Attorney
writes lawmakers about some ‘turmoil’ for Mexia State School workers
Mexia Daily News
June 06, 2008 10:56 am
By Bob Wright-Editor
Local
attorney Jeff Stuver, who has frequently represented Mexia State School
employees, is calling attention to what he describes as “...the constant state
of turmoil” which he says “exists among those employees and the state school’s
residents.”
Stuver alludes to some conditions in letters which he wrote and mailed to state
lawmakers who represent the House District 8. Among recipients of the letters,
faxed and also sent by regular mail, are Texas State Senator Steve Ogden and to
Governor Rick Perry. He also made available a copy of the letter to The Mexia
Daily News, and to District 8 State Representative Byron Cook.
The attorney, who has practiced law here for 14 years, was the Precinct 4
Limestone County Commissioner for 12 years. He also was employed at Mexia State
School from 1975 through 1980, and in contacting the newspaper, emphasized,
“Over the past 33 years, I have seen how important the Mexia State School
facility is to the residents who live there, to the employees who work there,
and to the economy of Limestone County, as well as to the surrounding counties.
“It is with genuine concern over the welfare of all of the above that I hope to
call attention to the plight of an overwhelming number of employees of the
Mexia State School...”
Stuver’s letter, made available to the Press, followed on the heels of a
television station’s story which noted that “about one-fourth of more than 800
employees suspended or fired for mistreatment at 13 state facilities for the
mentally and developmentally disabled worked at either the Lubbock or Denton
state schools.” This, from The Associated Press.
According to The Associated Press, “The records also show that nearly 58
percent of the 822 firings or suspensions since fiscal 2004 for abuse, neglect
or exploitation of residents came from four of the 13 state schools - Mexia,
Lubbock, San Angelo and Denton.”
The report also says that “Since fiscal year 2004, 120 employees have either
been fired or suspended from the Mexia State School for abuse, neglect or
exploitation of residents.”
The Associated Press obtained the figures through an open records request to
the Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees the state
schools.
In representing many of the dismissed employees from the local facility, Stuver
says, “In 14 years of practicing law, I have never seen such a gross
miscarriage of justice. That is the reason I feel compelled to write this
letter.”
He continued, “I have frequently represented employees of the Mexia State
School at grievance hearings to which they are entitled when they have been
terminated, suspended or are faced with the loss of a property right, i.e.
their jobs. At these grievance hearings, employees are faced with defending
themselves against allegations of abuse or neglect of a state school resident
without being able to subpoena witnesses; where the rules of evidence don’t
apply; where the state’s evidence is in large part based on a written hearsay
summary of an investigation prepared by one person who works for the Department
of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) (i.e. not the Mexia State School or
the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS).
“Unfortunately for the employee,” continues Stuver in his message to lawmakers,
“The person who actually performed the investigation and reaches his or her
conclusion, can’t even be compelled to come to the hearing to testify.” Stuver
said he has represented employees in approximately 100 grievance hearings, “And
a representative from the DFPS has actually appeared only two times.”
Stuver, given past cases in which he has been involved, and relating to some
cases in which he did not participate, believes that many of the hearings are
“...grossly inadequate.”
The longtime attorney says, “On a daily basis, I now receive calls from
employees who have been terminated on the thinnest of evidence. Many of these
employees have worked at the Mexia State School for 10 and 15, even for 20
years or more. The ‘evidence’ or circumstances upon which they are being
terminated is frequently laughable if it were not for the fact that their lives
and reputations are being devastated after years of faithful employment. Quite
frankly, it is sickening.”
Stuver says it’s his understanding that right now, there are about 50 employees
on administrative leave. He said that “Most non-direct care staff are on call
to ‘come in to work’ due to staffing deficiencies.”
Stuver makes it clear that he wants “the residents of the state school to be
protected from abuse, and I certainly don’t condone any abuse or wilful neglect
of those residents,” but also emphasized, “I don’t believe that the basic
rights of those unjustly accused employees should be taken away by the system
as it now exists.”
He further tells state officials: “Based on an illogical, ill-reasoned ‘zero
tolerance’ policy announced by Health and Human Services Community (HHSC)
bureaucrats, virtually no distinction is being made between intentional abuse
cases and alleged negligent conduct. All are terminated. No common sense is
used, and the local administrators are in reality eliminated from the
decision-making process.”
In conclusion, Stuver had this to say: “...a state of unbelievable and
unconscionable turmoil exists at the Mexia State School which is having a
detrimental effect on residents of the state school, residents who desperately
need a stable living environment.
State's new tax on firms 'a miss'
$4.2 billion collected falls well
short of the early estimates
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Texas'
new business tax has brought in $4.2 billion so far, raising questions about
whether it will hit the $5.9 billion in collections projected for this fiscal
year.
State Comptroller Susan Combs' office, which Wednesday announced the
total collected since the June 16 deadline, cautioned final figures won't be
available until November since businesses could file for an extension.
"I guess for a brand-new tax ... that's pretty good," said
Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means
Committee. "It's pretty well on target."
But Dale Craymer, chief economist for the Texas Taxpayers and Research
Association who has worked for a comptroller, two governors and the Texas
House, said, "I think it's unlikely we're going to hit the first-year
target of $5.9 billion. It's too early to say how big a miss it is."
Still, Craymer said, Texas has billions unspent so even if the new tax
is a bit short, "the state still has plenty of money to cover its
needs." He predicted problems would be smoothed over as the tax is in
place longer.
The
expanded business tax was approved in 2006 as part of a package that also
lowered local school property tax rates. It just came due this year.
The new tax closed provisions in the former
franchise tax that allowed many businesses to avoid paying it, increasing those
that must file from 700,000 to 900,000. A number will still pay no taxes if
they fit certain criteria.
An estimated 500,000 returns have been filed so far,
Combs spokesman R.J. DeSilva said. Some returns cover groups of businesses, so
it's unclear how many entities are represented by the returns, he said.
Of those that filed, 133,000 made payments,
including 46,000 that made a required payment in asking for an extension to pay
whatever else they may owe.
Small businesses in particular have said changes in
the tax mean skyrocketing bills for many who paid the former franchise tax all
along. Under the previous franchise tax, businesses that didn't organize in a
way to avoid the levy paid the greater of 0.25 percent tax on taxable capital
or a 4.5 percent tax on earned surplus net income plus compensation of officers
and directors.
The
expanded business tax is based on gross receipts either 1 percent or half a
percent, depending on the type of business with deductions including cost of goods
sold or employee benefits. Some businesses have noted with concern that they
owe the tax whether or not they made a profit.
"The one thing this number doesn't change and
the one thing we've been saying all along is we don't know what this figure means
to the Texas economy," said Laura Stromberg of the National Federation of
Independent Business/Texas. "We still don't know how many jobs will be
lost, how many businesses will be shut down, how many business owners will take
a pay cut, or how many will have to take out a loan at the bank to pay this
tax."
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, wants the tax scrapped.
"I'd like to repeal it and have a discussion on
the best way to move forward in bringing in the funding we need," said
Patrick, who suggested looking for savings in the budget and then increasing
the sales tax, an idea many oppose, if more money is needed.
He
said the tax "looks like an income tax." A provision in the state
constitution requires a referendum before a tax is imposed "on the net
incomes of natural persons, including a person's share of partnership and
unincorporated association income."
"My guess is someone will challenge it in
court," Patrick said.
Supporters of the tax have disagreed with the idea
that it amounts to an income tax.
Some lawmakers noted that state leaders, including
GOP Gov. Rick Perry, said they expected the expanded business tax to bring in
more money than projected, an idea they said appears unlikely given the numbers
released Wednesday.
"They were telling us what they wanted people
to believe so they wouldn't get upset about a massive cut in the amount of
money available to fund the schools and other state priorities," said Rep.
Scott Hochberg, D-Houston.
He
and others expressed particular concern since the money needed to subsidize the
cut in local school property tax rates is far more than the amount that will be
brought in by the expanded business tax and a higher cigarette tax, both meant
to help offset property tax relief.
Lawmakers last year approved a $14.2 billion
property-tax relief package. About $8.3 billion of that was to be covered by
new state taxes, leaving about $6 billion to be covered by other funds in the
budget. Of the $5.9 billion that's been projected to be brought in by the
expanded business tax in fiscal year 2008, which ends Aug. 31, $2.8 billion is
projected to go this year for general revenue and $3.1 billion to offset local
school property tax relief.
State
overseer of child protection agency retiring
Carey
Cockerell, commissioner over department that seized hundreds of children from
Eldorado ranch, to leave Aug. 31.
Austin American Statesman
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Corrie MacLaggen
The commissioner
who oversaw the controversial removal of more than 400 children from an
Eldorado ranch owned by a polygamous sect will retire Aug. 31, he announced
Friday.
Carey Cockerell,
61, of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, told his staff
in a memo that he has been considering retirement since late last year.
"I am about to
become a grandfather for the first time and I am ready to spend some quality
time with my family after a career that has spanned four decades," wrote
Cockerell, whose agency oversees Child Protective Services.
By leaving this
summer, Cockerell will avoid facing state lawmakers during the legislative
session that begins in January.
Lawmakers will have
"all eyes on Child Protective Services" because of Eldorado, said
state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, a member of a Texas House committee that
monitors CPS.
Department
spokesman Patrick Crimmins said, "There is no connection between his
retirement and Eldorado."
Cockerell, a former
director of juvenile services for Tarrant County, took the helm at the
department in 2005. That was just months after state reports found that CPS
failed to provide needed services for children living in potentially dangerous
situations and that Adult Protective Services caseworkers were not adequately
trained.
"At a time
when there were reports of cases being closed too quickly and children and the
elderly being left in dangerous conditions, Carey helped our state refocus
protective services to its vital mission — protecting Texas' most
vulnerable," Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement.
Cockerell oversaw
major changes at CPS, including a $248 million effort that lawmakers ordered in
2005 to add caseworkers and improve training and technology.
"Carey took on
one of the most difficult jobs in state government and achieved significant
improvements in just a few short years," Texas Health and Human Services
Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins said.
Lately, the agency
has been in the national spotlight for something that Cockerell's 467-word memo
didn't mention: seizing the children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in April
and placing them in foster care around the state.
In a rebuke to CPS,
which said its investigators discovered a pattern of teenage sexual abuse, the
Texas Supreme Court ordered the state to return the children to their parents.
"Under the
guise of protecting children, (CPS has) done a great injury to these
children," said
Attorney
says allegations against former Lufkin State School employee are false
The
Lufkin Daily News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The
attorney of a former Lufkin State School employee arrested Monday on charges of
beating up a blind resident said the allegations are false.
Angelina
County investigators arrested Toby Falcon, 33, late Monday and charged him with
injury to disabled — a third degree felony offense.
He
is accused of injuring a man he cared for at the state school by allegedly
dragging the man into his room and punching him in the face, an arrest
affidavit stated. The incident reportedly happened March 11, not November 2007
as the arrest affidavit mistakenly stated, Falcon's attorney Ryan Deaton said.
Deaton
said there is more to the story.
"The
investigation done was not handled thoroughly," Deaton said. "There
are credible witnesses out there that weren't considered."
Deaton
declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to jeopardize his case.
Falcon
was fired after an investigation was done by the state's protective services
department, said a spokesman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability
Services on Tuesday.
He
was being held in Angelina County Jail late Wednesday afternoon on a $12,500
bond, according to a jailer.
Man
charged with injuring disabled state school resident
Lufkin Daily News
June 25, 2008
A
former Lufkin State School employee has been charged with abusing a disabled
resident who is blind.
Angelina
County investigators arrested Toby Falcon, 33, late Monday and charged him with
injury to disabled — a third degree felony offense.
Falcon
is accused of allegedly pushing the man — who was in his care — to the ground
and dragging him into his room where he punched the man in the face, an arrest
affidavit stated. Falcon allegedly took off his ring before punching the man,
the report also stated. The incident reportedly happened in November 2007.
A
spokesman for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services said Falcon
was fired after an investigation was done by the state's protective services
department.
Falcon
was immediately removed from direct care while the investigation was conducted,
aid Cecilia Fedorov, public information officer for DADS.
The
allegation was reported to the state by the school and then referred to the
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. There was no immediate
information on the outcome of the state's investigation. Falcon, who remained
behind bars without bond Tuesday evening, has not yet hired an attorney.
Day-care
owner charged in injury to toddler
Austin American Statesman
June 29, 2008
COLLEGE
STATION, Texas — A Brazos County home day-care owner is free on bail after being
accused of causing a severe head injury to a toddler earlier this year.
Dana Rene Munyon,
45, surrendered early Friday and posted $25,000 bail. She was charged with
injury to a child causing a serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony
punishable by up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The district
attorney's office declined to comment on the case, which is expected to go
before a grand jury soon.
"This is too
early for people to be judging the merits of this case," Munyon's attorney
Craig Greaves said in the Bryan-College Station Eagle on Saturday. "It's
very emotional, and I just hope people wait and hear all the facts before
drawing a conclusion."
Court documents
show that Tiffany Verzal left her 14-month-old daughter, Alexis, at Munyon's
house on April 3. Thirty-five minutes later, Verzal said, she received a phone
call from Munyon, saying "something had happened to Alexis. She went limp.
I've called 911. I need you guys to get here."
Verzal told police
that Munyon told her she had put her daughter in a time-out but that the child
kept getting off a blanket. Verzal said Munyon told her that she turned to look
at several boys in her care. She said Alexis stopped crying, so Munyon thought
she was asleep. When Munyon went to check on Alexis, she didn't respond, so
Munyon called 911, according to Verzal's statement.
A physician who
examined Alexis on April 3 said tests showed that she suffered from a traumatic
brain injury and from retinal hemorrhages in her eyes, according to a document
filed by Brazos County Sheriff's Department investigator John Pollock.
The toddler was
suffering from partial paralysis on her right side and her vision was affected
by the injury. Doctors told Pollock that Alexis could have some effects of the
injury for the rest of her life.
After 25 days at
Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Tiffany Verzal and her husband, Brandon,
took Alexis to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb., to be closer
to family and to receive treatment at a facility known for having an extensive
brain injury program.
Brandon Verzal came
to College Station to work as director of Texas A&M's 12th Man Productions.
He met his wife while both worked as student aides in the University of
Nebraska athletic department. They eventually followed Texas A&M athletic
director Bill Byrne and other former University of Nebraska staffers to Texas
A&M.
Munyon, who kept
children in her home for almost 20 years, had other parents who worked for the
Texas A&M athletic department among her clients. She voluntarily stopped
taking children after Alexis' injury.
The home was not a
licensed day care, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective
Services. Marissa Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for child care licensing for Texas,
said the state requires anyone who baby-sits three or more unrelated children
for a consistent period to have a license and to be inspected regularly by the
state. Penalties for such a violation are administrative, not criminal, she
said.
At least one of the
parents interviewed by authorities described Munyon as an excellent child care
provider.
.
Lubbock Avalanche Journal
June 22, 2008
By Marlena Hartz
Two
sides can be clearly seen in the shiny, instant photos, shot years ago and
tucked in a thick stack of court documents.
In
one photo, there's a young Melissia Martin, her bangs teased and hair-sprayed,
her then 6-year-old son, Brandon, sitting on her lap.
In
another, stapled on the opposite side of the document, there's Billy
Shackelford, alone, leaning forward in a faded T-shirt.
Twelve
years ago, a Lubbock judge legally linked the three.
Shackelford,
38, is Brandon's biological father, a paternity test confirmed with 99.9
percent positivity. The judge ordered him to pay $25 per month in child
support, court documents show. But he never did, at least not consistently. He
and Martin have been in and out of courts ever since, and he now owes the
Wolfforth mother more than $27,000, documents show.
In
Martin's quest to pry money from him (which continues although Brandon is an
adult), Martin got entangled with something else - an industry she said is
preying on vulnerable, single parents, mostly mothers.
Not
just Martin, but hundreds of parents have complained about the private child
support collection industry, according to records from two state agencies
assigned to handle child support issues. But those agencies, the Texas
Department of Banking and the Texas Attorney General's office, rarely impose
penalties against the companies as a result, records The Avalanche-Journal
obtained through the Texas Public Information Act show, leaving several local
mothers to feel their pleas are being ignored.
The
agencies have received approximately 500 documented complaints against the
companies since 2002, or an average of 100 per year, their records show.
Industry
and state officials said the number of complaints is not alarming considering
the number of people the industry serves.
"We
do receive some complaints, but we know we are doing a good job for thousands
and thousands of people," said Eric Rosenkoetter, a spokesperson for
Supportkids, the largest private child support collection company in the
nation.
The
Austin-based company has been around since 1991 and has 40,000 clients, he
said. It's one of 13 child support collection companies the state banking
department has registered to operate in Texas. The department does not keep
track of how many clients each company serves, a spokeswoman said.
Some
clients, though, have begged for help, copies of complaints filed with the
consumer protection division of the attorney general's office show.
Most
often, mothers complain the companies refuse to or make it difficult to
terminate contracts with the companies, which generally obligate them to remain
clients until non-custodial parents satisfy their debts, while guaranteeing the
companies more than 30 percent of child support collected on their behalf.
About 150 people have complained to the state banking department and the
attorney general's office about contractual issues in the past five years,
records show.
"They
take advantage (of) people in what is already a hard situation for everyone
involved. I don't make a lot of money and cannot afford a lawyer. Please, I
need help. I just want them to terminate my service," a mother in Georgia
complained to the division this year.
Mothers
with custody of their children aren't the only ones blasting the industry.
About 50 non-custodial parents who owe child support in the past five years
have complained the private companies harassed or intimidated them to get them
to pay or misrepresented themselves as government agencies, records show. Many
more argue they don't owe any child support.
"They
are not efficient or thorough enough to do their job professionally or
ethically. They are a collection agency, period. And the fact that they take a
child's support money to fund their business is just sick," complained a
father from Oregon.
The
complaints don't go unanswered, state officials said. Unhappy parents are
listened to and their complaints are recorded and reviewed, they said.
The
consumer protection division of the attorney general's office and the banking
department have validated a small percentage of the complaints they've received
since 2002. The division has awarded roughly $5,000 to a dozen aggrieved
custodial and non-custodial parents. But they've not ordered a monetary
settlement since 2003, records show.
The
banking department has awarded about $4,300 to complainants since 2002, according
to officials.
Ultimately,
it's up to lawmakers to decide if more enforcement is needed, a department of
banking spokeswoman, Wendy Buitron, said.
"With
any industry, you are going to have complaints," she said.
Her
department's oversight of the companies is limited, she said.
In
2001, state lawmakers designated that the banking department regulate the
industry, but the department's authority does not extend much beyond licensing
the companies.
The
department has never revoked a child support collection company license or
determined a child support collection company to be in violation of the chapter
that oversees their operation, she said.
Nobody on her side'
Frustrated
with the attorney general's office, which is assigned to enforce child support
orders for the state, Martin turned last year to a private child-support
collection agency, Texa$upport, Inc.
"I
thought I finally had someone on my side," she said.
But
she said the company, which used to operate in Lubbock but recently moved to
Levelland, disappointed her, too.
Employees,
she said, dodged her phone calls. They claimed 33 percent of all payments they
received, which is a sky-high fee, she said, because it diverts money from the
mouths of the neediest children. She haggled for months to terminate her
contract, which she finally did this spring by hand-delivering a termination
letter, she said.
The
owners of the Levelland business did not return A-J phone calls.
Another
Texa$upport client, Angela Trevino of Lubbock, said the company has kept their
promises.
"I'm
happy with their services. ... I wasn't getting anything. Something is better
than nothing," said the mother of two.
This
hits at the industry's reason for being, said Rosenkoetter, the Supportkids
spokesperson: the job of collecting child support from delinquent parents is
simply too big for states to handle, he said. His company's average client has
not received a child support payment in more than three years and is owed
$25,000 in child support arrears, he said.
"No
matter how much funding a state child support agency has or how well they do
their job, they would never be able to collect for everybody," he said.
Their
budgets, he said, are too small and their case loads too large.
A
spokesperson for the attorney general's office, Thomas Kelley, declined to
respond to Rosenkoetter's comments. The office collected $2.3 billion in child
support in the last fiscal year, he did point out.
In
Texas alone, Rosenkoetter said his company has 6,600 clients and has collected
$98 million for custodial parents to date. A spokeswoman with the child support
division of the Texas attorney general's office, Janece Rolfe, also said there
is a place for the industry.
"We
believe that parents deserve a choice. If they want to go to the private sector,
that's their choice," she said.
Remedies
Custodial
parents who do turn to the private industry should carefully read and make sure
they understand the contracts they sign with the companies, state officials
cautioned.
"A
lot of people enter into contracts and they don't understand they are bound to
(them). They can't just walk away and must seek legal counsel to break the
contract," said Buitron, the banking department spokeswoman.
The
department does not mediate contract disputes but does review contracts for
clarity as part of the licensing process, she said.
A
Lubbock mother of three, Joanne Shelton, hired a lawyer to end her contract
with Supportkids. She filed a lawsuit against the company in 2005, claiming
contract fraud. She sought more than $100,000 in monetary damages, court
records show. But she and her lawyer settled the case for $400, she said. Her
lawyer advised the settlement was the best they could do, she said.
"The
(companies) should be illegal," Shelton said. "But if they are there,
they're there for a reason," she said, referring to what she perceives as
the state's failure to effectively handle child support violators.
Many
non-custodial parents who complain of being harassed by the companies don't
know state laws do give the companies the power to take child support violators
to court, which can result in jail sentences. They also can seize property and
tax returns to apply to child support arrears.
The
penalties for not paying are laid out in the same house bill, No. 1365, that
gives the banking department licensing power over the industry.
Supportkids
rarely goes to the lengths permitted by law; often, liens are enough to spark
payments, Rosenkoetter said.
Non-custodial
parents who think they are being harassed by a child support collection company
or who know a company is misrepresenting itself are advised to record the
activity on a tape recorder or an answering machine as evidence, Buitron
advised.
The
banking department does have the authority to revoke a company's license for
very specific, unethical practices, such as posing as a government agency or
threatening physical retaliation against child support violators.
The
companies also must pay start-up and annual fees to legally operate in the
state.
Texas
is one of 10 states with legislation that specifically addresses the private
child support collection industry: Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana,
Maine, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia also have laws, according
to the National Conference on State Legislatures.
Each
state's scope of regulation varies, and Texas' falls on the light side,
according to information the national conference compiled in 2005.
In
seven of the states - Arkansas, West Virginia, Oregon, Connecticut, Illinois,
Indiana and Oklahoma - there are caps on the amount a company can siphon from
child support collections.
Maine
legislators made it illegal for companies to collect fees on future child
support payments; companies are only permitted to collect portions on child
support arrearage, according to the national conference.
"States
try to respond in a way that makes sense to their constituents," said
Stephanie Walton, a child policy expert with the Denver-based national
conference.
"It's
kind of one of those things," she said, "that time will tell how bad
the problem is and how appropriate the state response is and if children in the
state are being protected."
State
closes day care for day over staffing shortage
Waco Tribune Herald
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
By Erin Quinn
State
officials say they are conducting a routine investigation into the ABC Academy
Learning Center in Hewitt for not having enough staff to care for the children
and for not adequately training employees.
The
investigation began earlier this month after the agency received reports that
the 611 W. Spring Valley Road day care center often was understaffed, Marissa
Gonzales, a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokeswoman,
said Tuesday. Such investigations are not rare around the state, she said.
Gonzales
said investigators visited the facility several times in the last few weeks.
Monday
morning, state officials deemed the center too short-staffed to properly care
for the children and closed the center for the day. Parents were called and
told to pick up their children.
Officials
visited the center early Tuesday and deemed it fit to open. The center is
licensed to care for 50 children.
Gonzales
said the investigation is ongoing and could lead to the center being placed on
probation or its permit revoked.
Deputies
come out in force against proposal to privatize the jail
Waco Tribune Herald
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
By Wendy Gragg
Uniformed
county officers filled the seats and lined the walls of the small McLennan
County Commissioners Court room Tuesday. They turned out in force to let
commissioners know they are staunchly against privatizing the county jail on
State Highway 6.
The
county is weighing several options to stem overcrowding in its jail under
pressure from state regulators. Building a new, larger jail on Highway 6 and
privatizing its management is one idea on the table.
Officer
Ricky Armstrong, one of roughly 60 officers at the meeting, listed his
concerns, including public safety. County officers have had to respond to trouble
at the privately run downtown jail before, he said. If the State Highway 6 jail
also gets privatized, who will be there to step in and help the downtown jail
when things get out of hand again, he asked.
Armstrong
also questioned the hiring policies and background checks of the private
company, Community Education Centers, which operates the downtown McLennan
County Detention Center on Columbus Avenue. He cited an incident in 2001 where
a former CEC (then, Civigenics) jail guard helped a convicted murderer escape.
The
county’s contract with CEC runs out in October, and officials are considering
whether to extend that contract or find another private manager.
Armstrong
also voiced concern about officer pay and retirement. He said he is worried his
pay would drop if he worked for a private company.
“With
private companies, it’s all about making a profit,” he said.
Sgt.
Mike Garrett, with the jail division for 14 years, told commissioners that news
of the possible privatization of the jail had been “overwhelming.” Though the
jail is short-staffed and overpopulated, the officers still work hard to keep
order, he said.
“We
strive to be the best of the best,” Garrett said.
Garrett
left the commissioners with the message that 200-plus officers and civilian
employees pray the court makes the right decision.
The
Highway 6 jail, with 931 beds, has been teetering on its maximum capacity for
several years and has been operating with variances from the Texas Commission
on Jail Standards. In May, commissioners authorized the hiring of 12 new
jailers to try to address the situation.
At
the end of May, commissioners voted to seek proposals from private vendors to
relieve overcrowding at the county jail.
“I’m
on their side,” said Commissioner Joe Mashek after listening to the officers’
concerns. “I don’t want to see them lose their retirement or any of their
benefits.”
It’s
clear that a jail has to be built, Mashek said, but he doesn’t want to see a
large tax increase to fund it. Mashek said he favors the county continuing to
operate the State Highway 6 jail and letting a private entity come in and build
a 1,000-bed jail on county property.
This
is just one of the four possibilities the county is entertaining. A second
option seeks proposals to operate and manage the downtown jail after the
county’s lease with CEC to operate that 329-bed detention center expires Oct.
1.
Another
option allows a private company to operate the downtown jail, as well as build
and operate a new 1,000-bed jail on Highway 6.
The
last option calls for a private company to take over all county detention
duties except for booking, releasing and records. That would include operating
the downtown and Highway 6 jails and building a new one.
The
deadline for those proposals is July 8.
County
Judge Jim Lewis said Tuesday’s testimony will be taken into account when
commissioners make a decision about the jail issue.
“We
appreciate them coming in, but it’s way too early to make any comments,” Lewis
said.
Commissioner
Lester Gibson said Armstrong and Garrett had legitimate concerns. Gibson said
he isn’t leaning toward a specific option yet, but he said he thinks the
options should be taken to voters to weigh in on.
Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN — The state's new business tax has so far generated
$4.2 billion, Comptroller Susan Combs' office said Wednesday, releasing an
estimate far short of the projection Texas has been banking on.
The
tax was estimated to bring in $5.9 billion a year to help offset school
property taxes. So far, about 133,000 payments have been received and about
46,000 businesses that requested a deadline extension have yet to pay their
taxes, which were due to the state for the first time on June 16.
Small
businesses have complained that the tax is hitting them especially hard and
have formed a coalition to lobby the Legislature to overhaul the tax.
"We
still don't know what this means: How many jobs will be lost, how many businesses
will be shut down, how many businesses won't be able to expand," said
Laura Stromberg, a spokeswoman for the National Federation of Independent
Business Texas chapter. "There are a lot of unanswered questions about
this tax and its effect on the Texas economy."
State
budget writers have been anxiously eyeing the tax revenues, unsure if it would
be enough to cushion an anticipated budget surplus or so low it cuts into
revenue projections and planned spending. The business tax makes up about 15
percent of the state's total tax revenue, second only to the sales tax.
"It
is still too early to tell what the final franchise tax revenue number will be
for this fiscal year, as the first year of a revised tax can be somewhat
unpredictable without a previous roadmap," Combs' office said in a
statement. "We expect more revenue to be collected in August and November
as extension filers settle up their reports."
Gov.
Rick Perry has said he will propose using some of the state's surplus money —
about $2 billion if you subtract funds already spoken for — for tax relief,
either to homeowners through property tax cuts or to businesses through cuts to
the new tax.
"We
think that it's too early to make a final assessment," said Perry
spokeswoman Krista Piferrer. "Governor Perry has always said that when we
get the results of this tax, if it needs to be readjusted, then he's willing to
go to the table and do just that."
Under
the tax structure, companies are taxed at 1 percent — 0.5 percent for retailers
— of gross receipts. Companies would deduct for cost of goods or employee
benefits like salary and health care.
Texas
small businesses earning less than $300,000 a year are exempt from the new tax
and some businesses with higher earnings get stair-stepped discounts.
Small
business interests were disappointed when lawmakers rejected a measure that
would ease the tax in years that businesses are not profitable.
Lawmakers
spent years trying to fix the loophole-ridden franchise tax. They stumbled over
how to structure a new tax within legal constraints that would apply equally to
different business structures.
The
new business tax structure was passed in 2006 and implemented last year.
Lubbock Avalanche Journal
June 21, 2008
By Enrique Rangel | A-J AUSTIN BUREAU
Once
again, the Texas Legislature has a problem other statehouses wish they had.
The
Legislature expects it will have between a $10.5 and $15 billion surplus.
of
the amount, come January when the 81st Legislature convenes, the lawmakers will
have some money in the bank, just like they did last session when they had a
$14 billion surplus - a sharp contrast to 2003 when they worked with a $10
billion deficit.
"When
we're back in session we're gonna have a long line from the front of the
Capitol to El Paso asking for more money," said Rep. Carl Isett,
R-Lubbock, and a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of
the Sunset Advisory Commission.
The
challenge for Texas lawmakers is to prioritize funding - even with a projected
surplus there is not enough money to please everyone, Isett said.
One
of those priorities is funding public schools.
"We
know we have to put more money into education," Isett said. "The
question is how much more?"
Educators
like Wayne Havens, superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District,
don't know either but in their view it will have to be a lot more than what
they are getting now.
Texas
schools, Havens said, are still working with the budget the Legislature approved
in a special session two years ago, when lawmakers were under court order to
approve a school funding bill.
Since
then, the cost of everything has gone up, Havens said. "I don't know of
any business that can operate on a budget approved in 2006," he said.
"Well, it's the same thing for us. The inflation factor is hurting us.
Districts are coming up with deficit budgets, making reductions and taking
other drastic measures.
"People
may get bored, tired of hearing this but that's the real truth," he added.
"We're not immune from those inflationary costs."
Former
Rep. Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, who was chairman of the Appropriations
Committee in 2003 when the Legislature had the $10 billion shortfall, said the
projected surplus will be closer to the higher end because sales taxes continue
to grow.
Still,
the Legislature needs to be careful how it spends it because it needs to keep
at least $5 billion in the bank for leaner times, said Heflin, now the director
at the Center for Fiscal Policy of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an
Austin-based think tank.
He
suggests the Legislature spend part of the surplus to keep up with the costs
triggered by inflation and the state's population growth.
Schools,
he said, will get additional money just because of their enrollment growth.
"The
Legislature will have to make a decision as to what they do with fuel costs, if
they give them more for that," Heflin explained. "It's just like last
week, we had one of the officials at the University of Texas saying how the University
of Texas had to have more money from the state.
"Whatever
the amount it is never enough," Heflin added. "I have never seen a
school district, I've never seen a university that says oh, by the way, we've
got enough, don't send us any more money.'"
For
other Austin watchers, talk of surplus is counterproductive - it raises
unrealistic expectations and there rarely is any extra money.
Dick
Lavine, senior analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a think tank
that advocates for needy Texans, argues that there is no such thing as a
surplus.
"The
$10.5 billion the comptroller says we have in the so-called surplus, $5.5
billion, more than half of it, is in the rainy day fund, which is for an
emergency, one-time expenditure," Lavine explained.
"Another
$3 billion of the so-called surplus is reserved for the property tax relief
fund, money that they are going to need to replace the school property taxes
that the school districts are no longer collecting because of the property tax
cuts that the Legislature passed in 2005," he said. "And the
remaining $2 billion is just a cash balance, that's just a tiny percentage of
the total for the biennium," which in the last session was $152 billion.
And
in Texas, as in the rest of the nation, the economic future doesn't look good
and the projected revenues that the state expects now could fall far short,
putting the Legislature in a difficult situation, Lavine said.
Despite
some cloudy economic forecasts, Isett and other lawmakers are happy that, at
least for now, there is a projected surplus, just like last year.
"Most
states wish they had our problem," Isett said. "I was just with a
group of legislators from other states and they were talking about the budget
problems they have and asking me how we manage to have a surplus."
Head of agency that removed children from sect retiring
Copyright 2008 Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — The head of the state
agency that removed more than 400 children from a West Texas polygamist sect is
retiring.
Carey Cockerell,
commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services, will leave
his post on Aug. 31. He joined the agency in January 2005.