15 Oct Jail Revenue Report, Buoy Study Update Plus Paving Purchase

Commissioners held their first Commissioners’ Court meeting of fiscal 2026-27 on Tuesday.

The court approved $801,113.21 of checks and invoices for September 25th through October 8th, pending the Treasurer’s report.

The Sheriff’s Office gave the court its year-end revenue numbers for the County Jail and Regional Jail. Together they brought in $3,323,733.28 for the 2025-26 budget year: $2,537,080 at the Regional Jail and $714,134.18 at the County Jail. Most of it, $3,250,719.18, was U.S. Marshals revenue. The rest was phone system revenue ($60,076.21), civil process fees ($7,922.89), bond fees ($4,520) and CBP/ICE ($495).

And to give you an update on the buoy study, commissioners approved hiring Crane Engineering’s Eddie Garza to help finish the hydrology study on how the border wall and buoy placement in the Rio Grande could affect the river. Residents had asked the court to bring Crane in at the previous meeting.

The court also approved the following items:

• Equipment for the coming paving job, bought through Romco Equipment Company: a Model 1000G paving machine ($125,824), a nine-wheel articulating roller ($67,024.10), a steel drum smoother ($51,811) and a tack trailer ($27,893.63)
• Use of Road Bond funds across the precincts for equipment purchases and rentals
• Repair payments to A&A Pipeline Services ($18,485, from Certificate of Obligation funds), Zapata Quick Air ($14,800, for a compressor on a 20-ton condenser), M&R Machine & Repair Shop ($13,678.23) and Fuego Towing and Recovery ($12,499, for a high-pressure pump, from the Non-Department Fund)
• A labor and maintenance hire at $11 an hour
• Retirement of equipment operator Jorge Hugo Flores after 20 years with the county
• María Martínez as a new assistant cook at the Zapata Nutrition Center
• Requests for proposals and qualifications for administrative and engineering services tied to two Texas Department of Agriculture programs: the Colonia Fund Construction Program (fiscal 2027) and the Texas Community Development Grant Program (2027-2028)
• Streetlights at 144 Evergreen St. and at Alamo Street and 27th Street
• Sale of scrap metal from the Tepozan Yard, requested by Precinct 1 Commissioner David Moya
• Proclamations naming October Down Syndrome Awareness Month and World Mental Illness Awareness Month

Commissioners meet again Monday, October 26, at 9 a.m. at the Courthouse.