It seems like the busiest time of the year
For most people this might not be true, but for governments throughout the county and school districts, this is one of the busiest times of the year. Governments are working on their budgets and getting ready to approve the tax rates for the coming year while school districts are preparing furiously for the coming school year and the associated sports seasons.
It’s budget time here throughout the state and we are working on ours here at 102 South Fannin with the goal of having the proposed budget out this Friday. Generally, the county budgets make up only about 15-18 percent of most individuals’ property taxes, but we are determined to move that tax rate as low as we can. Last year when we prepared our first budget and while we brought it down by about five cents, this year we looked to do better. As a result, we feel confident that we will be able to drop the county tax-rate another six to seven cents, which would make it about 20 cents less than the all-time high of 73 cents just a few years ago.
As we finalize and publish the proposed budget, we are also planning this year’s Town Hall Meetings throughout the county. Currently, we have five planned. The planned meetings are to be held at 6:30 pm as follows: Cameron at Bea’s Kitchen on Monday, August 19; Buckholts at the Community Center on Tuesday, August 20; Thorndale at the Thorndale Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, August 21; Milano at the Community Center on Thursday, August 22; and in Rockdale at the Kay Theater on Monday, August 26. Like last year, we will have about a 30-minute budget presentation followed by a question-and-answer session to follow. These meetings are important to us as this provides us with the communities’ input before we finalize the budget for the upcoming year. I hope to see you there.
As I have made my rounds around the county the last week or so, it has been good to talk to teachers and administrators preparing for the upcoming school year and the excitement that goes into meeting their newest students. It’s also been a welcome site to see the high school kids out on the practice fields and the gym preparing for the fall sports season. This is an exciting time of the year but a busy one as well as a stressful one for our teachers.
Most of them are thankful for donations to their classrooms so as you make your rounds, check with friends, neighbors and relatives who are teachers and find out if they need any help with supplies. As a father of two teachers, I can tell you the Nurse and I are always finding new ways to help our daughters. If you’d like to help out, then just take a look through this paper and there are several organizations offering opportunities to help out. Believe me, even the smallest bit of help will mean the world to a teacher or a struggling family.
We should also focus a bit as the schools will be starting up here in Milam County over the course of the next few weeks. Remember to watch for school buses and the kiddos walking to school. Every year as the buses start to run, it always seems to be a bit of a surprise to see them after several months of being absent from view. Take your time and be mindful of those buses running and kids walking to school as well.
As the Nurse and I take our last child to college in the next week there will be some mixed emotions. Happy he got into the Aggie Achieve program at Texas A&M, but a bit teary-eyed as we let him go out on his own and we are empty nesters in that big old house for the first time in 33 years. I know a lot of parents enjoy the break during the summer, but as parents who just watched our last child graduate from high school in May and after 29 years of having at least one child in school, the Nurse and I would just like to say, enjoy this time – it goes by way too fast.