County changes hearing date on budget
By SHARON KERR Staff writer

The Jasper County Commissioners' Court hearing and vote on the 2008 proposed budget and property tax rate has been postponed until Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. according to county auditor Dru Miller.

The date was moved to comply with a technicality that the final vote should take place after the 15th of the month following when the proposed budget is accepted, as it was on Aug. 17. At the Sept. 17 hearing, commissioners must first adopt the budget before they vote to adopt the proposed tax rate.

The court will hold its regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. and a special meeting today, Aug. 29, at 9 a.m. for agenda items that require action before the end of the month.

Today's agenda includes considering proposed expenditures from the court technology fund, signing a road easement with Stephens and Johnson Operating Company, and the resignation of Deputy Constable Robert L. Mclemore of Precinct 2.

One technology fund request is from Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Joe Wilkinson to update his courtroom for more criminal trials. The other is from Precinct 2 JP Freddie Miller for a fax line at the Jasper County Jail to facilitate video arraignments.

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said when improvements come out of dedicated technology funds, they don't cost the county, but they do contribute to revenue. The 2008 proposed budget includes $237,000 additional revenue (compared to 2007) in fees of officers, coming primarily from the district and county clerks and justices of the peace.

Chief Deputy Jack Jett said he was pleased that, although the court did not grant the sheriff's request for three new deputies, they did budget for one. They also approved the extra labor flexibility the department needs.

"We need extra labor for things like a fill-in dispatcher," Jett said. "The court has already agreed to allow us to use the money from housing other counties' inmates to pay additional jail staff, but we sometimes need extra dispatchers when we are shorthanded or have someone taking training."

Jett said jail administrator Diane Brown's additional raise recognizes additional duties she has assumed.

"We are organized so that there are two sides to the equation here,"

Jett explained. "Capt. Stacey Chambers handles the law enforcement side, and Brown supervises the corrections side."

Her raise puts her pay on equal scale.

All county employees received a five percent pay raise.

Jasper County Judge Mark Allen, explained, "The rationale I used is quite of lot of counties make more than our employees and received bigger raises. Look at Jefferson County where they got a seven percent raise and deputies got 14 percent.

"You really can't compare us to Newton, which only has a population of 14,000 (compared to Jasper's 37,000) and very little industry.

"We maintain sub stations and have six precincts with constables and JP offices, which makes it more convenient for people to handle their county business. We provide more services than most counties under 50,000," Allen said.

More than a dozen county officials, including Allen, also received hefty increases in their travel allowance.

The judge's office went from $8,000 to $12,000, a 50 percent increase.

"What I've done is adjusted to make (the travel allowance) more equable. Not only have fuel costs gone up, but activities for these officials on a daily basis has also gone up," Allen said.

"My increase is not as much as a constable's or sheriff's, and the fact is there is more activity in the county, more productivity as well.

"Plus, it's hard to budget when fuel prices are $2.89 today and $3.10 tomorrow," Allen said.

"I listened to Constable Hutchinson's explanation of how he handled (his travel allotment) last year. He said he budgets the money for two weeks at a time, and when it runs out, he quits going out," Allen said.

"But we can't do that. Judge Folk didn't travel as much as I do. He'd been a judge a long time and had all the training.

"I travel (for training) and from Brookeland to Evadale," Allen said.

"I'm proud that we were able to propose a budget that will keep us at the effective tax rate. We've got more than $600,000 more revenue than last year, and a significant amount of that is from fines, fees, court costs and restitution.

"Twelve people got a bigger travel increase than me, but they're not making anything they don't deserve and haven't earned," Allen said.

Other significant income added to the 2008 proposed budget include a $10,000 contribution of the school district to support DARE, increases in interest and delinquent property tax, and an additional $3,000 in mixed drink taxes and liquor licenses.