Starr County reviews finances; tax collections lag while general fund shows small surplus

Starr County commissioners heard financial reports covering September and year-to-date results and were told the county’s property-tax collections are lagging.

The county’s tax assessor reported projected collections of $532,503 and said current collections reflected a shortfall that began with delinquencies registering in July 2023. “We have collected 83 of the projected collections,” the assessor said, and commissioners noted the county appeared to be about $532,000 short of projections and asked county attorneys to follow up on delinquent accounts.

Finance staff reviewed the budget packet, reporting year-to-date general fund revenues of $21,783,328 and expenditures of $21,580,296, leaving an excess of approximately $203,000. Road and bridge year-to-date collections were listed at $6,615,018 with expenditures of $7,284,018, producing a year-to-date deficit of about $671,008. Enterprise funds varied: the international bridge showed an excess of $547,058, the gas system had net revenues of $234,016, and the transfer station showed a loss of $208,515. The packet’s ARPA special revenue fund figure in the transcript was garbled and requires clarification from staff.

Commissioners raised concern about the delinquency level and asked staff to confer with county legal counsel about collection options. No formal new policy was adopted; the court recorded motions to accept the reports as presented.

The court’s next procedural step was to send delinquency concerns to the county attorney for follow-up and to consider further reporting at subsequent meetings.