County Road 6800 west of Lubbock
The tension and anger in the Lubbock County budget war continue.
There’s a $7.5 million budget fight with Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler and Precinct 2 Commissioner Jason Corley saying road projects got cut in retaliation.
County Judge Curtis Parrish denies it. So does Precinct 3 Commissioner Gilbert Flores.
When asked if cuts are specific to two precincts, Precinct 1 Commissioner Terrance Kovar said it’s both “yes” and “no” depending on how the final budget shapes up.
Kovar made the distinction between road maintenance and new road projects.
“Maintenance is still gonna be equally done,” Kovar said.
But new roads – upgrading roads from dirt to caliche or seal coat – well, Kovar said that’s a whole different thing. He’s willing to cut new projects in Rackler’s and Corley’s precincts.
“I did cut road projects [in my budget proposal],” Kovar said, but not Precincts 1 and 3.
Background
Kovar, Flores and Parrish attended the last two County Commissioner meetings when a property tax rate would be set. Rackler and Corley did not.
By not showing up, Rackler and Corley are using a legal technicality to force a lower tax rate. Click here to see our previous coverage on how that works.
Conflicting stories – what got cut
Rackler – also a volunteer firefighter – told LubbockLights.com, “Roads are part of public safety. If I can’t get a fire truck to your house or an ambulance to your house or a police officer to your house, public safety has failed.”
“Don’t pull this crap and tell me that, ‘I’m all about public safety, but I’m not going to maintain the roadways in your precinct.’ I will say for the record, the road and bridge director did inform us that she was not asked where she should cut on roads. She was told, ‘This is what we are cutting,’” Rackler said.
“I was told from our road and bridge director that in Precinct 2 and Precinct 4 all road projects were being pulled. All caliche and sealcoat projects were going to Precinct 1 and Precinct 3,” Rackler also said.
On Wednesday, Rackler wrote an email to Flores and Parrish, saying, “I am very disappointed to get confirmation today that the 3 people that are for a different tax rate have cut all my road projects! Does this sound like it’s something that’s best for the county? How chicken is this?”
Despite Kovar’s distinction between maintenance and new roads, Rackler and Corley said the cuts include maintenance. Parrish, Flores and Kovar denied that.
Parrish and Flores especially denied any cuts that would be retaliation.
Flores said, “Kovar’s district is paying the price. We cut those roads like a son of a gun. If anyone is suffering – the biggest cuts are in Precinct 1. … But we’re doing it on all four precincts. What they need to do is show up for work.”
Parrish said, “We’re cutting road projects in all four districts not just two and four.”
That’s not to say the dollar value is equal, Parrish said. For example, he said a major project to widen North Milwaukee Avenue got cut. His point is that precincts are not getting singled out.
“I believe all the proposed cuts, including eliminating road projects in all four precincts and deferring maintenance programs, are bad for Lubbock County, not just for this year, but for years to come,” Parrish said.
Flores said, “I got 400 miles of roads. I only kept one project in Precinct 3. One mile of caliche is all I’m keeping. They’re misleading you.”
Tension in the office
“This has been a pain. There’s a whole lot of tension,” Kovar said.
Rackler said, “I will tell you that the tension in our office is not pleasant.”
Flores said, “That is so ridiculous what we’re going through. This is my 24th year. Not all of them, of course, but they’re so selfish. They’re not thinking about Lubbock County.”
County Auditor Kathy Williams does not want to meet with all four commissioners in public meetings. Much of the budget must be negotiated in meetings between two commissioners at a time, Flores said.
“Why? Because of the fighting and bickering. I’m caught in the middle and it’s not very comfortable. I’m there to serve Lubbock County not just my precinct. I’m a County Commissioner,” Flores said.
Kovar accused Rackler and Corley of planning a walkout long before the budget process.
He quoted himself telling Rackler, “Jordan, I told you about this before you ever walked out on the budget.”
“I told both Jason and Jordan if they plan on walking out on the budget, and not talk with departments to find significant budget cuts, ‘I will cut precinct 2 and 4 road projects.’ Neither commissioner has a counter offer to my budget proposal,” he said.
Corley said, “Jordan’s up in arms on it, and he’s right to be. … You can’t just cut that out and say that it’s OK because, well, you guys don’t have the votes.”
Rackler said, “I’ve gotta work with these guys for at least two more years and one budget session. And nobody’s getting along. It may be a long two years.”
Parrish said, “It’s troublesome to me. They don’t want new revenue. But they’re really upset when we’re having to cut things. We are going to make cuts and it’s going to hurt people, and it’s going to hurt projects.”
The plan
The budget is not final until September 23, which is the last regularly scheduled commissioner’s meeting before the state deadline. (Click here to read the September 9 budget presentation.)
“We’re gonna have to use reserves,” Kovar said.
There might be additional cuts but Kovar thinks the current $7.5 million shortfall between the proposed budget and revenue will stay the same – or very similar.
“We’re still looking,” Kovar said.
“Going to the ‘no new revenue’ rate is creating a possible hazard to personnel and equipment. … We’ve had to postpone a major roof repair at the jail. That could cost us three times more. Elevators – we need to replace the elevators [in both the courthouse and the bank building next door]. We’ve had to stop that project. That’s a big public safety concern,” Kovar said.
LubbockLights.com learned there was leftover money in the worker’s comp fund – $9.3 million at the end of the last budget cycle when only $2.5 million is needed. We asked if that would solve the problem. Short answer; no.
The budget proposal already spends down $5.5 million from workers comp for new equipment and putting $1,700 in each county employee’s Health Savings Account as a means of employee retention.
Parrish and Corley agreed leftover workers comp money can be used for one-time expenses. But ongoing obligations like salaries need to come from a regular revenue source. Workers comp just doesn’t fit the bill.
Parrish said, “I encourage Commissioner Rackler to take his seat at the meeting next Monday and advocate for the projects his constituents want for their precinct, while still maintaining the lowest possible tax rate. We will pass a budget on the 23rd, and my hope is it will be a budget that is fair and meets the needs of our growing county.”
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