So, according to my rather accidental testing, my PRL Menu Backgrounds Mod, fixes much more than just the "bad reference count" error. All thanks to the fact that, when installed locally (.vpk file in hl2/custom) it completey prevents the menu background maps from loading. Therefore, I INSIST on installing it locally to fix those annoying errors. Instructions on how to do it are in it's description. From now on, I will also be including similar mods in all possible future collections.