Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 16
Now let's call back to order the voting session of the Travis County Commissioners court.
item 16, consider and take appropriate action on draft newspapers and advertisements including a, public hearing on September 27, 2011, b, notice of public hearings on September 20 and 23, 2011, regarding tax increase, and c, notice of tax revenuen crease.
>> leroy nell list, planning and budget.
I have with me jessica rio.
jessica will go over these ads that are drafts at this point and actually the copies that you have have some light modifications.
we worked with the tax office, tim dwell, to come up with the truth in taxation.
>> also to note we've also worked with barbara wilson in the county attorney's office and she's reviewed the content to make sure they meet all legal requirements.
there are three ads.
each of them will appear once except for one twice.
the first ad, if you look at the copy that has green, that is the most up to date version in working with the tax office.
the first ad will run in the chronicle on September 8th.
that public hearing will be on Tuesday, September 27th.
and this advertisement lets people know they can come down to that hearing and also lets them know the proposed budget will be on file for public review on Friday, September 23rd.
the amounts in there are noted.
anything that is highlighted could change.
I don't think at this point on this particular ad that it would change, but just to note that it could, and the green has been updated from the version that was submitted to you previously.
as it says here, the budget will raise more property taxes than last year and it provides the amount and then how much of that amount is related to new construction.
the second ad is the notices of public hearing on tax increase, and that ad will appear in the Austin american-statesman on September 12th.
and this is the ad that requires the Commissioners court to take a vote on the proposed tax rate during markup.
and actually we will require or ask that the court consider taking that vote prior to I believe it's noon on Thursday.
so the second day of markup.
and we will definitely be reminding you of that.
nothing changed actually in this ad.
it's all still in yellow.
just to note that those numbers are drafts at this time.
if the -- the vote that is taken is different than what is reflected here, we will make those changes very quickly and submit them in time for the ad to go out on the 12th, which is a Monday.
and also we'll update the actual vote of each member of the court as noted there.
>> yeah, as you can see in the second paragraph that shows the 2.99% increase over the preceding year's tax revenues.
>> about the effective tax rate.
>> yeah.
>> the third ad will actually appear twice and it's to let the public knowing hearings were conducted.
those hearings will be September 20 and Friday September 23rd.
our office has checked with your offices to ensure it's on your calendar since it's some of what a strange day, not a regular Tuesday, excuse me.
these amounts also are in draft form at present time and I think that's really about it.
I am happy to answer any questions.
>> questions?
so today we are approving the --
>> there's no need to take any action today.
there is just to let the court know what those ads will look like.
and like I said, the tax -- when the court votes on the proposed tax rate during markup, that is when we will make sure that the numbers reflect your vote.
>> okay, now, these ads have to be placed, though.
>> yes.
>> we don't have to approve the placement of the ads?
>> we have scheduled -- go ahead.
>> I would say that no you don't really have to approve the placement of the ads.
what you've always approved in the past was the content because you've approved the budget to pay for the placement of the ads.
but if you want to approve --
>> do we need to approve the content today?
>> if you are ready to approve it, you may as well because you don't have to look at it.
but if you are not ready to approve it, it not at a deadline for doing so.
>> she's just trying to save ms. Rio and mr. Nellis some work.
it would be good to approve the content of the three ads.
there's three, right?
>> that's correct.
>> move approval.
>> second.
>> discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
is that all we need to do on item 16?
>> yes, sir.
