County to borrow $2M for upgrades, raise property tax

Tax note will fund new fleet of police cars, various equipment; money to be repaid in 4 years

NEW BOSTON, Texas—The Bowie County Commissioners Court agreed Monday to borrow $2 million to pay for much-needed transportation and equipment.

Commissioners agreed to issue a $2 million tax note, bought up by the First State Bank of DeKalb, which the county agrees to pay back over a four-year period, Bowie County Auditor William Tye said.

“The Fist State Bank of DeKalb has agreed to buy the note,” Tye told commissioners and those in the public who attended the court’s final meeting of the month. “The county agrees to pay off $500,000 a year for the next four years to the bank—plus interest.”

Items the county is seeking to purchase include a fleet of police intercept vehicles—

cars that are more crash resistant and have more extensive bulletproof paneling. Other items include more road and bridge maintenance and repair equipment, electronic election equipment and radio signal repeater tower improvements and equipment,” Tye said.

In other business, commissioners approved raising the county real property tax rate by slightly more then 2 cents—to a bit more than 42 cents per $100 valuation.

The proposed property tax increase is aimed at helping the county pay for a 5 percent costof-living pay raise for all Bowie County employees as well as a possible increase in county employees’ health insurance.

The proposed salary hike will be the first cost-of-living pay increase for county employees since 2011. County officials are also expecting about a 20-percent increase in health insurance costs for employees during the upcoming fiscal year.

Besides the anticipated rise in health care costs, retirement benefits are expected to cost the county about $100,000 more for fiscal year 2016-17, which starts Oct. 1. Along with the property tax rate, commissioners approved the county’s proposed $31.9 million budget for fiscal year 2016-17.

The salary and benefit increase will add slightly more than $930,600 to the county’s budget.

County officials project county income for the next fiscal year to come in at about $31,055,600. This would leave more than an $883,000 year-end deficit that could be covered by some cost adjustments. The proposed budget includes more than $9.7 million for operating the Bowie County Correctional Center, $3.4 million to run the sheriff’s office and $1.4 million for the district attorney’s office.

Commissioners also agreed to allow the Precinct 4 Road Department to advertise for bids from road repair companies to fix Bowie County Road 1208.