Immigration Law

Farmers Branch To Delay Some Projects To Cover Budget Shortfall

By Robert Kraft

Here's a quick follow-up to my last post about the effect on the budget of Farmers Branch of that city's pursuit of the goal of driving illegal immigrants from the city. These excerpts are from a Dallas Morning News story today:

Farmers Branch officials have opted to put off some street maintenance projects as well as some vehicle and equipment purchases to cover a projected shortfall of nearly $1.2 million this fiscal year.

The city started this fiscal year with $2 million less in its reserve fund than the target, which calls for having 75 days of operating expenses, or $8.6 million. But officials had anticipated bringing the reserves back up to the previous level, plus increasing it by another $350,000.

But with just the first quarter of the fiscal year completed, Finance Director Charles Cox is projecting $1.2 million in losses in property tax revenues, landfill revenue and interest earnings.

In addition, the city budgeted $424,000 for the entire year for legal bills related to lawsuits over the city's attempts to ban housing rentals to illegal immigrants. But it spent $303,330 in just the first quarter, which ended in December.

That figure is expected to escalate as the trial looms over the third and latest incarnation of the illegal immigration ordinance, Cox said.

Full post as published by Immigration Law Answers Blog on January 24, 2009 (boomark / email).