during the meeting. “Bradley was a wonderful young man.”
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The switch to AMI “smart” electric meters in Marble Falls and Bertram is nearly complete, with Canyon Lake residents next on the meter replacement list, Pedernales Electric Cooperative board members learned at their regular meeting on July 17.
Only four of the seven board directors were on hand for PEC staff’s monthly report. Directors Amy Akers, Emily Pataki, and James Oakley were absent. Director Mike Cox stepped in as chairman in Pataki’s absence.
AMI, or Advanced Metering Infrastructure, meters detect outages sooner and allow for remote functions, such as meter reading and disconnecting and connecting power. The meters also reduce maintenance costs and give co-op members the ability to monitor and conserve energy usage.
The replacement project began in Cedar Park in October 2023. Canyon Lake is the last community slated for replacements, which should be done by the end of August 2024.
As of July 1, PEC had replaced 23,372 old meters in Marble Falls and had only 795 left to go. On the same date in Bertram, 13,257 meters had been replaced with 3,702 remaining.
The total number of meters replaced will be 356,307 when the project is complete.
As of June, PEC had reached a record number of 412,331 total meters on its system. Cedar Park ranks the highest with 81,921 meters. Marble Falls is the sixth of eight communities with 34,070 meters. Bertram is seventh with 19,266 meters.
Other PEC communities are Kyle (second with 77,739), Liberty Hill (third with 76,754), Oak Hill (fourth with 62,704), Canyon Lake (fifth with 50,292), and Junction (seventh with 9,581).
IN OTHER BUSINESS
The Board of Directors’ Aug. 16 meeting will not be live-streamed because an upgrade to the audio-visual system will not be finished in time, according to PEC staff. An audio recording will be available online by Tuesday or Wednesday the week after that meeting.
“The new system will provide a much better experience for our members and staff who watch,” said PEC CEO Julie Parsley.
The Aug. 16 meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Johnson City headquarters at 201 S. Avenue F.
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