Presidio
Nearly 20 people showed up to a special meeting of the Presidio City Council in support of the local library, which is facing possible cuts as the city confronts a barely balanced budget. Other departments are also being considered for cuts as the mayor advocates that city council members find new streams of revenue.
“We’re basically living paycheck to paycheck,” said City Councilmember Christian Montoya during the budget workshop on August 31. Presidio has an operating budget of $5.1 million dollars next year, with the overworked landfill being a primary source of income, along with property taxes, and fees for water and sewage.
“They want to cut into departments so that they can have more staff in the public works to prioritize infrastructure,” says Glorissel Muniz, the finance director of Presidio, in an interview with Big Bend Sentinel. She stressed that the budget workshop on September 14 will give the public an opportunity to weigh in on their priorities, including the library. “The town is growing and the services provided need to grow as well.”
Road maintenance, trash collection, water leaks, code enforcement and a general lack of things to do are frequently cited by residents as problems. The public works department is in need of staff and equipment, as is the library, the landfill, the EMS department, the municipal court and the police department. Montoya said that they are looking into all departments for possible cuts.
“I can provide services without increasing the budget much, working with donations for activities,” said Carmen Elguezabal, the librarian, in an interview with the Sentinel. Multiple kids and seniors spoke during public comment about the benefits provided by the library.
“Some students don’t have laptops, and they can go to the library and ask Miss Carmen for support,” said one boy softly. “If we get rid of [the library], we should just get rid of school too,” said Pablo Junohoz during public comments.
During the budget workshop, Councilmember Silverio Escontrias said that in his opinion, library cuts should be considered, citing the fact that the library is frequently closed. He did not return a request for comment, and his store Desert Trinkets was closed when a reporter stopped by during the workday.
As one of the few places with consistent public programs, the library serves many functions in town. The librarian collaborates with the Post Office, the Department of Public Safety and the Mexican consulate on managing paperwork, appointments and translations for residents. Residents come to learn Spanish or English, and the library is stocked with books in both languages. There are regular free activities offered to the kids, along with resources for those who need help with a laptop, internet access, court documents or recommendations around town.
Elguezabal operates on a shoestring budget, with less than $75,000 for her salary, utilities, maintenance and programming funds. She has applied for and received sizable grants and donations throughout the library’s history, including a WorkForce agreement that paid for extra staff. While waiting for funding from WorkForce this year, she is running the library alone and seeking donations to continue to serve the public. She is worried that a budget cut will force the library to close. Other departments are facing similar fears.
“We have to have it. We don’t have to staff it,” Escontrias said about the municipal court during the budget workshop. The municipal judge salary in the proposed budget is just over $52,000 a year.
“There’s no such thing as a judge part time,” said Municipal Court Judge Viviana Cataño when council members proposed the possibility of cutting back on the local court hours. The police chief agreed to start issuing code citations as a way to bring in revenue and clean up the city in exchange for funding a staff member past October 1.
The last budget audit emphasized a need for increased reserve funds, causing pressure for cuts. According to Muniz, the reclamation of delinquent taxes from abandoned properties has increased over the last two years. The city is restricted in its abilities to collect taxes from the Border Patrol, a tax exempt federal agency that makes up a sizable percentage of the population.
The ability to put on large events for visitors and tourists, an economic lifeblood in the region, has been limited by the few places to stay in Presidio. Hotel tax revenue fell when the military began staying in both of the city’s hotels, although the Three Palms Inn now has 25 rooms available for reservation. Short-term rentals such as Airbnbs, which offer a sizable revenue stream elsewhere, are currently not taxed by the city.
Mayor John Ferguson strongly advocated against cuts to the library or other programs, pushing instead for the City Council to come up with other forms of revenue, including pursuing more grants for infrastructure, law enforcement and other improvements.
A budget will be presented for public comment at the next City Council meeting on September 14 before a second budget workshop. The new budget will go into effect on October 1.
