Editor: Shannon Cottongame
September 28, 2023
The Hill County Commissioners Court heard a report on the county audit for the fiscal year that ended in September 2022 during a meeting held Tuesday morning, September 19.
Todd Pruitt of Pattillo, Brown & Hill spoke to the court and reported that the county received an unmodified opinion, which is a clean audit and the highest opinion that a government entity can receive.
Financial highlights showed that the county’s assets exceeded its liabilities by $35,514,797 at the end of the fiscal year, and its total net position increased by $821,650.
The county was also found to be in compliance with federal grant requirements related to the $4.7 million in federal money it received during the fiscal year. The majority of that amount was from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The only suggestion the auditors made was that the county be sure to document federal grant revenue as unearned revenue instead of revenue until it is spent.
County Judge Justin Lewis said that he appreciated the work of county officials and the report shows that the county’s financial house is in order. “I think, at the end of the day, our document shows that we have a group of people who are doing a good job of managing taxpayer funds, and we’re doing a really good job of reaching out and finding grant money,” Lewis said.
Commissioners discussed the county’s burn ban, but after receiving input from Emergency Services District (ESD) 1 President Ken Goins and reviewing conditions in the county, the ban was kept in place for now. Lewis said that firefighters battled a 55-acre fire two days before the meeting, and there is still a lot of dead material in the county despite recent rainfall. In some cases, precipitation has made things worse for firefighters, as the wet ground increases the likelihood of trucks getting stuck in fields, making it difficult to reach fires.
“Just because we had a little rain doesn’t mean it’s safe to burn yet,” Lewis said. “We’re going to take a wait-and-see approach.”
In other action, the court nominated Hubbard resident Eugene Fulton to serve another two-year term on the Hill County Appraisal District Board of Directors. Each taxing unit in the county receives a certain number of votes based on its total tax levy. The county chose to use its available votes to nominate Fulton to continue serving on the board.
The court also set public hearings on a proposal to close HCR 3310, which now only serves one landowner, and to install a no-thru trucks sign on HCR 2124. The hearings will be held during the court’s regular meeting Tuesday, October 24.
The court voted to amend a recent tax abatement agreement with Leitsol Solar after two corrections were made to the document. The new language clarifies that the projected completion date is by the end of the second quarter of 2026 and that the company must have at least two full-time employees during the abatement period.
Judge Lewis presented the annual grant application to the Texas Department of Agriculture for the Texans Feeding Texans: Home Delivered Meal Grant Program. Each year, the county sets aside $10,000 to support local Meals on Wheels programs and receives double that amount in grant funding to support the effort in Hill County. Commissioners approved applying for the grant funds.
The court also renewed a contract with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to operate the Statewide Automated Victim Notification Services (SAVNS). The county receives funding from the OAG to pay for the service, which notifies crime victims of release dates and other important updates relating to offenders.
The Lakelander 