Nueces County commissioners unanimously oppose House Bill 19, authorize judge to sign joint opposition letter

The Nueces County Commissioners Court voted unanimously May 5 to oppose Texas House Bill 19 and authorized the county judge to sign a joint letter with the City of Corpus Christi opposing the bill.

County officials and outside advisors told the court the bill could curtail local borrowing and narrow options used for emergency and infrastructure financing. During public comment, Ernest Garza, a local CPA, urged the court to oppose the bill, saying, "I'm here to support you again for this opposition house bill 19" and warning that "This bill will limit your payments to 20% over the average tax collections of the past 3 years." Garza said the cap would compound pressure on maintenance-and-operations budgets already constrained by the 3.5% property-tax rate limit on the operations portion of the tax.

Court-appointed advisers and outside counsel described several technical provisions that concerned local officials. James Hernandez, a bond counsel attorney who identified himself on the record, said the measure's "debt limit provision ... is overly onerous and restrictive" and warned it would limit issuance of certificates of obligation (COs), tax anticipation notes and other non-voted debt tools many local governments use for cash flow and emergency needs. The court heard an example that one provision would cap new tax-note issuance at 5% of an entity's outstanding debt, a limit several speakers said could be constraining after a major weather or infrastructure event.

State Representative Noe Hinojosa (on the phone) told the court he had discussed the bill in Austin and that the bill's debt-cap and non-voted-debt provisions were the court's primary concerns; he said timing and other bills in the session could carry similar language and that local officials should watch possible senate vehicles for HB 19 language.

Commissioners discussed both a county-drafted joint letter with Corpus Christi and a broader motion to oppose the bill in its present form. Commissioner Chesney moved and Commissioner Mattis seconded the motion to authorize the county judge to sign the joint letter and to oppose passage of House Bill 19; the court voted to approve the action unanimously by voice vote.

The court also voted to authorize the county judge, after conferring with at least one other commissioner, to sign additional letters or take similar, time-sensitive steps during the remaining weeks of the legislative session and to bring those actions back to the court for ratification at the next meeting.

The court and its outside lobbyists said they were coordinating with regional and statewide groups — including the Conference of Urban Counties, Texas Association of Counties and municipal and school associations — to seek amendments or carve-outs such as exclusions for disaster-response bonds. James Hernandez and other advisers said they had prepared proposed amendments and would circulate them to the county and its partners.

No formal legislative language was adopted by the court beyond the vote opposing HB 19 and authorizing the judge to sign the joint letter. Several commissioners said they supported ongoing, rapid updates from county lobbyists in the final weeks of session.

Ending

County officials said they will continue to monitor HB 19 and related bills, coordinate with regional partners and return any post-signing actions to the commissioners court for ratification.