According to the report, the shortfall is largely due to increased spending on overtime and compensatory benefits. The report comes with some recommendations to get the budget back on track by making some pretty big cuts. If the recommendations are approved by the county commissioners, there will be no discretionary bonuses this month.
Additionally, there will be a freeze on countywide hiring and projects, and a reduction in force. The report also recommends the HR department review and update overtime and compensatory policies, a third-party audit of overtime, and the publication of quarterly reports on countywide overtime and compensation costs.
These are just recommendations, however, and could change, Lauren Trimble, chief of staff for Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, said via email.
The county projected that it would start the year with a general fund balance of $86 million. However, a report published by the county auditor found the actual starting balance was $52.8 million. One reason for the $31.5 million difference is the rollover of purchased countywide contracts. Additionally, some $13 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds were supposed to be transferred to the county but that didn’t happen, adding to the budget shortfall.
“What we’re looking at right now is what happened with this [funding] gap and what were the areas that caused this gap,” County Commissioner Elba Garcia told the Observer on Monday. She said that while a hiring freeze is on the table, it may exclude certain departments with critical position vacancies.
“My point on this is we have to be sure that we keep everybody apprised of what’s going on,” Garcia said.
“My point on this is we have to be sure that we keep everybody apprised of what’s going on.” – Elba Garcia, Dallas County Commissioner
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Issues at the county jail are also contributing to the deficit. This year, the county is spending more to hold people in jail as the cost per bed has increased significantly since 2023. There are also more people in the jail, something that’s true for a lot of counties, Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins told the Observer. “No one budgeted for that many prisoners in Texas,” he said.
In the juvenile department, there’s $5.13 million in overtime spending, largely due to staffing shortages, as the department has over 150 vacant positions. Food and household utensils for inmates have also increased in price; the budget office estimates the sheriff’s department will need an extra $200,000 to cover the difference.
Then, there’s comp time pay for employees. If a Dallas County employee works overtime, they can either take the overtime pay or have the hours go toward their paid time off. So far this year, the office of budget and evaluation has received non-budgeted comp time payout requests of about $1.52 million.
There have also been some unforeseen costs in the county courts. The county budgeted $23.3 million for its courts. But through the first seven months of this year, the county courts have already blown through $16.8 million. Now, the total cost of the courts is projected to be around $28.7 million. It’s also costing the county more to pay for jurors, as Texas House Bill 3474 increased juror pay from $6 to $20 for the first day of service, and from $40 to $58 on subsequent days.
Jenkins said he and others are still trying to figure out what the deficit means for the county. “That may mean that there’s a project that you’d like to do in 2025 that gets pushed out or not done,” he said. “But it also may be that everything can get done.”
He's confident the county will be able to balance the budget. “By doing this midyear and managing this, in the end, that number will get to zero,” he said. “I’m confident that we can get that number to zero without dramatically affecting any of the programs that we have committed to.”
All of this comes as the city of Dallas faces a $38 million budget shortfall of its own. “We’re going to have to make some cuts and tough decisions right now in order to balance the budget,” Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins said last month of the Dallas budget.
According to Trimble the commissioners will likely, finally, hear the report at their next meeting on June 18.
