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With a goal of balancing the budget before final adoption, the Graham ISD Board of Trustees last week adopted a proposed deficit budget and a lowered tax rate.

With anticipated revenues on the way, the board adopted the proposed deficit budget with a request to amend the budget to be balanced with those added revenues. 

The proposed budget has $27,507,785 in revenues and $28,865,210 in expenditures, or a difference of $1,357,425. Expenses increased $1,385,325 in the general fund, $72,130 in the athletic fund and $71,970 in the food service fund.

After being arrested in January on five counts of possession or promotion of child pornography, Austin Lasatt Navarez-Cantu was indicted in July on those charges. 

Navarez-Cantu, 27, was indicted by a Young County grand jury in July for all five charges which occurred on or around Aug. 24, 2023. The indictments state he did possess with intent to promote visual material that depicted a child younger than 18 years of age engaging in sexual conduct.

Two suspects arrested in June and extradited back to the state following an alleged assault which occurred in Olney in May, were indicted in July on those charges.

Patrick Rater, 32, and Summer Krick, 22, both of Olney, have remained in the Young County Jail since being arrested Saturday, June 8 on the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The two were indicted by a Young County grand jury in July. 

A total of 14 cases were pleaded in the 90th Judicial District Court for July. Plea information is provided by the office of the 90th Judicial District Attorney. 

While the public still has time to address concerns regarding the proposed budget for the city of Graham, only one citizen made their voice heard last week at a public hearing following a budget presentation.

The city hosted a public hearing for their proposed amended budget Thursday, Aug. 15 before their regular council meeting. Carol Willis, a Graham property owner, spoke and said those who are on a fixed income and older have no advocate in discussions for raising the tax rate and other service rates.

Increases in sewer connection charges, water tapping fees and wastewater and water service charges are on the way following approval by the Graham City Council last week.

The adopted increases will not immediately be enacted, but will take effect with the billing period beginning Thursday, Oct. 15. City residents will see an increase to payments on water bills in November for usage in October.

City Manager Eric Garretty gave a presentation on the new rates before the Graham City Council meeting Thursday, Aug. 15.

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part story regarding the upcoming budget for Young County.

As the current fiscal year nears a close, Young County is finishing preparations for the new fiscal year.

County commissioners will hold a public hearing for their proposed tax rate and budget at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 26 and they will consider adoption of both following the close of the hearings. These hearings will both occur at the Young County Courthouse, 516 Fourth St., Room 106.

Putting the priorities of the city in a quick reference with completed and future tasks is the goal of the city of Graham’s 2040 strategic plan recently approved by the Graham City Council.

The city council met Thursday, Aug. 15 and approved the list of priorities, which was first presented to them in a shortened list in July by Graham City Manager Eric Garretty, to be included with the upcoming budget.

The strategic plan can be modified at any time and the list of priorities can also be reordered. 

With a total of 335 fire hydrants throughout the city of Graham, maintenance and operations of those hydrants is vital. The Graham City Council recently received a status report of city hydrants and learned of the necessity to increase replacement efforts.

City Manager Eric Garretty said during the Thursday, Aug. 15 meeting of the Graham City Council that the hydrants are crucial to the city along with other city water infrastructure issues. 

The city manager said as the number of unusable hydrants increases, it is becoming a safety concern.