County Commissioners approve 2014-2015 fiscal year budget and reduce tax rate

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2014, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

Maverick County Commissioners’ Court approved Maverick County’s 2014-2015 fiscal year budget while reducing the tax rate at their special meeting held on Thursday, September 25, 2014, at the Commissioners Courtroom in Eagle Pass, Texas.

During the special meeting, Commissioners Court held a budget workshop to finalize the proposed Maverick County 2014-205 fiscal year budget of $13,376,716 and discussed the final ad valorem tax rate for Maverick County, including a reduction of almost a cent on the tax rate compared to last year’s rate.

County Judge David R. Saucedo stated that the tight budget for the upcoming 2014-2015 fiscal year is attributed to the fact that the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA), which operates the Maverick County Landfill, was not contributing any of its revenues to the County pursuant to a previous agreement between the County and MCSWA. The agreement required that the MCSWA contribute part of its revenues to the County for three consecutive years and not on the fourth year. However, Judge Saucedo noted that the County would seek a $1.4 Million contribution from the MCSWA for next fiscal year, 2015-2016. Judge Saucedo pointed that for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the County was having to contribute a larger amount to the two District Courts as a result of an agreement between Dimmit, Maverick, and Zavala counties to fund the two state district courts based on a percentage of the population of each county in the tri-county judicial district. The budget workshop ended and Commissioners Court moved into its special meeting.

During the special meeting, the total proposed budget of $13,376,716 for Maverick County for fiscal year 2014-2015 was reviewed and unanimously approved by Commissioners Court.

Following the approval of the fiscal year 2014-2015 budget, Commissioners Court reviewed the proposed ad valorem tax rate of $0.5481 per $100 valuation for 2014-2015, including almost a one cent decrease from last year’s rate, and unanimously approved the tax rate.

Commissioners Court also heard and approved the presentation of the Maverick County Solid Waste Authority (MCSWA) 2014-2015 fiscal year budget of $4.4 Million. MCSWA General Manager Mike Castillo presented the Maverick County Landfill’s budget to Commissioners Court. Castillo stated that the MCSWA budget for 2014-2015 had been approved by its Board of Directors at an August 19th meeting. Interestingly, the MCSWA budget was discussed in Executive Session by its Board to the exclusion of the public and approved without discussion in Open Session at its August 19th meeting without disclosing the total amount of its approved budget. The public did not learn of the MCSWA’s budget amount until Commissioners Court approved it on September 25th.

Commissioners Court questioned Castillo on several issues, including the Landfill’s trash pick-up schedule for Maverick County residents, the high amount of repairs in the budget, and the amount of reserves.

Judge Saucedo questioned Castillo how much did the MCSWA have in reserves and Castillo incredulously replied that he did not know and would have to check that information and get back to Commissioners Court, despite being the MCSWA’s General Manager. Judge Saucedo and Commissioners were frustrated by the lack of candid answers from Castillo.

Judge Saucedo noted that the County expected to request and receive a contribution from the MCSWA reserves or operating revenues for next year’s 2015-2016 fiscal year budget. Saucedo asked Castillo what had been the MCSWA’s budget for last year, which Castillo replied that it had been $4.7 Million.

Judge Saucedo stated that he wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page and that the County had fulfilled its agreement with MCSWA to not receive a contribution for this coming year, but did note that the County expects to request and receive a contribution for next year’s budget. After advising Castillo and MCSWA of the County’s intentions for next year, Commissioners Court unanimously approved the MCSWA’s $4.4 Million budget for 2014-2015.