Uvalde County keeps $5,000 capital-asset threshold, staff recommends managed-services contract for records backups

Uvalde County officials told the commissioners court they will keep the county's capital-asset threshold at $5,000 and asked the court to adopt a managed-services contract that would standardize off-site, encrypted backups for county records.

County staff described the $5,000 base amount as the threshold that directs county offices to book purchases above that level as capital assets and said grant-related assets under $5,000 are booked separately for grant reporting. Staff said the county maintains an asset listing and can provide Excel spreadsheets to outside auditors or grant agencies.

The staff presentation said the county must adopt the threshold annually and that national accounting guidance has not changed. The staff representative told the court, "Our base is $5,000. That gives direction to my office to be sure anything bought by any department over $5,000 is booked as a capital asset." The same speaker said grant-funded items that fall below the threshold are still tracked for governor's office review and FEMA review.

On records storage and backups, staff described current practices of encrypted off-site backups on East Coast and West Coast servers and said the records policy covers growing volumes of electronic material, including body-camera video. The staff member recommended the court adopt the HTS managed-services omnibus contract to formalize those practices and to ensure compliance with grant and insurance requirements.

A court member asked for a motion to approve the contract; the transcript records a request for a motion and at least one second, but it does not record a vote tally or a formal outcome in the provided transcript excerpts. The transcript also records an earlier motion by Commissioner Hargis to approve minutes, which likewise lacks a recorded final tally in the excerpts.

County staff noted that building improvements such as elevator work are capitalized as increases in building value and that depreciation schedules used in audits are consistent with the county's accounting approach. The staff member said the county keeps asset details in spreadsheets and will provide them to auditors or grant agencies as needed.

The discussion included references to recordkeeping and reporting reviews by the governor's office and FEMA; staff also referenced an accounting guidance entity as "DFOA" and said the guidance has not changed. The transcript records no formal adoption language or vote totals for the contract or the asset-threshold resolution in the provided excerpts.

If the court formally adopts the contract or the policy in a later, recorded vote, the court clerk's minutes or subsequent transcript will provide the final vote tally and any conditions attached to adoption.