LINEBARGER OUT ON BISD DELINQUENT TAX COLLECTION CONTRACT

 VI.A. Presentations regarding RFQ #23-169 Delinquent Ad Valorem Tax Attorney Services as required on the specifications of the request for qualifications.

VIII.A. Discussion, consideration, and possible action on awarding RFQ #23-169 Delinquent Ad Valorem Tax Attorney Services and authorizing contract negotiation. The contract will be valid for one year, upon Board approval of the said contract, with the option to renew.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

"Round and round she went..."

A majority of the members of the Brownsville Independent School District board  – by a 6-1 vote – awarded the tax delinquent contract potentially worth close to $1 million at Monday's specially-called meeting to  Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins and Mott‚ LLP

With only Daniella Lopez-Valdez voting for Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, the board handed the lucrative contract to the up-and-coming delinquent tax collection company for a one-year deal with option to renew after that period.    

Both companies made their presentations before the board at the specially-called meeting at noon (12) Monday and the awarding of the contract was the only action item after the board conducted deliberations in closed session.

Both companies have butted heads for the BISD contract before, with Perdue – at the last go-round in 2021 – pointing out that Linebarger had cost the district millions.

The last time that the board of the Brownsville Independent School District addressed the multi-million delinquent tax contract, they heard Linebarger representative John Guevara downplaying the district's possible loss of an estimated $2.4 million due to the firm's failure to file taxable value audits with the Texas State Comptroller for the years 2011-2014.

The Texas Education Agency partial results of four years placed the total nearer to $3 million.

The BISD superintendent then – Dr. Sylvia Hatton – was alerted by Linebarger competitor Perdue, in 2019 to the failure of Linebarger to file the taxable value audits in May 2020. They estimated that the BISD could lose some $2.4 million as a result.

In a nutshell, when the FY taxable values are audited years later, any miscalculation that results in the loss of taxable value revenues are made up by the Texas Education Agency's Foundation School Program.

Guevara at first denied the failure of his firm to perform the audits.

The delinquent tax contract is no small potatoes. It is estimated to have earned Linebarger some $800,000 a year for the last five years for a total of some $4 million during that time.

And apart from the financial considerations, there is always the political angle. Linebargers's generous contributions have swayed many school boards and other governmental entities to go their way by hiring local politicians as lobbyists in their areas. At state level, they actively lobby top state officials and ply them with generous campaign contributions.

And with the political season in full swing, and candidates eyeing a run for office, the awarding of the lucrative contract depends which company will be more generous to elected officials and others seeking office. Or perhaps there is some horse trading going on with members delivering a vote on behalf of one of the firms for a vote on another topic later, such as the board counsel contract.

"We usually give to both candidates running for office," said a representative for one of the firms. "We won't fund the entire campaign for any one candidate, but sometimes we do support both candidates in a race to be safe."