Willacy faces budget shortfall

Willacy County is facing a $950,000 budget shortfall for the 2012 fiscal year, of which County Judge John F. Gonzales Jr. blames state District Judge Migdalia Lopez for almost half.

Gonzales said $414,000 of that shortfall is attributable to a successful effort by Lopez, the 197th state District judge, to stop creation of a second district court.

Lopez, whose court has jurisdiction in both Cameron and Willacy counties, was not available for comment on Thursday, a spokeswoman for her Brownsville office said. Ammerman did not immediately return a call from a reporter.

The current budget county is $6.3 million and the county judge said he hopes to generate new revenue to offset the deficit by imposing heavy fees on 8-liner gambling machines and stepped up collections of fees and fines, while providing modest cost-of-living increases for county workers.

Although state law now only allows counties to charge a small tax on gambling machines, a consultant hopes to introduce legislation soon to allow higher licensing fees, Gonzales said.

There about 600 8-liner machines presently in Willacy County, he said.

Overcrowding in the 96-bed county jail that opened in 2005 will result in local taxpayers paying $414,000 next year for bond payments that county officials had planned to cover with payments from the U.S. Marshal’s Service for housing federal prisoners, the county judge said.

Because cases are not processed quickly enough, there are too many local prisoners in the jail and there is insufficient space for federal prisoners, which generate income for the county, he said.

“Now we’re having to include that in our budget,” Gonzales said of 2012 jail bond payments that total $414,000, he said.

When the jail opened, Willacy County officials planned to make bond payments from the federal fees for holding U.S. Marshal prisoners, Gonzales said.

Gov. Rick Perry vetoed, at Lopez’s urging, a bill in the Legislature to create a second district court in Willacy. Lopez wanted a county court-at-law created instead of a second district court.

But Gonzales said another district court to hold hearings and set bonds is needed so county jail prisoners can be released sooner, freeing space for U.S. Marshals prisoners.

The bill to create another district court had passed both the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, but letters from Lopez and Willacy County District Attorney Bernard Ammerman caused the governor to veto the bill, Gonzales said.

Lopez earlier pushed for a county court-at-law in Willacy County but Gonzales opposed that because the county would have paid all costs for that court and he said there are not enough misdemeanor cases to justify that type of court, the judge said.

In addition to taxpayers assuming bond payments on the jail, property tax values have dropped about $450,000, reducing the county’s tax revenue, the judge said.

About half of property tax revenue loss is a result of closing of oil and gas wells due to lower natural gas prices, he said.

“As values declined, the price declines,” he said.

About $86,000 of the expected deficit comes from rising costs of all types of insurance and fuel for county vehicles, Gonzales said.

Gonzales said increased collections of fees and fines owned to justice of the peace and county court could help reduce the county’s deficit, he said.

At the same time, he wants to give county employees modest cost-of-living wage increases, Gonzales said. “Just the employees, not the elected or appointed officials,” he said.

Gonzales said he plans to hold costs to the same level for the upcoming year without a tax increase.

Budgets will be trimmed in all departments, using centralized purchasing, including travel costs, he said. Purchases of equipment will be standardized to cut costs, he said.