Commissioners approve $9.9M in claims, probe $200,000 cellphone payments and table insurance decision

The Cameron County Commissioners Court on April 7 approved general claims totaling $9,977,669.74 and other payments, discussed unresolved cellphone and wireless billing issues that may have resulted in double payments, and tabled a property‑insurance renewal decision so staff can provide clearer comparison sheets.

Mateo Flores, the county’s senior internal auditor (speaker 8), told the court agenda item 4b included general claims of $9,977,669.74, medical claims totaling $978,494, and estimated gross payroll for the next period of $5,535,097.67. "The auditor's office is recommending the court's approval," Flores said.

Commissioners then questioned large payments to AT&T and T‑Mobile. One commissioner asked why a $200,000 check had been selected and whether sufficient documentation existed. "My my thing was, nothing is usually like 200,000," one commissioner (speaker 3) said, asking how the figure was arrived at and whether the payment would put accounts up to date.

County staff and the sheriff (speaker 2) said a prior administration had migrated carriers without disconnecting old lines, SIM cards were removed from discarded phones and some lines remained active on prior vendor accounts — a condition that led to duplicate payments. A staff member reported a 97% return rate from departments identifying phone numbers and devices; staff proposed continuing reconciliation work, consolidating carriers where appropriate, and forming a small cross‑department committee to present periodic reconciliations back to the court.

The court approved the claims motion (moved by Commissioner Lopez; second by Commissioner Reese). The court recorded Commissioner Benavides’ abstention.

On insurance, consultant James Charlesworth of Charlesworth Consulting (speaker 13) presented options for the county’s property policy that renews May 1. Options discussed included increasing the per‑occurrence loss limit from $30 million to $40 million for an additional premium of about $75,000 and lowering named‑storm and wind deductibles (for an additional premium in the low six figures) to reduce potential out‑of‑pocket exposure. Charlesworth said a catastrophic model showed a 1,000‑year event exposure near $36 million and that changing the policy renewal date (a 10‑month policy option) produced only modest additional savings. Commissioners asked for simplified spreadsheets showing the 12‑month vs. 10‑month comparisons and the deductible‑change impacts.

"That 10 month premium is $1,213,141," Charlesworth said when asked about the alternate term; commissioners asked administration for clear breakout numbers and voted to table the insurance decision for two weeks so staff can return with the requested detail.

The court also acknowledged the 2025 South Padre Island tax‑increment reinvestment zone report (TIRZ No. 1), which staff said had a 2016 base year; the county’s contribution to date was reported in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and the court moved to approve the report. Christopher Elias of GJ Engineering (speaker 9) gave a construction update on the Isla Blanca project: original bid ~$11.6 million, current cost about $11.8 million (≈1.1% variance), sanitary sewer work ~45% complete, AEP electrical work is on the critical path, and site restoration is expected to start in May with an estimated 85‑day duration.

After executive session the court approved a 12‑month extension to an ACTS advocacy agreement and an interlocal agreement with the City of Starbase to use equipment to clean the beach; other items from the executive session were acknowledged and staff were directed to proceed as discussed.

The court adjourned at 1:09 p.m.; the insurance and insurance‑related pricing backup will return at a future meeting and staff were directed to continue telecommunications reconciliations and to report back to the court.