Cameron County discusses FY26 budget, proposes $1 bridge toll increase and weighs multiple staffing requests

Cameron County Commissioners Court on Aug. 5 reviewed preliminary fiscal year 2025–26 budget projections, discussed a proposed $1 increase to passenger-vehicle tolls at the county's international bridges, and heard multiple staffing and reclassification requests from county offices seeking to add or convert positions.

The court's budget staff presented revenue and expenditure estimates that incorporated a proposed 5% across-the-board pay increase for county employees and several department requests for new positions. Staff recommended increasing passenger-vehicle tolls at the international bridges from $4 to $5, which would generate about $2.6 million in gross revenue; roughly $1.8 million of that would be the county's certified share, staff said. The court directed staff to draft an item for the next meeting to set toll rates, historically effective Sept. 1 when rates are changed.

The county's current tax rate was reported at 0.426893. Staff noted that recently proposed state legislation (referred to in the meeting as Senate Bill 9, introduced by Senator Bettencourt) would change how the "no-new-revenue" tax rate is calculated for many counties, but that the county's current calculations show the change would not affect Cameron County this year. Staff also noted the county's voter-approval rate…