Columns/Opinions

One of the best kept secrets with regard to our county health care is the WIC or Women, Infants and Children program.  

Generally, this program provides food for infants and young children of growing families. For example, the program provides formula, whole grains, cereal, milk, cheese, juice, eggs, beans peanut butter, fruits and vegetables, canned tuna, formula and much more for qualifying women, infants and young children.  

Cameron Code Enforcement has teamed up with the Police Department in enforcing code violations set out by the city. 

The purpose of the recent rise in enforcement is part of the beautification initiative. There are many buildings and areas in town that have become run down and possibly even dangerous to our citizens. Many of the abandoned buildings and lots are being torn down and cleaned up in hopes to provide a cleaner and safer area for our citizens as well as a more eye appeasing view for those looking to relocate to the area. 

If you have questions regarding Code Enforcement, please contact your code enforcement officers Stanley Garrison or Rene Sapp. You may also visit the city website camerontexas.net or contact the Cameron Police Department.

For years our Texas Legislature has required counties to provide certain services for the citizens of the county such as indigent health care and indigent counsel.  However, the legislature does not provide funding for its mandates.  Thus, the county must pay for these services with its own funds.  Now the legislature is attempting to cap the amount of county taxing!  A tax cap sounds good, but this one would further limit the services the county provides.  

The mandated services are good ones, such as health care for the indigent. We have an excellent county health care program, but this costs our Milam County taxpayers. Our indigent counsel program provides a lawyer for an indigent person charged with a crime. However, this too costs the County money, which is paid for out of county taxes. I am not suggesting that we curtail or eliminate these programs, but simply that the State help fund them.  

By Steve Young, Milam County Judge

Economic development is critical to all of Milam County.  More business equals more jobs and more tax revenues. This week we had some very positive developments regarding economic development.  

BITMAIN

Bitmain came to Milam County last fall and the company leased buildings and other facilities to put in a bitcoin mining operation. Bitmain spent tons of money to renovate the old potrooms to raise ceilings and put in concrete floors.  However, the price of the bitcoin went down with the stock market and the company decided to halt its operations.  

Did you know that the speed limit on local roads (i.e. residential areas and downtown) is 30 mph unless marked otherwise like the school zone which is 20 mph? 

In recent events we’ve had many reports of vehicles speeding through residential areas as well as the school zone. 30 mph does not seem very fast until you’re standing still or even watching it come towards you. 

Something to remember is that our town is full of children that play in their yards and ride their bikes up and down roads near their homes.  

Imagine one of those kids come out in front of you will you are traveling 30mph, there is a greater chance of you hitting the child than you are stopping in time. It is important that we all obey the speed limit to avoid these kinds of tragedies and safe guard our neighborhoods.

By Milam County Judge Steve Young

Have you ever complained about your county commissioner?  My road needs grading.  My road has potholes.  Why don’t they come out and fix my roads?  You probably have.  I know I have, as I too live off a county road.  So why isn’t your road graded and/or the potholes fixed?

There have been several reports of small fires burning leaves and twigs around town. 

Unless permitted by the Cameron Volunteer Fire Department this is a fineable offense. Burning in town can be hazardous to all those who live near. Embers that fly through the air make it possible for fires to spread without knowledge. An ember landing in a yard or in a gutter on a home can lead to disaster very quickly. 

Please be sure to contact your local Fire Department in the city and the county when planning a burn to gain permission from the department. This also allows them to notify law enforcement and avoid unnecessary emergency response. 

For more information on burning contact the Cameron Volunteer Fire Department at (254) 697-4702.

By Milam County Judge Steve Young

As your new County Judge, I am compelled to thank Judge Barkemeyer and our County Commissioners, including Commissioners Watkins, Shuffield, Fisher and Muegge for an excellent job of leading the county through eight of the toughest years since the Great Depression.  

The loss of Alcoa and Luminant took a heavy toll on every citizen, every business and every organization of the county. However, in spite of this hardship, the county has survived and prospered.  

Your county government is in good shape and financially stable. The county is still providing all of the services it provided prior to the closings, without a significant increase in taxes. We will continue to provide those services, including maintaining almost 1,000 miles of county roads, law enforcement through our fine new Sheriff White, four Constables and four Justices of the Peace. 

By Milam County Judge David Barkemeyer

The Commissioner’s Court has the proposed 2019 budget plan ready to be posted which includes a proposed three-cent increase in the 2018-19 county tax rate to 73 cents per $100 of valuation.

I will be holding budget meetings around the county the last few days of August and we will hold two public hearings before voting on the final budget and tax rate in the Sept. 10 Commissioner’s Court meeting.  

There was considerable debate among the five of us this time on whether to raise the tax rate at all or to leave it at 70 cents, and we were almost equally divided on the issue. I’ll accept all the blame for the proposed 2019 budget containing the three-cent increase.  Here’s why.

By Milam County Judge David Barkemeyer

Commissioner’s Court is in the midst of working out a proposed county budget plan for 2019.  We have completed our meetings with each of the county department heads and county elected officials.  In all cases we are either making reductions in next year’s expense budgets or holding the departments at the same level as their 2018 budgets.

As a result we will be proposing to reduce the 2019 General Fund expense budget overall by some $340,000 and we will be reducing the total tax revenue allocated to the four commissioner’s precincts by at least $500,000.  They will be reducing their expenditures accordingly.  These reductions will no doubt, at least in some instances, result in a reduction in our ability to deliver county services to you as effectively as before.  In fact, we’re already making some of these cuts, and gauging by some of the complaints I’ve been getting, it’s already happening.