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In this budget workshop, the Court discusses salaries, the nature of Road and Bridge employees, the difficulty staffing EMS, community assistance and more.

In this budget workshop, the Court discusses community assistance, lacking budgets from 12 departments, salaries, retirement, employee dependent health care increases, a salary survey and more.  It was a detailed and pleasant discussion.

This is the first significant budget workshop for the 2027 budget year (the first workshop is usually brief, covering general topics like the tax calendar).  The main topics are salaries, retirement increase and community assistance.

Today in Commissioners Court, the ownership of the Round Top Courthouse was debated as the County authorized an application to the Historical Commission for its historical preservation. Also of interest, the Elections Administrator details the election night debacle related to the malfunction of the ballot counting machine.

The Round Top Town Council went into closed session to discuss 4 potential lawsuits.  After over two hours in closed session, the Council voted on item 1 to go to arbitration, on items 2 and 3 they took no action and on item 4, the courthouse square and precinct courthouse ownership dispute, they voted to "file suit against Fayette County for claims related to the Round Top Town Square, the actions of county officials, and related matters, and that the city attorney prepare and file such litigation".  Apparently, the suit could be filed as early as today.

On this day in Commissioners Court, I was attacked personally by two members of the Court for several minutes and thrown out.  They were trying to send me a message; a public spanking.  It didn’t work.  Listen to the audio, read my explanation and my response.

The entire population of the Town of Round Top must have attended tonight’s meeting.  I counted nearly 80 members of the public in attendance at one point, not including the council.  The tiny Courthouse was packed wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder, standing room only.  Obviously, this controversial topic has elicited a lot of interest from the public.  The conversation lasted 63 minutes and you can hear it all right here.

The Fayette County Republican Party was treated to a visit from the Senior Editor of Texas Scorecard, Brandon Waltens.  Brandon shared his thoughts on the successes and failures of the past legislative session, the Republican priorities and took questions from the audience.  You may also enjoy “Highjacked?”, his short documentary on the high jacking of the Texas House, which can be found on YouTube.

It was a crowded room for today’s 98-minute meeting with lots of public participation.  There were public comments, a proclamation recognizing September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, an uncommonly lengthy public hearing on the speed limit for Bruno Road and a presentation by Cintas Uniform Company.  The budget hearing and workshop were brief with few comments, and the remainder of the meeting was fairly routine.  We have a brief report and full audio for you.

Today’s 3-hour marathon was another delightful, substantive, meaningful and consequential budget workshop.  The salary contest was on full display as the County Clerk pleaded passionately for the ladies in her office.  The Court finally settles on a 4% payroll increase for most employees and discusses creative ways to build the contingency fund.  It’s must-listen audio, listening to a room full of people debating & discussing their own salaries.  3 hours last week and 3 hours today, some of the best audio to come out of government all year.  Line by line, decision by decision, approval is expected next week.