County waits to hear from public on tax proposal

Cameron County Commissioners want to hear from the public before they decide whether to increase property taxes by two cents.

Also up for discussion at this week's Commissioners Court meeting was the county budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and if raising the property taxes from 34 cents to 36 cents per $100 valuation would help balance the budget.

The proposed budget is about $67.8 million, does not include a $1,000 across-the-board raise for all county employees. Commissioners Court opted not to receive raises.

County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said commissioners chose not to be included in the pay raise proposal.

Public hearings on the proposed tax increase are set from Monday and Sept. 2.

Commissioners also approved creation of a committee -- consisting of a member of the district attorney's office, county administrator's office, the district judges and court interpreters -- that will clarify the duties of the court interpreters.

District Attorney Armando Villalobos said his office is having trouble with interpreters because they are refusing to interpret videotapes, audio recordings and statements for his office without additional compensation.

"We are meeting severe resistance," he said during this week's meeting, adding that in some cases the district attorney's office is having to pay an additional $2,000 to $3,000 to get the case information translated.

"We are going to go bankrupt" if the office has to continue paying these additional fees, Villalobos said. Since December, his office has paid $40,000 to the interpreters for translation services.

Because more police departments are recording their interviews with suspects on video and audio, the departments are turning over disks and tapes untranslated, Villalobos said.

The district attorney said the work requested of the interpreters could be done during regular working hours because they are not needed in court "eight hours a day."

Precinct 4 Commissioner Edna Tamayo wanted to know who supervises the interpreters.

Cascos said paying the court interpreters additional money gives the appearance of "double dipping."

"I don't think it's right paying someone twice for one hour's work," Cascos said.