Fort Bend County Commissioners Court proposed a decreased tax rate for the 2018 county budget along with a list of 2018 annual salaries for some county officials at Tuesday’s commissioners court meeting. Commissioners also authorized an agreement with an engineering company to build a new animal shelter. Tax rate proposedCommissioners unanimously voted to propose a tax rate at $0.46900 per $100 valuation, a 1.05 percent decrease from the 2016 rate of $0.47400 per $100 valuation, according to meeting documents. The county is scheduled to adopt an official tax rate Sept. 26, according to the county's calendar.According to the calculations of the county's appraisal review board, Fort Bend County’s tax revenue will increase 1.26 percent to $286 million this year, said Pamela Gubbels, Fort Bend County’s director of finance and investments.Two public hearings will be held on the tax rate proposal Sept. 13 and Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.Salary increases proposed for some county officialsCommissioners voted to propose 3.7 percent salary increases for county officials, including the county judge, commissioners, sheriff, treasurer, and justices of the peace, according to meeting documents. Meanwhile, the commissioners voted to propose salary increases of 11.32 percent for Fort Bend constables. The county’s human resources department recommended increasing the constables’ salaries by that amount in order to match the salaries of the county’s justices of the peace, Gubbels said. This is because the constables’ offices have grown in personnel and they are in charge of the same number of staff members as the justices of the peace, she said.The other salary increases were the result of a salary study conducted last year by Evergreen Solutions LLC, who provided employee compensation consulting services, Gubbels said. Agreement approved for design of new animal shelterThe commissioners court approved a $68,500 contract with Broaddus & Associates for the design of a new animal shelter building. It will be funded from the county’s capital improvement project fund.Broaddus & Associates will provide engineering services, including the design for the construction, which will take place on the existing animal services site and will expand the facility, according to the agreement. The animal services site is located at 1210 Blume Road in Rosenberg.
Renee Yan graduated May 2017 from the University of Texas in Arlington with a degree in journalism, joining Community Impact Newspaper as a reporter in July.
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