Saucedo turned the floor over to Financial Advisor, Robert Rodriguez, who shed light on the fact that the deficit in which the County was in has been cut nearly in half. "It's important that the community gets reminded that it's taken a lot of work to get to this point," Stated Rodriguez who has been working tirelessly in conjunction with Commissioner's Court to get this situation alleviated, and has even gone to the extent of consulting with David Flores, formerly the County Auditor for Dimmit County who has been working for many years in Williamson County in the Round Rock area and has helped them create a $70 million fund balance, "Our Tax Assessor has been indispensable, as well as our treasurer, our auditors and especially our department heads to get us to where we are at this point." Saucedo reiterated and thanked the members of Commissioner's Court for their assistance in this accomplishment which has seen the deficit go down from $6 million to nearly $3 million. Also discussed was an increase in County taxes from 0.51 to 0.5810 for Fiscal Year 2013. The first public hearing for this seven cent increase will be September 6th and the second will be held September 13th. Also mentioned was the fact that the loan payment due for this year of $2 million has been made and a motion was made to take advantage of additional financing which will essentially cut this payment in half for next year and the possibility exists to even forgo a year on payment for 2014. Overall, the presentation made by Rodriguez allowed those present to get a feel for what could be in store for their finances in the coming years as well as the hope for a prosperous future for the citizens of Maverick County.