Howard County taxpayers expecting a lower tax rate for 2007-2008 thanks to higher appraised values can think again, as commissioners agreed to move forward with a tax rate identical to last year.

Commissioners agreed to move forward with a proposed tax rate of 48.787 cents per $100 valuation, a 6.38-cent increase over the proposed rollback rate of 42.3974 cents the court decided on last week.

The increase is expected to generate approximately $700,000 in additional funding for the county over the rollback rate, which according to County Judge Mark Barr, will barely cover the recent shortfall caused by disputed tax appraisals from Alon USA, owner of the Big Spring Refinery.

“This will just cover that,” said Barr. “This will give us $1.2 million to operate on from October until the tax money begins coming in. It’s not going to help with any of the other shortfalls we’ve had to look at during these budget sessions.”

According to County Auditor Jackie Olson, public hearings on the tax rate will be slated for Sept. 4 and Sept. 14, with final adoption of the rate expected Sept. 24.

Commissioners also decided to move forward with cutting a number of positions from the county roster during the meeting,

The cuts include two full-time positions and one part-time position from the sheriff’s office budget, two full-time positions and one part-time position at the county library, two full-time and one part-time position from the county’s road and bridge department, one full-time and one part-time position from the maintenance department and a single part-time position with the District Clerk’s Office.

District Clerk Donna Wright pleaded with the court to reconsider eliminating the full-time position in her office, saying it will make it nearly impossible for her to operate in the coming months.

“I have two employees that have overlapping vacation and another employee that’s getting ready to have surgery, and will be out from four to six weeks,” Wright told commissioners. “If my office was under one roof, it might be possible for us to handle this cut. However, with the office in two locations across the hall from one another, this is going to make it almost impossible for us to do.”

Before recessing for lunch, Commissioner Gary Simer suggested exploring a different course to make up the difference on the expected shortfall, of which approximately $360,000 is expected to be alleviated by the layoffs.

“Do we know what it would take if we did pay cuts across the board,” Simer asked Olson during the meeting.

Following the lunch recess, no mention was made of across-the-board cuts in county employee salaries or allowed work hours.

The total number of layoffs expected as a result of the budgetary cuts, as proposed by the commissioners court, comes to six part-time positions and eight full-time positions.

“I knew it was going to be hard when I took office, but I didn’t realize the county was already in such a financial bind,” said Barr. “That’s due largely in fact to the jail, and cutting people is awfully hard. I wish we had another way, but we don’t have any alternatives. It’s either this, or let the county go broke. And I don’t think anyone wants to see that happen.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it