Mertzon City Council August 24 2026
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
A. Agenda Analysis
Public hearing, items 5 and 6: These are allotted times for the public to speak in open forum about the proposed City budget and tax rate.
Adoption, items 7 and 8: These are the allotted times for the Council to vote to approve the budget and tax rate.
Last year: Here is my page for this meeting in 2025.
B. Meeting Review
Here are the meeting documents, which includes the approved, almost final, budget.
Public hearing, Items 5 & 6: No one from the public, other than myself, attended the meeting. I didn't speak. (This website is my forum.)
Adoption of budget and tax rate, items 7&8: After some hesitation because the law requires they adopt a budget first and tax rate second, the Council approved both. See the meeting documents for the details.
C. Commentary
Did you know that the City of Mertzon, unlike Irion County ISD, did not pass a deficit budget? Why? First, the City doesn't face a recapture demon like the District. Every year the State takes funds from the District because it qualifies as "wealthy" under school finance laws from the mineral wealth in Irion County. The City doesn't share in any of that wealth, which also means that it doesn't share in the burden of a constant raiding of their coffers. Second, the City functions on very little debt, which means that their income is not going to interest payments like the District's. Indeed, with the latest round of bond issuance at the District, if they pay according to the 30 year schedule, the first 10 years or so will be interest only payments.
Robert's Rules of Order: Most governmental entities follow them, but haven't "adopted" them formally. (That's a good thing.) A procedural issue came up in this meeting worth noting. What happens when the Council is obligated by law to pass a budget and tax rate, but none of the Council members are willing to make a motion to approve them? That awkward situation arose at this meeting when the Council bucked at the idea of passing a budget before the tax rate. The silence after Mayor Stewart asked if there was a motion was long enough that I wondered if they were going to take action. (They ultimately did approve both, in this case.) After conferring with Tax Assessor Collector Joyce Gray at this meeting, we agreed that the matter dies. That is, a matter on the table that doesn't get a motion and a second and a vote automatically fails because no action was taken. As she put it, they would have to start all over again. You won't find an answer to this type of issue in the Texas Open Meetings Act because it doesn't incorporate Robert's Rules. Robert's Rules typically apply by custom, so that is why one sees "motions" and "seconds" at public meetings. Robert's Rules also address "Discussion". Here's a tip, though not relevant to this meeting: Any member can end a discussion, say if folks have been going on too long, by saying, "I call the question". Procedurally, this ends the discussion and forces a vote.
765 kV cases: Watch for a Commentary update on my 765 kV page. At the time of this meeting, the ALJ recommended against granting the application for the line that goes through Irion County. But, the administrative process is still not over.
Copyright 2026 G. Noelke
