The Five Priorities

1. Fiscal Responsibility and Revenue Strategy

Business discipline applied to county finances

Fiscal responsibility means transparency about spending AND creativity about revenue. Maximize non-tax sources before asking property taxpayers for more.

Four Strategic Elements:

• Budget transparency dashboard: Real-time online access, quarterly reports in plain language, clear performance metrics, public input on major expenditures
• Hotel Occupancy Tax support: Tourists paying fair share for infrastructure instead of local taxpayers (estimated hundreds of thousands annually, requires legislative approval)
• Cost recovery for county services: Fair cost-recovery contracts when county provides services to municipalities. Taxpayers shouldn't subsidize city services
• Strengthen public/private partnerships: Support models where citizen-led foundations and nonprofits help fund equipment and services the county needs, without adding to the tax burden

Why It Matters: Together, these four elements bring business discipline to county government: track spending transparently, diversify revenue before turning to property taxpayers, and make sure everyone who uses a service - visitors, municipalities, private partners - pays a fair share of it.

Funding: Dashboard requires minimal one-time setup and low annual maintenance. The other three strategies use existing authority and relationships rather than new spending - the goal is new revenue and reduced burden, not a bigger budget.

2. Emergency Preparedness & Flood Warning System

Learn from tragedy. Build systems that protect lives.

Following the July 4th tragedy that killed 119 people in Kerr County, comprehensive emergency preparedness is essential. Effective emergency preparedness requires both immediate warning systems and long-term watershed resilience through strategic land management.

Five Components:

• Strategic watershed management supporting landowners: Applying rangeland ecology expertise to reduce flood intensity through brush management, riparian restoration, and soil conservation
• Comprehensive flood warning system: Stream gauges, weather-resistant outdoor sirens, Everbridge emergency alerts, real-time monitoring dashboard
• Emergency Services Master Plan: Clear chain of command, pre-authorized alert protocols, coordinated response procedures, regular training
• Infrastructure hardening: Critical facilities: Emergency Operations Center, 911 Dispatch, Sheriff's Office, fire stations, emergency access routes
• Regional emergency collaboration: Coordinate with local and regional emergency management coordinators, river stewards, land management organizations, and neighboring cities to align planning, alerts, and response across jurisdictions

Funding: Federal disaster mitigation grants, state emergency management funds, and regional partnerships. Minimal county investment leveraged through aggressive grant pursuit.

3. Water Security & Sustainable Growth

Protect property values through strategic water coordination

Drought is a recurring problem in Kerr County, and it's only getting worse. Add in growth pushing new demand onto the same limited groundwater and surface water, and strategic coordination becomes essential to protecting the resource that makes Kerr County valuable.

Five Components (County Commissioner as Bridge-Builder):

• Facilitate partnerships among City of Kerrville, Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District, Upper Guadalupe River Authority, and county government: Regular coordination meetings, aligned drought messaging, systematic partnership
• Strengthen implementation of county's existing 2022 subdivision regulations: Rigorous water availability review, cumulative impact assessment, enhanced coordination between subdivision and road access permitting
• Comprehensive planning developed with all stakeholders: City's innovative ASR and reuse systems as models, GIS geospatial analysis, sustainable yield analysis, growth management framework, regional coordination protocols
• Voluntary landowner partnerships for recharge zone protection (incentives, not regulations): Conservation easements with tax benefits, technical assistance, cost-share for brush management in priority watersheds
• Strategic monitoring and public education: Multi-aquifer monitoring coordinated with City and Headwaters GCD, citizen scientist programs, water availability maps, conservation programs

Funding: Coordination role requires minimal cost. Grant funding is available for planning studies, and landowner partnerships can leverage a range of state, federal, and regional conservation programs.

4. Infrastructure Investment Plan (20-Year)

Preventive maintenance protects taxpayer investments

The Challenge: Kerr County Road & Bridge maintains 465 miles of roads, nearly 20 off-system bridges, and a fleet of 140 pieces of equipment. A systematic preventive maintenance approach could maximize infrastructure lifespan and minimize costs. Industry research proves preventive maintenance saves 4-6 times over emergency repairs.

The State continues to give developers more freedom and strip counties of the ability to control growth, including road construction standards. That trend means more privately built roads deteriorating over time - in some cases built by out-of-town developers who are gone long before problems surface, leaving residents to sort out who pays to fix them.

The Solution: 20-year Infrastructure Investment Plan that shifts Road & Bridge from a rebuilding department to a maintenance department: comprehensive asset inventory, condition-based prioritization, preventive maintenance schedules, strategic grant pursuit, transparent public reporting. Preventive maintenance costs more in the short term, but pays for itself many times over by avoiding the far greater cost of rebuilding roads that were allowed to fail. It also means preserving the county's authority over which roads it takes on, so that decision reflects what residents actually want and are willing to fund - not what happens by default.

Five Components:

• Comprehensive Asset Inventory & Assessment: Roads, bridges, facilities, equipment with condition ratings and lifecycle analysis
• Prioritized Investment Schedule: Tier 1 (safety-critical), Tier 2 (high-impact), Tier 3 (strategic), Tier 4 (long-range)
• Preventive Maintenance Program: Systematic crack sealing and chip seal, targeting a 9-10 year cycle on well-built roads to extend infrastructure life
• Developer Accountability: Preserve the county's authority to decide which roads it takes on, and give residents real disclosure about what they're buying into - including the choice of whether better roads are worth funding through their own tax dollars, rather than leaving that decision to happen by default
• Strategic Funding Coordination: Federal highway grants, FEMA mitigation funds, TxDOT programs, regional partnerships

Funding: Minimal county investment for comprehensive assessment enables millions in savings over 20 years through prevention. Aggressive grant pursuit targets tens of millions in external funding.

5. Guadalupe River Corridor (10-Year Vision)

Protect property, create opportunity, build strategically

An 8-mile corridor along the Guadalupe River from Kerrville to Center Point combining flood mitigation, recreational trails, conservation easements, and emergency access. The July 4th tragedy creates unprecedented access to federal disaster mitigation funding.

Four Integrated Components:

• River Trail Expansion: Expansion of the River Trail system, river access, habitat enhancements, and protected green spaces
• Conservation Easements & "Blue Corridor": Work with landowners to establish permanent protection through voluntary conservation easements with tax benefits
• Flood Mitigation Infrastructure: Riverbank stabilization, emergency vehicle access points, drainage improvements, flood monitoring equipment integration
• Habitat Restoration: Native riparian vegetation, invasive species removal, erosion control through bioengineering, fish habitat improvements

Funding: Primarily federal disaster mitigation grants, Texas Parks & Wildlife grants, private partnerships, strategic economic development funds. Grant-dependent phased implementation.