District Judge W.C. Kirkendall Enters Final Judgment Against Maverick County Defendants on June 16th in Taxpayer Lawsuit

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

Visiting District Judge W.C. Kirkendall granted Maverick County Taxpayer Ethelvina I. Felan’s Motion for Summary Judgment against Maverick County, David R. Saucedo in his Official Capacity as Maverick County Judge, Jerry Morales in his Official Capacity as Maverick County Commissioner Precinct 1, Rosy Cantu in her Official Capacity as Maverick County Commissioner Precinct 2, Pete Venegas in his Official Capacity as Maverick County Commissioner Precinct 3, Roberto Ruiz in his Official Capacity as Maverick County Commissioner Precinct 4, and Teodoro Roy Schmerber in his Official Capacity as Maverick County Elections Administrator on Monday, June 12, 2017, after hearing oral arguments and evidence in Felan’s lawsuit, but did not sign and enter the final judgment until Friday, June 16, 2017 with the Maverick County District Clerk’s Office.

In his June 16, 2017 Final Judgment, Judge Kirkendall granted Plaintiff Ethelvina I. Felan’s Motion for Summary Judgment against Defendants while denying Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment against Plaintiff Ethelvina I. Felan.  Judge Kirkendall also denied Defendants’ Plea to the Jurisdiction and un-deemed or withdrew any deemed admission by Plaintiff.

Judge Kirkendall ordered that the Clerk of the Court issue a “Writ of Mandamus commanding the Maverick County Commissioner’s Court, it’s agents, employees, and all persons or entities of any type whatsoever acting in concert with the County, to hold a rollback election, pursuant to Texas Tax Code Section 26.07, in not fewer than 30 days or more than 90 days from June 12, 2017.”

In the June 16th Final Judgment, Judge Kirkendall found that “1) On September 12, 2016, the Maverick County Commissioners Court adopted a tax rate and a rollback rate; 2) Due to a good-faith mistake, those rates were incorrectly calculated; 3) On September 16, 2016, the Maverick County Commissioners Court  rescinded agenda Item No. 26, which was the adoption of the tax rates; 4) On October 3, 2016, the Maverick County Commissioners Court ratified a property tax rate of approximately $0.542 per $100 property evaluation; 5) By calculation and by admission, the correct Rollback Rate for this tax year (2016) is approximately $0.466 per $100 of property value; 6) Plaintiff filed a rollback petition within the time prescribed by law; 7) Within 20 days of receiving the rollback petition, the Maverick County Commissioners’ Court adopted an order certifying more than enough signatures to engender a roll back election; and 9) The Maverick County Commissioners’ Court failed to order a roll back election within the time prescribed by statute, which is a purely ministerial act.”
All costs of court were adjudged against the Maverick County Defendants while Plaintiff waived it’s reasonable attorney’s fees in order to obtain a Final Judgment in the case.

The Maverick County Defendants either have to call a roll back tax election on the 2016 County Tax Rate within 30 to 90 days to allow taxpayers to determine whether to approve the higher and incorrect tax rate ratified by Maverick County Commissioners Court or decide to appeal Judge Kirkendall’s Final Judgment to the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio, Texas within 30 days of June 16, 2017.

If Maverick County Commissioners Court decides to appeal Judge Kirkendall’s Final Judgment, it will definitely cost Maverick County taxpayers additional significant tax dollars in reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses as well as delay the calling of a tax roll back election for the County 2016 Tax Rate by another 6 months to a year.

If Maverick County Commissioners Court calls for a tax roll back election as ordered by Judge Kirkendall within 30 to 90 days from June 16, 2017, and Maverick County taxpayers reject the incorrect higher tax rate, then Maverick County will have to reimburse taxpayers up to $1.8 Million of tax revenues already collected and spent by Maverick County, creating a possible serious financial crisis in Maverick County’s 2016-2017 fiscal year budget.

Maverick County generally commences its annual budget process for the next fiscal year (2017-2018) during the month of July each year.  With less than a month away from starting its 2017-2018 fiscal year budget process, Maverick County Commissioners Court certainly have a possible serious financial situation at hand to resolve.

The final decision of whether to call the tax roll back election preferred by Maverick County taxpayers or appealing Judge Kirkdendall’s Final Judgment and delaying the final day of reckoning is to be decided by Maverick County Commissioners Court, which is composed of County Judge David R. Saucedo and Commissioners Jerry Morales, Rosy Cantu, Pete Venegas, and Roberto Ruiz.