County will wait until May for ESD creation vote
Milam County voters will have to wait until May of next year to decide on the creation of an Emergency Services District in the county.
During the Milam County Commissioners regular meeting on Monday, Milam County Judge Steve Young told Commissioners Court that he had failed to get a notice of a public hearing out in a timely manner. Because of that, the county could not hold the public hearing as expected due to legal requirements about the filing of public notices.
Young proposed to reset the public hearing for Sept. 26 and place the creation of an ESD on the ballot next May.
The county had been hoping to get the issue to voters this November but will not make the deadline for that. An ESD would create a new tax in the county that could max out at 10 cents per $100 valuation. All funds generated through the new tax would go toward ground and air ambulance services.
Every municipality in the county has already signed off on allowing the creation of an ESD on the ballot, but the county must do so also.
The 2023 budget for the county is posted on the Milam County web page for public viewing.
Young said the county is planning to reduce the Milam County property tax rate from .73 per $100 of valuation to .684100 per $100 of evaluation.
A hearing for the budget and tax rate will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 22 in the courtroom.
Commissioners also: approved the issuance of tax notes for the purchase of vehicles for use by the Milam County Sheriff’s Office; approved a software purchase to keep track of daily maintenance and other items for Precincts 3 and 4; approved a bid of just under $30,000 for a vent hood to be made and installed at the new Milam County Annex for Bea’s Kitchen; approved the resending of bids for a bridge replacement project on CR 464; approved a donation toward culverts and road improvements by Keith Strauma for CR 464; approved a donation and spread of rock base for the parking lot at Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department’s Davilla station; approved to go out for bids for renovations at the former Professional Building; approved signs identifying Mt. Homer Historical Cemetery on CR 327; and approved the donation of a trailer from the Milam County Sheriff’s Office to Milam Touch of Love.