Author Archives: Todd Jagger

Commissioners Court June 2019

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These aren’t meant to be in depth recaps of everything that goes on in our monthly meeting – that would be too long and sometimes boring. Instead I’m just going to try and give you my take on some of the things we do.

1) We’ve got to do something about the mics and sound in the courtroom. I know it’s very difficult, sometimes impossible, for the public to hear what we’re saying. It’s hard for me to sometimes hear what Commissioners Adams and Evans are saying, so I know it’s gotta be very frustrating for the gallery. Even though the sound system is used by all the various entities that use the courtroom (JP, County, State, District, etc.) it’s the Commissioners Court that is responsible for the system. I’m going to personally look into this and see if there is something we can do prior to the next meeting. I hope we can address this without a big expense.

2) The heavy early summer rains have created some issues with county roads. Our road contractor, Jarratt Dirt Work & Paving, is working up some specs for dealing with some of these issues and will present them at the next Court meeting. Jeff Davis County does not have its own road maintenance dept. Compared to other counties in Texas we do not have a lot of county road mileage and a standing road crew & equipment would be cost prohibitive to our meager revenues. Instead we contract with Jarratt to provide these services on an ad hoc basis. This works to save the county money and Jarratt has been extremely responsive and economical for us, and they know all the roads and where the likely trouble spots are. I’ve learned that the process for addressing constituents’ concerns about road maintenance is to bring those concerns to me, I contact Jarratt, they look at the problem. If it’s a quick fix and within his contracted scope he may fix it right away. If it’s a bigger situation requiring a separate maintenance fee it will need to be brought before the Court as an agenda item.

3) There will be the final public meetings of the TXDOT “master plan” for Hwy 67 Corridor this summer. They are doing these in all the towns including FD. Ours is on July 26 in the Elementary School gym (there will be a notice in the paper closer to the event with details). I was at the previous one and it seemed like there was more TXDOT staff and consultants there than the public. Although US67 doesn’t run through FD we are definitely affected by it. The mobile homes from Ojinaga/Presidio must travel through Jeff Davis County because the overpass in Alpine will not accommodate the height. Other large equipment comes through here as well. TXDOT keeps telling us that “this is all just ideas at this point, we don’t have any plans to do anything” but I find it hard to believe they’re spending all this money just to spitball ideas. Something’s gonna happen. They want our input. We should give it to them. This is very important for the long-term future of Jeff Davis County. Be involved!

4) A few agenda items presented a “theme” of sorts in the meeting that had to do with autonomy offices of County elected officials have regarding spending money within their budget. This came up in an agenda item from the County Clerk (with input from the Treasurer) on revising procedures for paying jurors, and two agenda items from the County Attorney – one regarding purchasing office furniture and the other regarding an unwritten “policy” regarding starting salaries for employees that is impacting our ability to attract and retain excellent county employees, and is apparently not written anywhere in the Jeff Davis County Employee Handbook.

Specifically regarding the furniture that the County Attorney was asking to purchase from her outgoing assistant, it was my understanding from Ms. Todd’s presentation of the agenda item that those funds would come from the County Attorney’s current budget; that she wasn’t asking the County to outlay any additional funds to her office. I specifically asked “So this is from your budget?” “Yes, it is,” she replied. That’s why I moved to approve but it died without a second. It’s probable there was some misunderstanding with the other commissioners about where these funds were to come from and that’s why they didn’t offer a second. Later in the week I spoke to Ms. Todd and she confirmed that the funds were in her budget, that she was not asking for additional funds. I thought that was clear from her answer to my question but in retrospect I perhaps should have pursued that for further clarity of the entire court.

County government was specifically constructed under the Texas Constitution to be comprised of multiple autonomous elected officials and departments, so that no one department or individual could become too powerful. My understanding is that the oversight and role Commissioners Court has regarding other county elected officials’ departmental finances is primarily when setting their budget. The purse is absolutely a powerful tool. Once the budgets for these offices is set it should be up to the elected officials to be responsible for these funds and spend them properly according to and within their budget. My position (and I believe the law) is that these officials and departments have the responsibility and the right to use their currently budgeted funds in the way they see fit to make their office work best to perform their duties and in the public interest. They must also be transparent and accountable in how those funds are being spent. The best case is a budget surplus at the end of a fiscal year. That shows both the Court and, more importantly, the taxpayers that an office is demonstrating fiscal responsibility. If they spend unwisely their budgets can be adjusted by the Commissioners Court next fiscal year. And we are all accountable to the voters next election.

Property Tax “Reform?”

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The two big issues this legislative session in Texas are “property tax reform” and “school finance.” They are inextricably linked but both are being tackled separately in the Lege. Both the House and the Senate have passed their own versions of each so that means there will be a conference committee to iron out the differences to come up with a single bill (for each) that is acceptable for both chambers.

I’m not going to get into the fine details of either of these bills. I would suggest the Texas Tribune for in depth unbiased analysis. Instead I’ll focus on my take on the bills and how I believe they’ll impact Jeff Davis County.

I’m just a bill…

First the good news. For the most part the school finance bill(s) are pretty good, or at least an improvement. The House version passed with broad bipartisan support and the Senate version passed unanimously. To my knowledge the actual formulas have not been released but it’s reported that while most school districts will see a benefit (i.e., an increase in state dollars to the district) some districts, particularly smaller districts that have benefitted from the “Robin Hood” plans, will be negatively impacted. I discussed this with one of the coauthors (an R from Harris County), and he offered to run the formula calculations for FDISD to see how we are impacted. According to him and the HB-3 formulas at the time the FDISD taxable rate will decrease from $1.17 to $1.09, and the district will receive a $107,000 positive gain from the state. Now, that said, these numbers will change as the bills get tweaked but this is a good benchmark to have. That should lower your property tax bill.

The more difficult bill is what will come from SB-2/HB-2, the so-called “Property Tax Reform” bills. (Because they are very similar and going to conference to produce a single bill, I’ll just refer to them in the singular.)

Let’s be very clear: SB-2/HB-2 will NOT lower your property taxes. What it will do is decrease the ability of your county to pay for current and future services and projects.

The main focus of this bill is a reduction in the amount that your county may collect in property taxes each year. The primary driver for this is the “rollback cap rate,” which is a little complicated but basically is the amount in total taxes your local entity (county and school in our case) may collect from existing properties, regardless of the tax rate or property values, without an election approving that tax increase. For a long time the rollback rate in Texas has been 8%. In other words if the total tax levy in Jeff Davis County increased for whatever reason by 7.999% or under from the previous year’s levy then no election needed. But 8% would require the county to hold an election for the voters to approve the increase.

Needless to say elections to approve tax increases are rarely successful. Y’all might recall we had one several years back when FDISD was in a serious situation after the state’s share of school funding had dropped so much. The proposal wasn’t a huge increase but it failed and FDISD had to cut a lot of programs and some positions.

Besides usually failing, elections cost counties money. So most counties end up doing a tax levy/budget shuffle to make sure they don’t exceed the 8% rollback cap and trigger an election.

SB-2/HB-2 will lower the rollback cap rate from 8% to 3.5%. Both bills started at 2.5% but that was a bit draconian for some moderate Rs and it was amended to 3.5% and exempts some school districts from the calculations.

In the Senate version counties with under $15 Million tax levy (JDC has about a $2M levy) will continue to have an 8% rollback rate BUT we must have a mandatory May 2020 election to determine whether we are also reduced to the 3.5% rate.

Unlike the school finance bills there is virtually no D support for this approach to “reform,” and some Rs have issues with it as well. They understand that things cost money, that services and products often increase in price well more than standard inflation. They know that the state and feds are continually requiring more from local governments while not providing the funding to pay for them: unfunded mandates. In the Senate there weren’t enough votes to bring it to the floor and some drama ensued around that.

So… presented with a problem – the prospect of ramming a flawed partisan bill with shaky support from their own party down the throats of Texas just to make good on promises (mainly to their base) – Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Bonnen got together and are floating a 1% statewide sales tax increase with most going towards “reducing property taxes.” (How the funds would be allocated to do that is unclear.) They are proposing it in the form of a Texas constitutional amendment, which will require 2/3 of both chambers and voter approval. Putting it forth as a constitutional amendment is a political tactic. The Lege could pass this without an amendment. But doing it as an amendment gets the politicians off the hook by putting it to the voters. If they vote “no” then, hey, we tried. If they vote “yes” then the voters, not the Legislature, increased your taxes. This proposal is drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle. The “no tax” crowd is opposed to any tax increase for virtually any reason. Others point out that a sales tax is the most regressive type of tax, hurting the poor most of all. This is true. So it’s uncertain how much traction this idea will get from the Lege or the voters.

One interesting sidebar to this is that Rep. Geren (R – Fort Worth) has, for several sessions, proposed a bill that would allow counties to add, by local election, up to a 1% sales tax, and that bill has always been squashed by leadership. But now the same leadership is proposing the same thing? What’s the difference? Well, the big difference is in Geren’s bill that money is going to the county. In the current proposal that money is going to the state. Hmmm… Texas has a history of collecting money for one thing and spending it on another, so that raises some red flags on its face.

Look, nobody likes paying taxes but everyone has to pay them. The question is who pays, how much they pay, and who is going to shoulder the weight of our tax burden in Texas. The elephant in the room is that Texas prefers property owners pay the bulk of taxes as opposed to having a state income tax or a higher corporate tax rate. There is vehement opposition to changing that dynamic. On the one hand that’s certainly been a benefit to industry choosing to make Texas their place of business and a robust economic engine. No question about it. But it’s also putting us in a position where home ownership becomes unattainable for many and a financial burden for some. It’s pushing rents higher all across the state, too. Property taxes in Austin for a mid-range home easily run around $1000/mo. We absolutely need to fix this and there’s no easy fix.

The bottom line is for us here in Jeff Davis County the school finance bill seems to be a benefit, while the property tax bill (at least what we know of it now) could make things worse. If our county votes to go to 3.5% cap it will take away a big chunk of the only source of revenue we have to fund things like our EMS, our law enforcement, and other essential services. Oh, there was an amendment to exempt essential county services but it failed in the Senate with every D plus Sen. Seliger (R – Amarillo) voting in favor, and every other R voting against it. We’ll just have to see what comes from the conference committee. Lt. Gov. Patrick continues his petty partisan management of the Senate by appointing no Ds to the conference committee – for the first time in over 30 years. Speaker Bonnen has yet to announce the House’s members to the committee but given his leadership this session it’s a safe bet it will be bipartisan and include some good minds across the political spectrum.

Will Texas get a bill that actually reforms property taxes in Texas or a bill that continues the trend of lower taxes, less services? There’s no way to know right now but what I do know is if we get what’s on the table right now it’s going to make things harder for us here in Jeff Davis County.

Intro to the “Jeff Davis County Pct 2” category

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I want to be proactive about informing the citizen of Jeff Davis County about our local and state government goings-on. I thought about posting these rambles on Facebook and maybe that *should* be the place. But Facebook, even in our local community page, seems to be where people go to talk down or at others, to post things they would almost certainly never say in person. It’s divisive and, frankly, exhausting and disheartening. So I think I’ll try here instead, at least at first. Maybe some of these posts will be linked to FB if appropriate. So let’s give it a go here, eh?

There’s a difference between fact and opinion. I’ll make every effort to get the facts right but I may not have all the information or I might flat get something wrong. If I do, let me know (and provide credible sourcing). These writings are, by definition, my interpretations so they’ll reflect my views.

Dear American CEOs

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I’m willing to pay more for a product that is built with the kind of quality we used to be famous for here in America. Things that were well-designed and built to be used. And if they broke they could be repaired and keep on working. This is the legacy of American manufacturing. There were jobs in making things, using those things and repairing those things to keep said things working.

Today everything is disposable – built to a low spec, with minimal manufacturing standards and poor quality control. Things are designed to function to some degree of effectiveness – maybe – for a little while, then break and need to be tossed in the landfill and replaced. Half the stuff doesn’t even work or fit right out of the box. I recently bought a John Deere tractor mower that wouldn’t start. While phone troubleshooting with their technician it was found to have disconnected parts in the engine. How did that even make it out the factory door?? Of course there are exceptions but it’s frustrating that almost every item we buy these days is inferior quality even if you pay a premium price.

Companies no longer serve their customers, they serve their shareholders or the next quarter’s numbers.

Sure, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US would be good for some things. There’s no reason we can’t build things here again. It would be good for us and the world economy. But even if we build stuff in China or sew it in Bangladesh or assembled in Mexico, if our companies – names we’ve known for decades – insisted on high quality materials and workmanship our brands could once again be the standard that other industries aspire to. No matter whether it’s built in Des Moines or Guandong. It’s not that hard. If it costs 10% more to make something good then do it – I’ll pay 20% more to have something that’s well made and lasts. Do that and I promise Americans, and the world, will buy American again.

Barber Tight

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I stopped in a barbershop in El Paso this week to get a much needed haircut. It’s always a gamble but the sign on the road said “Voted Best Barbershop” so what the heck.

The young man who cut my hair was named Jesse. He looked like he was in his early 20s. You can always tell an experienced barber by the way they handle the tools, whether it be clippers, scissors or razor, and this fellow’s skill and care seemed that of someone with a lot of experience. He told me he was born in Los Angeles but had grown up in El Paso and he had been cutting hair for a long time, since he was about 16. On the street. He was a street barber in his neighborhood. “But I decided I should get my license, be a real barber.”

He was doing such an awesome job I asked if he would trim my beard and mustache, to clean it up. I told him it’s sometimes hard to get it even yourself in the mirror. “Yeah, we’ll get it ‘barber tight.'”

I went back a couple months later and he wasn’t there. I know barbers move around a lot but I wonder whether he moved on or went back to street cutting.

Vote Yes AND No

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Editorial for the Jeff Davis County Mountain Dispatch – August 25, 2014

In a few days some of you will go into the voting booth to make a decision that affects not just you but your children, grandchildren, your neighbors and your community. The decision you are being asked to make is whether you, as a citizen of Jeff Davis County, will pay more in property taxes in order to make up for some of the funds taken away from our schools by the Texas Legislature.
One way to make that decision is to look at short term self-interests. “I don’t have kids in school,” or “I pay too many taxes already!” Both of those statements are true for me.
Another way to make that decision is to look at the long term. Do our town’s children deserve to have an arts program? Music? Sports? Should we be able to hire educators that challenge our kids to rise higher than the average percentile? Does our town benefit from extra-curricular programs that encourage healthy productive citizens and help keep our kids from looking to drinking, teen sex and drugs for diversion?
A third way to make that decision is to look at why we have to make it at all and then do what’s right. Now, I’m not talking about Pete or Poncho or Jose, but when we send legislators to Austin and Washington who vow to cut government spending don’t be surprised when they do just that. But understand exactly what they mean when they say it: They’re not talking about cutting government spending that benefits those who fund their campaigns and give them cushy jobs when they leave office. They’re talking about taking billions of dollars in education funding and handing the bill to you and me. This is the chickens coming home to roost.
These guys talk about “small government,” sure. But they love big government when it benefits their donors. Just keep those campaign checks and PAC money coming. Small government for you. Big government for their cronies.
So when you go into the voting booth next week do what’s right for our kids and our community and vote YES. I don’t like it either but it’s the right thing to do. Then when you go back to the voting booth this November do the right thing again and vote NO to those “small-government” snake oil salesmen who give our tax dollars to their wealthy donors and then leave us to pay the bills back home. If you don’t then get ready to open your wallet again.

John Graves

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John Graves passed this week at the age of 92 on his ranch called “Hard Scrabble” near Glen Rose, Texas. Graves was a writer, best known for “Goodbye To A River,” a book that has been described as one of the finest works of Texas literature ever written. I’m not sure whether calling something “Texas literature” is meant to describe it or apologize for it. Or maybe it’s used in simple enjoyment of the novelty of having the words “Texas” and “literature” in the same sentence.

Graves could be considered in many ways the literary offspring of the revered Texas Triumvirate – writer & folklorist J. Frank Dobie, naturalist Roy Bedichek and historian Walter Prescott Webb – his writing distilling the craft of all three into one man’s words.

I was lucky enough to have my photography linked to those words when Texas Monthly hired me to make a photograph for an article about the epidemic of Oak Wilt Disease which was rapidly devastating the Texas live oak population. At that time there were just a few pockets of widespread Oak Wilt and Texas A&M wasn’t exactly sure what it was or how to stop it. I took my old 4×5 up to a ranch not terribly far, in Texas terms, from Graves’ Hard Scrabble and photographed a single majestic oak standing naked against a patented Texas sunrise. When the article, titled “Dead Oaks,” came out I was proud to see the byline “by John Graves” next to my photograph.

I never knew John Graves and I have a horrible confession to make as a Texan educated back when Texas cared about education: I never read “Goodbye To A River.” Oh, I’ve read things that Graves has written, many things, but it’s been a while. On the occasion of his death somebody posted a link on some social media site – that ephemeral medium that is instantly gone and never yours – to another article in Texas Monthly, much more recent, about guns that Graves had written. I looked it up and started reading.

My god, I’ve sure been reading a lot of crap in the last several years. The best make it look so easy and effortless, like watching Eric Clapton play the guitar. The first sentences of “Great Guns” are simple, evocative prose that connects and constructs, and reminds you of the power of language in the hands of a true artist. And then it gets better.

Are there literary offspring of John Graves’ generation of Texas writers? I’m sure there are. Name your favorites in the comments. In the meantime I know what book I’m reading next.

Great Guns

by John Graves

The author John Graves, photographed on August 22, 2006, holding a Winchester Model 97 shotgun outside his home in north-central Texas. Photography by Michael O’Brien
I AM NOT A MEMBER OF THE National Rifle Association, nor do I collect rare firearms, attend gun shows, or subscribe to gun magazines. I am not, in other words, a “gun nut” and, in fact, can sympathize to a degree with the views of those who detest all such weapons and want them regulated. You can’t have lived in a large American city for any length of time, as I have, without seeing that such people’s opinions may have a certain amount of validity.
But I grew up in a time and a region that almost automatically sparked interest in not only guns but also the hunting of birds and beasts, in which pursuits such weapons were and still are central components. Nor did a war experienced in the U.S. Marine Corps and a functional country life during most of the past forty-odd years do anything to hamper the affinity.

On writing

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I wrote the following to a friend, a writer, editor & scholar.  Then I decided it should be here.

UntitledSeems like each creative interest ebbs and flows throughout my life and swings between photography, music and writing, although the writing has never really blossomed.  And lately I have a strong pull to write but I’m uncertain exactly how to get on with it.  I’ve even thought about taking some kind of online writing course but wouldn’t know where to find a good one, or if it would do more harm than good… y’know…?  I kind of want to write short articles/editorials/essays/whatever that (hopefully) well-express a point of view that will help make people think about issues and (hopefully) act as a result.  Kind of like this and this.

I realized a few days ago that I pour whatever creative juices I have for writing into… emails…  I could make myself feel a little better about this and use the word “correspondence” instead, painting a picture of Jefferson, Emerson, Vonnegut in my head, writing letters.  But it’s emails.  I realized that often I’ll draft, craft and edit so that whatever I’m saying to whatever person is exactly the way I think it should be.  I’m doing it now.  And I think that’s a little stupid, perhaps even sad.  But when I sit down to Write something (with a capital W) it’s so fucking hard to pull it together to actually write.  I realized that the reason I do that is because, mostly, emails have to get written – someone is expecting a reply or a contact from me.  Essays don’t have to be written.  In an email there is probably just one person, someone I know at least a little, and they aren’t reading it like it’s anything more than what it is.  It’s out the door, read, and then it’s gone.  No big pressure, no big expectations.  Same with music and photographs. Music is totally transitory.  And with my photographs I long ago found that emotional place where I can just put it out there and if people like it great, if not, great too.  People look and they move on.  Writing seems so very different than those.

Even as I’m writing this one possible bit of self-advice is forming in the back of my head.  Authors of books I’ve read offer up their wisdom and experience.  I hear Stephen Pressfield saying, “Just sit down and start writing. Keep doing it. Every day.” and Anne Lamott saying “Yes, it will be shitty. It will get better.”  I know.  I just have to impose some sort of structure and deadlines on my own writing I guess.  And not just to do the writing but to share it.  Seth Godin is now saying: “You have to ship, just creating isn’t enough.”

So, here’s the first shipment.

John Mellencamp says you’re stealing from him, so Google should give him money

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John Mellencamp wrote an article for Huffington Post. I wouldn’t have noticed either except that Bob Lefsetz happened to mention it in a recent newsletter. Mr. Mellencamp says, essentially, that you’re stealing from him and that ISPs and Google should pony up and give him some money.

I posted this as a comment to the article:

The real problem is not illegal downloads. That ship has sailed, sorry Mr. Mellencamp. People turned to free downloads because the industry refused to evolve.

The real problem is the system of tracking, collecting and distributing royalties in the US is fundamentally broken – not necessarily by design but in practice. The system, as implemented, benefits the top 10% of artists at the expense of the bottom 90% and massive amounts of money is donated to politicians to keep the system broken. Sound familiar?

Every other country in the the world has a single Performing Rights Organization (PRO). Music sales, plays and performances are properly tracked and the artists get paid. It’s not rocket science. The US is the only country in the world with more than one PRO. The PROs shake down small clubs and coffeehouses for thousands of dollars per year yet there’s almost a 100% chance that the artists who perform in those clubs will never see a dime of that money. Lady Gaga will. Probably John Mellencamp will. Or used to.

The solution: 1) a single PRO entity; 2) proper tracking of radio airplay and other performances, not “sampling”; 3) a fair method of establishing and enforcing royalty collections; 4) pro-rata distribution of royalties to all rights-holders. Other countries do this. We can too.

If you really want to help the artists – all of them – insist we have a single PRO in the US.