Nacogdoches, TX — For the fifth year in a row, county taxpayers will not have a tax increase, but in order for the county to balance its budget, money must be taken from the reserves and 10 positions will no longer be budgeted in October.

A total of five of those positions come from the county road and bridge department, four from the sheriff's department and one from the Teen Court program, which has been proposed to be cut completely, Nacogdoches County Commissioner Jim Elder said.

In the sheriff's department, those positions have been moved around to fill currently vacant spots, other than one person who found another job, according to information presented previously in commissioners court.

This morning's county commissioners meeting will open with a public hearing at 9 a.m. on the 2011-12 county budget where the public will have an opportunity to comment.

Commissioners finalized the numbers on Monday, and they were posted on the county's website.

"We are coming to the end of the budget cycle, and I don't want to use the words ‘balanced budget' because a balanced budget means your expenses and your revenues balance out and ours does not," Elder said. "Tentatively, we are taking $1.5 million out of our fund balance, which is exactly what we did last year."
 

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