Bell County Updates: Commissioner Louie Minor Tackles Chaparral Road and Local Priorities

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Episode Transcript

Commissioner Louie Mino (00:01):
Welcome .
You're listening to the LouieMinor Show.
I'm your host.
Bell County Commissioner, LouieMinor.
Today is April 6, 2025.
We have a lot to get to, solet's get started.
We do have a Bell CountyCommissioner's Court meeting
tomorrow, April 7th, so let'sget to the agenda, the agenda

(00:26):
for the regular meeting of theBell County Commissioner's Court
for April 7th 2025.
We have the invocation Pledgeof Allegiance consent.
Agenda items.
We have the approval of theregular minutes.
Let's see Approval of theminutes for the March 17, 2025

(00:52):
meeting in the commissioner'scourt.
We have personnel and budgetamendments.
Claims, accounts payable,payroll restitution and jury pay
Item.
Payroll restitution and jurypay item.
Consider authorizing thedisposal of county property as

(01:13):
either salvage or surplus, asallowed by local government code
263.5151 and 263152, andauthorizing the disposal of such
property to be sold by BillHall Auctioneers Inc.
At 10 am on Saturday, april 26,at the Heritage Country Church

(01:36):
Event Center, 9677 Lark Trail,salado, texas.
Consider authorizing award ofIFB number 21-25, stone Riprap
and Rock Ridge Transport LLC asa primary vendor and Green Dream

(01:57):
International LLC as the secondvendor for the road and bridge
department.
An estimated amount of $100,000.
Ratification of the purchaseand ammunition of GT
Distribution quote numberQTE206257 under by-board

(02:18):
contract number 698-23 at a costof $62,788.61 for the Sheriff's
Office.
Item D consider authorizingalignment of the APO2 position
within the CSCD department withan estimated increase to the

(02:43):
budget of less than $2,500.
And then E consider authorizingreclassification of contract
services superintendentpositions to the position of
assistant superintendent.
And that is everything for theconsent agenda, presentations,

(03:04):
proclamations and awards.
We'll have a presentation byRaymond Suarez, general Manager,
hill Country Transit Authority,to honor Bell County Judge
David Blackburn for his years ofservice to the Hill Country
Transit Board.
Item B recognize Bell CountyClerk Shelly Koston for being
nominated by Region 4 of theCounty and District Clerks

(03:29):
Association, texas, for Clerk ofthe Year.
Then we have county engineeritems 8 Hood Section Subdivision
Replat being a .2386 acre 1 lot1 block subdivision located

(03:50):
within Bell County Precinct 1.
Then we have Consider andApprove a Plat of Moffitt Water
Supply Edition being a 2 acre 1lot 1 block subdivision located
in Precinct 3.
2-acre 1-lot 1-blocksubdivision located in Precinct
3.
And we have consider andapprove a final plat of

(04:13):
Mockingbird Acres being a67.669-acre 14-lot 1-block
subdivision located within BellCounty Precinct 3.
A plat of Grimeland Acres beinga 10.1 acre 2 lot 1 block
subdivision located within BellCounty Precinct 3.
Item E consider and approve thefinal plat of Cedar Acres

(04:39):
addition being a 8.334 acre 2lot 1 block subdivision located
in Bell County Precinct 1.
Item F Consider and approve aresolution to abandon request
for a utility 10 foot utilityeasement and goats addition

(04:59):
replat number 1 in accordancewith Texas Code 251.058, bell
County Precinct3.
Then regular agenda items.
Consider the status and takeappropriate action on the
ordering prohibiting outdoorburning burn ban.
B.

(05:39):
Consider authorizing the countyjudge to execute an interlocal
agreement between Bell Countyand City of Nolanville for
regulation of subdivision in theextraterritorial jurisdiction
of the City of Troy Respect toWaste Management Inc.

(06:01):
Project and authorizing acounty judge to execute
certificates.
Approving the order and publichearing.
Item E consider setting theplace date time for the public
hearing regarding petitionConsidering requesting the

(06:22):
formation of the Bell CountyEmergency Service, district no
3,.
Said public hearing will beheld at the regular session of
the Bell County Commissioner'sCourt meeting May 5, 2025, 9 am.
Bell County Commissioner'sCourt House, 2nd Floor, belton,
texas, and let's seeThen.

(06:46):
We have a closed sessionpursuant to Section 551.074,
texas Government Code to discussand deliberate about officers,
employees of the governmentalbody relating to the appointment
, employment, evaluation,reassessment, duties,

(07:06):
disciplines or dismissal of apublic officer.
And then we have G considertaking action required or
warranted relating to thematters of personnel, as
discussed in closed session.
And that is everything for ourregular agenda.

(07:27):
Now let's go to our workshopthat we'll follow.
Immediately after that we havelet's see presentation on P3
public power pool activity.
Commissioner Greg Reynolds'Next item will be a discussed
Chaparral Road improvements andpotential recommendations for

(07:50):
engineeringservices.
That will be put on by myself.
Then we have reports andupdates from various county
offices and departments Capitalimprovement project updates.
Update on the jail expansion,temporary jail facilities.
Clean annex Divergent centerrenovations.
Update on the jail expansion,temporary jail facilities.
Clean annex diversion centerrenovations and discuss FY 2025
CIP plan.

(08:10):
And then we have let's seediscuss procurement options for
subgrant award DR-4485-0064, thegrant administrator.
4485-0064, the grantadministrator.
Then discuss request toreclassify a corporal sheriff's
office position to a deputysheriff's officer position,

(08:34):
effective immediately.
Reclassification will result ina return to the general fund of
approximately $2,326 annuallyand $2,326 annually and $1,163
for FY2025.
Human resources.
Then we have some items in theafternoon.

(08:58):
Closed session Texas GovernmentCode.
551.072, deliberate related tothe purchase, exchange, lease or
value of real property relatingto the pre-strived property in
Killeen Texas, the deliberationof which in an open meeting

(09:21):
would have a detrimental effecton the position of the
government body in negotiationswith the third person.
Then our next closed sessionwould be pursuant to Section
551.0725, government Code, todiscuss the deliberation
concerning contracts beingnegotiated with the Killeen

(09:44):
Annex.
The deliberation concerningcontracts being negotiated with
the Killeen Annex.
And then, finally, closedsession pursuant to Section
551.074, texas Government Code,discuss and deliberate about
officers and employees, thegovernmental body relating to

(10:06):
the appointment and duties ofthe county engineer.
And that is everything that wehave on the agenda.
We do have some potentialmeetings.
August 9th, 2025 at UMHB, thereis a community Central Texas
Community Health Summit,Connecting the Dots.
Then we have on the 15thConference of Urban Counties
meeting board meeting CentralTexas Community Health Summit,

(10:27):
connecting the dots.
Then we have on the 15thConference of Urban Counties
meeting board meeting.
On the 16th there is aConference of Urban Counties
membership lunch.
Also on the 16th, there is aTPPB meeting, belton, texas I
don't know what that is and thenthere is a Hill Country

(10:47):
Community Action Associationboard meeting in Lampasas.
And then on the 26th, the BellCounty auction and surplus items
and automobiles, as I mentionedbefore.
And that is everything.
That is everything, as Imentioned before, and that is
everything.

(11:07):
That iseverything.
So let's switch gears realquick and just kind of highlight
again I know I had mentioned itlast week about Kendall Scudder
getting elected as the chairthe new state chair for the
Democratic Party.
He's been on a lot of socialmedia and interviews and

(11:28):
everything, so I just want toplay one.
There's another podcast that Ilisten to that it talks about a
lot about Texas politics andthat's it's called Yolotix.
It's out of the DFW area andthey had a real long interview
podcast with Kendall that cameout today.
I think it's about 45 minuteslong.

(11:50):
It's a great listen if you'reinto politics which, if you're
listening to this, I'm sure youare.
But I want to take a littleclip of that just so you kind of
hear a little bit from the newchair.
So sit back and enjoy.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
There is no time to waste and there needs to be a
sense of urgency for everyDemocrat, not just to build an
institution and apparatus, butbecause we're terrified of
what's happening in ourgovernment right now and what
it's going to mean for workingpeople.
And if you're going to go onthe news and tell people that
act like it People aren't seeingthis level of urgency in the
party that they want to.
You know they see Democratsjust crying foul and saying, oh

(12:30):
my gosh, we're so upset.
Well, what are you doing aboutit?
You know?
So I wanted to show people it'sa new day in the Texas
democratic party.
Uh, you just elected amillennial progressive to lead
your party and we're going to beoperating with the
understanding that that's whatthe people on the ground want.
And if that works for me at thenext convention, awesome.
And if it doesn't, that's great.

(12:50):
I'm going to roll up my sleevesand help the next folk.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
What should people expect to see over the next
three or four months?
First, 90 days from you?

Speaker 3 (12:58):
You should see a democratic party that has more
bite in it.
You'll see a democratic Partythat doesn't just take punches
but throws them too.
You're going to see aDemocratic Party that is much
more present in places where wetypically haven't been and that
is willing to start makingrights, some things where people

(13:19):
on the ground have felt likewe've fallen them short.
And I think you're going to seea Democratic Party that really
emphasizes and focuses in onwhat this, this broken, rigged
economy, looks like for workingpeople.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
Billionaires like Donald Trump have successfully
stolen away the working class.
I would say from the DemocraticParty what is the Democratic
Party not not saying?

Speaker 3 (13:40):
they've, they have, they have in elections, but they
have also successfully killedthe middle class, and so we as a
party had gotten.
So I think we got scared of theDonald Trump situation.
We locked ourselves intopreserving institutions.
We were terrified of what couldhappen to this republic that we

(14:02):
care so much about, and lostthe guttural reactions of why
people vote.
Folks vote with their guts, nottheir heads right, and so,
instead of leading with the ideathat we're here to preserve
institutions institutions thathave failed working people time
and time again we're going totalk about that from time to

(14:23):
time, as it makes sense.
Maybe some of thoseinstitutions don't need to be
preserved.
What we're going to focus on ismaking sure that working people
are the center of everydiscussion we're having, and how
every bill we write, every billwe are able to get passed.
Everything we advocate for.
How does it impact a personthat's trying to put soccer

(14:43):
cleats on their kiddo?

Speaker 2 (14:44):
The golden goose that the Republicans have is this
messaging.
They have it down.
They have AM radio, they havecable news, they have social
media.
How do you counter that?
Grassroots is great, but itseems like the younger voter is
on TikTok.
You need the influencers tomove into the next generation to
find that voter.
What's your plan?

(15:05):
Yeah, what do?

Speaker 3 (15:05):
you do millennial?
To answer that question now, Iwould say as a party we've been
very risk adverse and hesitanton alternative media.
I think the one example that'sbeen beaten like a drum is the
Kamala Harris Joe Rogan example,right when maybe you're afraid
to go on places that that theydisagree with you.
Well, I go places where peopledisagree with me all the time.

(15:27):
We call it Thanksgiving dinner.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Right, I mean we disagree with you when you're a
Democrat from East Texas.

Commissioner Louie Minor (15:38):
You know you're not walking into a
room of liberals, ok.
Well, there you go.
Kendall Scudder, new chair ofthe Texas Democratic Party.
I look forward to working withhim and I did send him a text
message and told himcongratulations, and I know he's
ready to get to work, as am I.
So, speaking about work, youknow I had told you earlier on

(16:01):
the agenda an idea, idea.
Well, not an idea, but it'sChaparral, one of the major
roadways in my precinct,precinct 4.
Now, chaparral Road.
If you remember, last year Ihad a disagreement with some of

(16:21):
the other commissioners onputting a stop sign, multi-way
stop sign out there at theintersection of Chaparral and
Featherline Lane.
Now Chaparral Road is aninteresting road because that is
the boundary road between thecity of Killeen and the start of
Bell County and Chaparral.

(16:43):
Featherline is kind of thedividing line between Precinct 2
and Precinct 4, and also thedividing line between District 3
and District 2 and the city.
So there's a lot of thingscoming together right there at

(17:04):
that intersection.
But I commissioned a study withFriesen Nichols, an engineering
firm, to give the county arecommendation for improving the
traffic flow with currentconditions.
With current conditions Now,chaparral Road is at least on

(17:28):
schedule on paper.
They're trying to make it afive-lane road, multi-lane road,
and connect from Highway 195all the way to the Lake Road and
Harker Heights, and so that's alot.
That is a lot, and then thecity of Killeen would take the

(17:51):
road over then.
Now they're projecting thatthis is going to cost an
estimated $100 million to dothis five lane.
There's going to be streetscapeand they're talking about
roundabouts and all kinds ofgood things.
But, like I said, it's a lot ofmoney.
The county I already put in $3million to help with this

(18:16):
project.
The city of Killeen is spendinga lot of money, but a majority
of this money is going to comefrom federal funds and getting
community development blockgrants from our congressional
representatives and that got cutas part of this continuing
resolution, this CR that we hadtalked about to keep the

(18:41):
government open, to keep it fromshutting down.
That money was a casualty Now,not the full amount, but just
some of the money to help withoffsetting that cost.
So that was a casualty of theCR.

(19:01):
But what I want to talk aboutis what are we going to do now?
What is Bell County, precinct 4, county Commissioner Louie
Miner going to do aboutChaparral Road.
Well, let me tell you whatwe're going to do.
Nothing's been done to the road,I think, since 2018 or 2019.
It's been a long time.

(19:22):
The county does a seven-yearcycle.
From what I'm told on roads,every seven years there's
supposed to be some type of newchip seal program where they go
out you see it before if you'velived in the country where

(19:50):
they'll put oil down on the road.
Then it seems like they put abunch of gravel.
Then you see a sign that saysloose gravel for a couple of
days and then, as it gets heatedup, it kind of melts down into
everything.
So that's all the county doesright now.
We don't do any type of hot mix, which is your regular asphalt

(20:13):
that you're accustomed to seeingin the cities.
We do a chip seal program, butit's been a long time since
Chaparral has had that.
So my intent is to redoChaparral Road and spend the

(20:33):
money on redoing chip sealingthe road from 195 pretty much
almost all the way toFeatherline.
We're going to do it thissummer.
Bell County is going to performthe work.
We're not going to bid it outand it should cost close to

(20:53):
around $300,000 to do that andit should cost close to around
$300,000 to do that, and thatshould cover all the leveling up
, as they call it.
There's some areas where youcan see, if you drive down
Chaparral Road, the base isfailing because you're having a
bunch of spider cracks, you'rehaving holes and dips where the

(21:19):
asphalt and everything isstarting to come apart.
So we're going to go ahead andfix all that.
That should take about a monthroughly, so it'll be a month in
the summer that we're going todo that.
What Friesen Nichols is going topresent tomorrow at the
Commissioner's Court is to put astoplight, a multi-way

(21:45):
stoplight, there at theintersection of Featherline and
Chaparral, and also a that wouldbe a northbound turn lane off
of Chaparral Road to Featherline.
So that's going to helpalleviate some of that traffic
there.
We have made improvements.

(22:10):
One of the ladies that I knowthat works there at the school
at Shoemaker I'm sorry, notShoemaker at Shepard High School
.
She said I actually saw herFriday and she was talking how
well everything is working.
There haven't been anyaccidents, even though it may be
just a little bit slower, thatthat it is doing better.

(22:34):
It is doing better, it is doingbetter.
So they're appreciative of that.
Now, this road, this turn laneand this light.
Now, this is going to be thefirst light in the entire county

(22:56):
that is county owned andoperated and maintained.
So you know, all we have arestop signs.
We've never had the densityneeded yet for a traffic light,
so this is going to be the firstone that is going into Bell
County.
So I'm a little bitappreciative that that's what

(23:22):
we're doing because it's needed.
The first one is going to be inPrecinct 4.
But this project for this turnlane and this light is probably
going to be around $800,000.
So if you bundle that together,that $800,000 with $300,000 to

(23:46):
rechip, seal the rest of aportion of Chaparral Road,
that's over a million dollarsthat I'll be investing in
Chaparral Road.
Because, I mean, you'reprobably thinking to yourself,
if we're going to redo the roadto a five lane, why would you

(24:14):
quote unquote waste the money onthat?
Well, the problem is we don'tknow when that road is going to
get funded, when it's going tohappen.
According to the history ofChaparral Road and the
improvements, this has been onthe books for 20 years and it
still hasn't been done.

(24:34):
So I don't know if it's goingto happen in 2029, like the city
of Killeen is anticipating andthe road cannot wait for nothing
to get done up until 2029.
And then probably, if itdoesn't get funded, it'll just

(24:56):
be delayed anyway.
So I think it's important forthe residents out there that
live out in that part of thecounty.
It's a very dense area.
It's growing fast, it's onlygrowing faster.
That's the same road thatTurnbow Ranch is on.

(25:18):
That's a municipal mudmunicipal utility district and
that's going to have 3,000 homesin it.
So this thing is growing quick.
The city is growing quick.
There's another 300-homesubdivision that is going to be.
There are 300 home subdivisionthat is going to be.

(25:39):
That got approved off ofFeatherline and they're doing a
thousand the preserve at athousand oaks right off of
Stagecoach.
So I mean, this area is growingand it's not stopping.
And I think it's really adisservice to our constituents
if we tell them to wait until2029 because we think something

(26:03):
is going to happen and then ifit doesn't happen we've just
allowed the road to deteriorateeven more and it's going to cost
more.
So that is my proposal that I'mbringing Now the county, each
precinct we do tax the residentsa road and bridge tax that is

(26:31):
divided by road miles into eachprecinct and that's how the
money is allocated.
So Precinct 4 gets an allocationof $2 million roughly every
year for maintenance of roadsand this year I've prioritized

(26:52):
our Chaparral Road.
So that's where we're going todiscuss.
The discussion that I'minterested in having is with
Precinct 2 County CommissionerBobby Woodson, because, like I
said, my precinct stops atFeatherline but right at the

(27:15):
intersection where the school is.
That was another proposed placefor a right turn lane and
another light were called out inthe study that Fraser Nichols
did, saying that all of thisstuff needed to be done to

(27:47):
maximize the traffic flow.
Is it going to maximize trafficflow if that intersection by
the school doesn't get preparedat the same time that I am doing
the Precinct 4 section?
Yeah, it is going to affect itbecause it's not going to be
working together.
But that is not my decision tomake.

(28:10):
That's going to be thatcommissioner's decision on what
he wants to do and what's apriority to him.
This is a priority to me.
It's a safety issue and youknow our constituents deserve it
because that road definitelyneeds a lot of improvement for

(28:32):
our citizens of the county.
So that's the plan, that's whatwe're going to talk about in
workshop tomorrow and probablywhat I'll do is, after we talk
about it, I'll play a little bitof it for you next week, just

(28:52):
so you kind of get caught up onwhat we're going to do.
But the plan is to award itthis month, next week, just so
you kind of get caught up on onwhat we're going to do.
But you know the the plan is toto award it this this month, to
to freeze the nickels.
That's the company that um is uhdoing the proposal.
And then they now and theycause they're doing a lot of

(29:13):
work already with Chaparral roadcity, because they're doing a
lot of work already withChaparral Road City of Killeen
hired them to be the mainengineer of record for this
five-lane improvement.
So they already have a lot ofthe survey work done.
They already have a lot of thestuff already there modeled.
So it made sense to go withthem because it saves time.

(29:37):
What Friesenichel said is, oncewe turn them loose, they should
be able to have a set of planswithin 45 days and then we go
out to bid.
I'm hoping to get this completedduring the summer break.

(29:58):
I don't want to have thisimpact our business, our kids
when school opens up, but it may, it may.
So you know, we just have toprepare, prepare for that.
But you know, definitely theimprovement is needed.

(30:21):
The citizens want it and I Iwant citizens to be able to see
that you know their governmentis listening and responsive to
their needs.
This was brought to myattention over a year ago, a
little over a year ago or no,not even a year ago.

(30:44):
It was brought to my attentionand just in that time, that
short amount of time, we wereable to get a stop sign there.
The city of Killeen put a turnlane off of Featherline onto
Chaparral Road and then nowwe're going to make improvements
to over a million dollars onChaparral Road and that

(31:10):
improvement, I think, shouldlast us well into however long
it takes to get finalimprovement of Chaparral Road
into that five-lane arterial,minor arterial, minor arterial

(31:31):
for the future.
So, yeah, exciting things, likeI said, it's been in the works
and yeah, that's what we'regoing to be talking about on
Monday on Chaparral Road.
Go figure, we're also going tobe talking about the Killeen
Annex Bids came back, so we'llbe talking about awarding.

(31:54):
That that's another excitingthing happening in downtown
Killeen.
So a lot of interesting thingsgoing on here locally and you're
a part of it.
You're part of the change andI'm excited for it.

(32:15):
So I think the biggest thingthat happened this week in state
local news is HB3, the voucherbill for taking public school
dollars and putting it intoprivate schools cleared its

(32:36):
first hurdle and that's gettingit out of committee Now.
It got out of committee lastlegislative session and died on
the floor, so let's hope that isthe case here.
So let's hope that is the casehere Now.
On Friday there was an eventNAACP banquet, scholarship

(32:56):
banquet and I attended that.
Brad Buckley was there, staterepresentative for this area 54,

(33:16):
house, district 54.
He's also the author andchairman of the bill, chairman
of Public Education Committee,calling complaining about
getting into private schools,needing private schools, wanting
money for private schools.
I have not heard one person,republican or Democrat, say that

(33:47):
to me.
What I have heard fromRepublican and Democrat, is that
property taxes are too high andthey keep going up and they're
being squeezed.
Every time that happens Everytax year they're being squeezed,
their mortgages are going up,their insurance is going up and

(34:09):
that has effects on families, ithas effects on renters and
that's what I hear peopletalking about.
So I told them.
I said can we not use this $1billion allocated to drive down
property taxes?
Because the largest culprit onyour property tax is not the

(34:36):
city, it's not the county or anyother special district, it's
the school district.
That is the largest bill onyour property tax rate.
Now he said we're doing that.
We're doing all kinds of thingsto you know, we're increasing

(34:57):
the cap.
I think it's $100,000 now forthe homestead.
They want to bump it up to Ithink $150,000, $125,000.
And that's great.
Then he said that they'reincreasing the tax exemption for

(35:19):
business property.
I think it's $2,000 now they'regoing to increase it to 250,000
.
And that's great.
I'm not saying any of thatstuff is bad, that is good.
But what I'm saying is thatthis $1 billion that they're

(35:42):
going to put into privateschools could be used to
increase those two thingsIncrease the cap on your
homestead Could increase howmuch you get as exempt from a

(36:04):
business property.
A billion dollars is a lot ofmoney and it could go to helping
offset property taxes forhomeowners.
And to say that it would not,because that's what I said, why

(36:29):
not put it in lowering propertytaxes?
And he's like, oh no, thatwouldn't do it.
Okay, maybe the financing.
He knows a whole lot more thanI do, absolutely he does as the
chair.
But I'm sure somewhere in thisfinancing, somewhere in this

(36:55):
math, somewhere in thisarithmetic that you could plug
in a billion dollars and it'llhelp lower property taxes.
I know you can property taxes,I know you can, I know that much

(37:17):
about government math that ifyou have a billion dollars and
you put it in somewhere, someline item, you could put it in
and the school districts willnot have to levy that tax burden
onto the local taxpayer.
I know there is Is it the basicallotment?
I don't know, but somewherethey can do that.

(37:39):
So you know anytime that I'mgoing to talk about this issue,
about vouchers, about vouchers.
I don't think I'm going to evengo around right or wrong and

(38:01):
I'm just going to pull back andgo straight to property taxes.
You see it on forums, on socialmedia.
That's what's hurting people,that's what they're complaining
about, not about private schoolaccess.
I don't hear anyone complainingabout that Zero, and if you

(38:23):
have a good argument, so be it.
But definitely the majority ofpeople here across the state, in
this county, in this city, inhis district, care less about
public schools or privateschools.
What they're going to careabout is lowering their property

(38:49):
taxes.
Because I had a good friend ofmine.
She's a Democrat and she's likeLouie what the F?
Why is my property value, mymortgage, going up 200 bucks a
month because of property taxes?
And this is someone who's anactivist and very involved and I

(39:10):
an activist and very involvedand I told her I said I voted
against raising property taxesthis last budget.
I was the only commissioner tovote against the property tax
increase.
But every other district herein the county raised property

(39:34):
taxes because we had to.
And then right now there'slegislation at the state to
limit counties and cities'ability to increase property
taxes, that anything that goesabove the no new revenue rate is
going to have to get voterapproval.
And I could see I could, I cansee that if that gets anywhere

(40:04):
near to possibly passing, Icould see a scenario where every
taxing authority in the statewould probably make a mad dash
to raise their property tax rateto the maximum allowable before

(40:24):
the voter approval rate, whichis 3.5%.
If the state does that, becausethey'll never be able to do it
again without voter approval, Icould see that scenario playing
out and that would be a massivetax increase all across the

(40:45):
state and it would be painful topeople.
But it would be equally painfulto counties and cities and
special districts if that lawpasses, because you're going to
be tying hands of localgovernment and being able to

(41:06):
meet the needs of the communitybecause they're taking away
local control and that abilityto be responsive to our voters'
needs, our constituents' needs.
So, anyway, a lot going on.
We have May elections coming up.

(41:27):
I need to reach out to try andget some people on.
Definitely want to focus on theschool district and have Lan
Carter.
She's running for Killeen ISDschool board.
I want to get her on here,probably next week.
So anyways, we will talk to youlater.

(41:50):
Have a great week and I'll seeyou next week.
Bye, we'll be you next time.