Webb County: Shenanigans or ineptness ?

Your Tax Dollars at work ? 

The Cirque O' Disarray circus continues over at our good ol' Webb county. Always ready to provide a goldmine of material for our local media and bloggers alike, they have not disappointed us. It looks like this year's budget had to be amended to cover an extra, unexpected 3.5 million dollars.

I'm guessing that having to pay for nearly $1 Million out of the general (taxpayers) fund to cover the non-reimbursed CAA money that was wasted on the weatherization and Energy Assistance programs was a big reason the budget was short.

Notice that nowhere in this article is there any mention of the $400,000 wasted on the weatherization program nor of the $508,000 wasted on the Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP). The scheming court probably made sure that was taken care of and pretended that the shortage was elsewhere.

Here are some of the lowlights from today's article in the LMT:

From The Laredo Morning Times

Webb County commissioners court approved the county’s budget for the next fiscal year Monday after adding nearly $3.5 million in unfunded costs to the proposal submitted by the county auditor last week.

Keep your fingers crossed! Good strategy!

The court is betting that sales and property tax revenues will surpass projections enough to offset the difference between planned expenditures and revenues.

Without an increase in revenues over the next fiscal year, the county will be forced to draw on its $12.6 million fund balance.

The new budget, at just under $80 million, includes a 2 percent cost of living increase for all county employees except department heads and elected officials.

The pay raises will cost about $860,000.

Among other major budget items added over the last week were $1.1 million in positions and salaries for the sheriff’s department.

45 New Positions?? Are there that many cronies??

Flores’s original budget, presented last Monday, included 15 new full-time positions at the county.

The court added more than twice that number in new positions, as well as stipends previously paid for through discretionary funds.

Time for another trip to the Big Apple?

Commissioner Jerry Garza said he was reluctant to balance the budget by drawing on reserves year after year and endangering the county’s AA credit rating.

“We haven’t been to New York in awhile and we haven’t sat down with the rating agencies,” he said.

Whew, it's a good thing there's a freeze!

The court also approved the continuation of an ongoing freeze on hiring, salary increases or line item transfers without approval from the court.