Accounting and Accountability

This is the time of year that has any entity that levies a property or ad Valorem tax working to correctly dot all the "i's" and cross all of the "t's". Under Texas law, it is not as simple as having a meeting and throwing out any number as a proposed tax rate and then calling it done. There are steps in the process that must be followed.
First, before a discussion of tax rates can even begin, every taxing authority must have decided on its financial budget for the up coming year. For ESD 47, this involves several months of reviewing how much was spent on various operational items in the previous two or three years. From that information, a fairly close prognostication for the upcoming year can be made. Next, we look at one-time purchases that will need to be made while that budget is in effect. I can tell you that the proposed ESD 47 budget on the table at this time holds the line on bottom line spending. If passed, then ESD 47 will have an average annualized budget expense increase of only 4.9% over the past five years. Considering these unprecedented times and the costs of fire and emergency medical supplies, this is unheard of. After expected expenses are determined, then an amount equal to them is required for income. This results in a budgetary net of zero dollars. Sounds easy, but again so much data is needed to carry out this process.
Your ESD 47 commissioners are all elected by public vote. Accordingly, not only do we have a moral responsibility to keep property taxes in reason, but should any of us, as is the case with any publicly elected official, get too tax-raising happy, we stand to be voted out of office. We have you, our constituent and taxpayer in mind at all times.
But what if we couldn't be voted out of office? Let's say we were appointed by someone who had more important things to worry about. What recourse would the taxpayer have towards tax-raising happy ESD commissioners? Emergency Service District commissioners in Harris County and two other Texas counties along with a few special situation ESD's are publicly elected. All others in the state are appointed by the County Commissioners' Court of the various counties.
Recently, I had a robust, yet cordial, discussion with an appointed ESD commissioner from a large central Texas county. The discussion began on the topic of his ESD and Texas ESD's in general needing more funds to operate. ESD's are limited by the State Constitution to a tax cap of 10 cents per every $100 of property valuation. My suggestion was to make the hard choices and spend the money where it would do the most good, thus lowering budget expenses which in turn would require less tax money. Well, he took expectation to that. You see, it is much easier to raise taxes to pay for (a lot of) things instead of determining what is absolutely necessary and budgeting for those items only, thus allowing the funds to be available to pay for them. I was quick to point out that if he and others were directly responsible to the taxpayers via the voting booth, he would find a way to make the tax limitations work for him. As you may imagine, my comments did not set well with him.
So as your ESD 47 commissioners work through this process of budgeting and tax setting, please rest assured that we have your, the constituent's, interest at heart. Not only for when you call for emergency help, but when you pay your property tax bill as well. Next month, I will be writing to let you know how that process came out.

Until then, stay safe
Brian Havran