Corsicana —
Fine-tuning may best describe the phase county budget talks entered on Thursday.
Navarro County Commissioners and County Judge H.M. Davenport Jr. finished meetings with department heads and officials, and have begun a department by department review of requests as work continues toward crafting the new spending plan.
Commissioners did hear Thursday from Tommy Pryor, the county’s Information Technology officer. Pryor outlined plans for a new, county-wide computer back-up system that will automatically back up all computers in the courthouse and Justice Center, and the addition of battery backup devices to all of the computers.
Pryor explained having the battery backups would help prevent the loss of data or hard drive failures during the loss of power.
District Clerk Josh Tackett also appeared before commissioners, discussing plans for archiving and digitizing records in his office, and requesting a review of salaries of personnel in his office.
“I would not be much of a manager of boss if I didn’t express my employees’ concerns,” Tackett said.
Thursday afternoon, commissioners began a second “department by department” review of the initial draft budget to review changes suggested by office holders and begin consideration of some of the requests made.
Commissioners approved the addition of a part-time personnel budget item for the Planning and Development Department, funded at $3,000, to assist in training of a new employee with the pending retirement of Becky Garrett. Phillip Seely, Planning and Development Director, had asked for a $6,000 budget item.
The county health department will receive slightly more money than last year, requesting $45,000 from the commissioners. The Blooming Grove and Kerens Library will also see a $500 increase in funding this year, with each library set to receive $1,500. The county will pay the City of Corsicana $30,000 to help fund library services for county residents.
Undecided in talks Thursday is the expected cost of court-appointed attorneys in both District Court and the new County Court-At-Law. The court judges had requested $400,000 for each court, although commissioners want to study the question further and visit with District Judge James Lagomarsino and Court-At-Law Judge Amanda Putman again before finalizing a number.
Also, commissioners have tentatively approved a request from the county’s four Justices of the Peace for an increase in their travel allowance, with each JP to receive $4,800 annually — an increase of $900 for the year.
Commissioners tentatively decided to keep the Precinct 3 constable budget the same as 2012 — with no increase as requested by Brad Butler in a series of proposals sent to the court. Commissioners also approved a mileage payment of 55 cents per mile for mileage used by Butler serving court papers. Commissioners said they want to give Butler an opportunity to show he’ll perform the duties of the office as the county’s other three constables have been doing.
A request for a new full-time prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office was turned down, but approval was granted for a part-time salary budget of $50,000 for the office.
At 9 a.m. Friday, commissioners will hear from Eric Meyers Jr., the county emergency management coordinator, and finalize a review of personnel requests. A new draft budget should be available for commissioners to begin to review by early next week.
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Bob Belcher may be reached by email at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “Soundoff” on this story? Email: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com
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