Broadwater County sheriff urges voters to renew mill levy to preserve staffing and school resource officer

A representative of the Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday urged residents to approve a renewal of the county’s public safety mill levy, saying the five-year levy that expires this year paid for deputies, a school resource officer and other positions the office relies on.

The sheriff’s office representative told the audience the mill levy was adopted in 2020 after officials concluded inmate housing revenue was an unstable funding source. “It is not a secure source of revenue,” the speaker said, adding that the mill levy allowed the office to raise wages, restart a reserve-deputy program and hire a full-time school resource officer (SRO).

The levy now authorized “up to 39.93 mills,” the speaker said, and the office requested continuation rather than a new tax. The office offered sample tax impacts at the current full milling: $53.91 a year on a $100,000 house, $161.72 on a $300,000 house and $323.43 on a $600,000 house. The speaker said he would plan to mill 20% less in the next budget year if the renewal is approved, which he estimated would lower those amounts to $43.31, $129.40 and $258.80 respectively.

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