Breckenridge Texan

This week’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Stephens County Commissioners Court will include three public hearings, one each on the proposed windfarm for the southeastern portion of the county, the proposed county tax rate and the county budget.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 25, in the District Courtroom on the second floor of the Stephens County Courthouse (or Room 115 if the courtroom is not available).

When the commissioners held a public hearing on Aug. 21 to get public input on the application filed by NextEra Energy Resources/La Casa Wind, LLC, asking Stephens County Commissioners for almost $5 million in tax abatements for the planned wind farm, there were many questions from those in attendance that the NextEra representatives did not have the answers to. County Judge Michael Roach suggested that everyone who had questions could send the questions to the court and then NextEra could answer them at a later date.

There is a list of 92 questions posted on the Stephens County website. Those questions were forwarded to NextEra two weeks ago, and a representative from the company is expected to be at Monday’s meeting to answer the questions.

Also on Monday’s agenda is an additional discussion about the NextEra proposal with input from tax/appraisal/abatement professionals.

Following the windfarm discussions, the agenda includes a public hearing regarding the county’s 2024 fiscal year budget. A detailed copy of the proposed budget is available for download on the County’s website (click here).

After the public hearing on the budget, there will be a public hearing on the proposed tax rate. The proposed tax rate is $0.6398 per $100 property valuation. That rate is lower than the De Minimis tax rate ($ 0.6650 per $100), and although it is higher than the Voter Approval Rate ($0.6188 per $100), it doesn’t exceed that amount by more than 8 percent, which is the calculation that Stephens County is allowed to use without the need for voter approval under rules for small communities.

Another topic on the agenda that generated some discussion among the commissioners at the last meeting is the consideration of a County policy regarding a pet within the courthouse. To see the full agenda, click here.

Cutline, top photo: At their Sept. 11 meeting, the Stephens County Commissioners discussed a variety of topics, including the need for a pet policy in the courthouse and moving the supervision of the Stephens County Airport back to the Commissioners Court, rather than the Airport Board, as it has been since 2019. The agenda for the Sept. 25 meeting includes 20 items, including the pet policy and three public hearings. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)