A 90-day burn ban is now in effect for Erath County.
In a special called Erath County Commissioners Court meeting Monday, Aug. 19, the court unanimously approved a burn ban due to an increased number of fires, high temperatures and low rainfall in the area.
“Dublin is the driest part of the county,” Erath County Fire Marshal Tommy Shelton said.
Currently, the Keetch – Byram Drought Index, which runs from zero to 800, has an average of 611 through the whole county.
“We’ve been watching conditions and things aren’t getting better,” Shelton said.
The ban includes all outdoor burning. Outdoor cooking appliances with a containment lid is allowed.
The following requirements are in effect for welding. All areas where welding, cutting or grinding operations are being performed must be free of vegetation for at least 25 feet in all directions. The surface must also be wetted down. Windspeed cannot exceed 20 mph. A dedicated fire watch person will attend each welder, cutter, grinder and any activity that causes a spark. A minimum of one water pressure fire extinguisher per fire watch person is required and a minimum of 25 gallons of water on site is required.
Each site must have cellular telephone communications for emergency response.
Violating the burn ban is a Class C Misdemeanor and a person can be held responsible civilly for damages if a fire destroys land, structure or personal property.
During the same commissioners court meeting, the court adopted the proposed tax rate, or the tax rate ceiling for the upcoming Fiscal Year 202425 budget.
The proposed tax rate for the county is .3913 per $100 valuation.
County Judge Brandon Huckabee explained that the proposed tax rate would be highest the county could go, but most likely the adopted tax rate will be lower.
With the proposed tax rate, about $1.3 million would be raised with property taxes. Approximately $987,000 of that amount is new construction, Huckabee explained.
The court has already been hard at work on the budget with the majority of the newly raised funds being earmarked for county-wide employee raises.
The county commissioners will hold a public meeting for citizen input Sept. 5 with the budget being adopted Sept. 9.
The proposed budget can be seen on the county’s website at https://www. erathfinance.org/page/erath. budgets.