From the President

Happy New Year! I hope everyone’s Christmas and New Year’s holidays were safe and enjoyable.
As we begin to get back into the swing of things and plan for this year, there is one certainty we must face immediately. The Legislature is coming into session. But, we’ll talk about that later. There is one very pleasant duty I have. It is actually an honor. As president of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, I want to welcome all of our new county judges and commissioners to our Association. The opportunity to serve the public at the level we do as county judges and commissioners is a special privilege. As judges and commissioners, we have the ability to address many issues and have a positive impact on the quality of life in our county in many ways. Good luck in the year ahead.
I also want to say congratulations and wish the best to all of the newly elected county officials who are taking office in courthouses all over Texas. We look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
There are some excellent educational opportunities available to newly elected county judges and commissioners during the first 45 days of your term. In January the LBJ School of Public Affairs will offer two conferences in Austin, and then the V.G. Young Institute of County Government will hold its annual conference in February, also in Austin. I hope our newly elected judges and commissioners will attend these educational seminars if at all possible. I know how difficult it is to get away from your county, particularly at the start of your first year in office. But the educational benefits will be many, and the opportunity to network with your peers can be invaluable.
In addition new judges and commissioners will discover that they are also members of regional associations. The West Texas, South Texas and the North and East Texas County Judges and Commissioners Associations will have their annual conferences later this year. The State Association’s Annual Conference will be held in September at the Moody Gardens in Galveston. I hope everyone will plan on attending their regional conference and the State Conference.
The 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature will convene in Austin on January 9. This will be an especially challenging session for county government. It is imperative that local officials cooperate and coordinate our efforts throughout this session. Once again there will be efforts by state elected officials to impose upon local governments revenue caps and appraisal caps. These caps would remove local control, impose unnecessary hardship, and restrict the ability of local governments to provide the services that their local citizens expect and deserve. The officers of the State and regional associations and our general counsel, Jim Allison, have made it clear at the Task Force Public Hearings our opposition to appraisal caps and revenue caps. We have also been in touch with our legislators to let them know we oppose caps. During the session it will be important that each and every one of us contact our representative and senator and inform them of the effect caps will have locally. Our main focus during the session as an Association may be to oppose revenue caps, appraisal caps and unfunded mandates, but we also have other important issues that should be addressed. Providing alternative sources of revenues to county government is very important. In addition to broadening county government’s ability to generate revenue, all counties should have the opportunity, with local voter consent, to adopt a