On March 28, the Bandera County Commissioners’ Court heard the presentation of the Bandera County audit for fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, by Keith Neffendorf of Neffendorf & Blocker, P.C.
After a lengthy presentation, Neffendorf highlighted their pension liability increased significantly ($11 million liability), due to the COLA (cost of living adjustment) increase.
“Although it jumped up substantially, other counties did too,” he said.
Neffendorf concluded overall that “it was a good clean audit.”
In other agenda business, Patricia Moore, Executive Director at Bandera County Convention & Visitors Bureau, presented their first quarter financials for 2024 to the court and introduced their new treasurer, Josie Evans.
The court approved the request from Susan Junker, Commander of Bandera American Legion Post 157, to use the courthouse lawn for their 2024 events.
In order to maintain the integrity of the courthouse lawn, the Legion will conduct only two ceremonies on the grassy area: National Day of Prayer on May 2 and Bandera Honors Veterans on November 9.
That veterans event will feature a program and veteran’s barbecue with flags displayed on the perimeter of the lawn from November 7-14.
The legion’s other events will take place on the sidewalk and stairs near Main Street in front of the courthouse: National Police Officers Memorial Day, which encompasses a 24-hour vigil from May 12, 5:00 a.m. to May 13, 5:00 a.m.; Flag Day on June 14; and to commemorate Memorial Day, they will place flags along the perimeter of the Courthouse lawn from May 23-May 30.
After considering the petition from Bryan and Lanelle Evans of Texas SportBike Moto Rallies to use Mansfield Park on Sept. 19-22 for Summit in the Hills, a sports bike rally event, the commissioners voted all in favor to approve their request.
In their presentation, the Evans duo emphasized their seriousness for safety, comradery of all bike enthusiasts and fun for the family, including one free day for the family scheduled from 5-9 p.m.
The event, which they are expecting 800-1000 people to attend, will take place one week before the annual Rumble on the River Bikers Rally event.
In other business, commissioners voted unanimously to accept bids totaling $28,325 to purchase six total lots in Lakehills in the Avalon neighborhood – lots that were initially gifted to the county.
Later, the court approved an agreement with EMS and Trizetto Provider Solutions, LLC for electronic healthcare claims submissions, thus authorizing Judge Richard Evans to sign the agreement.
According to County Auditor Darryl Sadler, the cost for this agreement was already budgeted by EMS.
In determining the funding source to resolve the EMS building HVAC issues, Sadler verified to the Court that $38,000 is needed for the HVAC work.
“I’ve confirmed that EMS has already saved $25,000 in group insurance, so that’s absolutely saved there and can be used towards it, and calculations on the salaries is expected that the paramedics salary line will have approximately $40,000 left over,” he said. “So, if we just take the last $13,000 from there, there’s definitely money there. This way, we don’t have to move money from outside funds to the EMS fund.”
Later, Sheriff Dan Butts requested approval for two new patrol vehicles.
Butts explained to the Court, “We have unused salary money that came from the Central 22. That money was to be used for this calendar year and we couldn’t go back and pay salaries that we missed already, so we’ve got five and a half months of that increase that cannot be used for salaries but we can use it for equipment. He continnued, “These two vehicles, I don’t have the paperwork in front of me, but they’re somewhere around $92,000 for both. They’re Chevrolet half-ton pickups, 4 wheel-drives, and they meet our requirements. These truck’s 2023 models are $7,000 cheaper than their 2024 models.”
Butts calculated that the unused salary funds totaled about $130,000, over what is needed for the trucks. The commissioners approved the purchase.
