Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar this week accused Harris County commissioners of defunding local constables and threatened to prevent the county from implementing its proposed 2023 budget if the county does not reverse course.
In a letter sent late Monday, Hegar said the county’s move to do away with “rollover” budgeting led to more than $3 million dedicated to the constables last year being returned to the general fund.Lawmakers killed a costly corporate tax break program, but loopholes will still cost Texas billions
In Austin, city councilmembers removed some operations from the Austin Police Department’s purview, spurring howls of outrage. "This is tyranny, this is an overreach in government," state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, said at the time."We have decided to take a couple of buzzwords and catchphrases to make partisanship and to divide this state and this country."
After Hidalgo’s election, the county did away with the unusual budgeting technique and adopted more traditional budgeting practices -- similar to what the state requires of its own agencies and their funding. A review of county records show that the county allocated $205,290,000 to its constables in 2020. This year, its proposed budget includes a 13 percent increase to the constables budget, for a total of $231,491,249.
Across Texas, most constables’ offices field small departments with just a few employees. In Harris County, however, constables have come to occupy a unique position, steadily accruing more power and more responsibility. While Texas constables traditionally worked as process servers, constables’ offices in Harris County have grown into departments with specialized units, hundreds of employees, and budgets in the 10s of millions of dollars.
Argentina Últimas Noticias, Argentina Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
The price of Texas colleges have skyrocketed in the past 5 decades. Here's how much tuition costs.Tuition has skyrocketed at Texas colleges in the past five decades. Here's how much it costs for the 2022-23 school year across the state.
Leer más »
A Texas county's election administrators all resigned, leaving the state to step inIn conservative Gillespie County, the elections administrator and her two deputies have resigned, with at least one citing threats fueled by misinformation.
Leer más »
Texas county’s elections officials resign, citing harassmentThe resignations have more broadly made the county of roughly 27,000 residents — which overwhelmingly backed former President Donald Trump in 2020 — an extraordinary example of the fallout resulting from threats to election officials.
Leer más »
Election staff abruptly quits, upending rural Texas countyThe entire elections staff in a rural Texas county has quit less than three months before November's midterm elections.
Leer más »