Coryell County Faces Budget Decisions

Coryell County Judge John Firth revealed in a budget workshop in Gatesville on Monday that the county may have to choose between maintaining roads or building a new jail.

Commissioners voted last month to approve the building of a new jail in fiscal year 2017, but Firth was among those pushing for construction to begin earlier, due to problems with overcrowding.

However, Firth feels that if the county commits to maintaining roads, it will not be able to also keep the commitment of building a new jail.

County Road and Bridge Superintendent Allen Neel recognizes that the county may have previously paved too many miles of road and must now maintain these roads or face the higher cost of rebuilding them in the future.

Commissioners are not in agreement on whether the budget priority should be the roads or the jail.