Taxes, Potholes, and the Magical Money Electeds Don’t Tell You About

El Pasoans love two things more than green chile on everything:

1. complaining about taxes, and

2. complaining about what taxes don’t buy us.

We complain that streets are trash. Then we complain when streets are under construction. We complain parks are dusty wastelands with one sad tree and a broken swing. Then we complain when the County fixes them. At this point, complaining is our real regional industry. If bitching were taxable, we’d have world-class infrastructure by now.

But here’s the thing most folks don’t know: elected officials have a little cheat code in the budget called discretionary funding.

Cue the dramatic music.

Discretionary funds are exactly what they sound like. A set amount of money baked into the City and County budgets that the elected official for a district or precinct can spend as they see fit for their constituents. No bake sales. No GoFundMe. No “we’ll study it for three years.”

They can use it for:

• park improvements

• street lights

• speed bumps (aka the official enemy of every lifted truck - no quema cuh)

• traffic signals

• park lighting

• neighborhood beautification

• Movies in the Park, so you can watch Cars for the 900th time under the stars

Every area is different. And every elected official uses this money very differently.

At the County level, this is a relatively new tool. And since I am, by nature, a curious vato who doesn’t trust any politician with a checkbook I can’t see, I filed an open records request to find out how this money is actually being used.

Full disclosure: I used to work for a County Commissioner back when this tool didn’t exist. If we’d had discretionary funds back then? Bruh, I would’ve fixed a lot of shit without having to be creatively legal. Calmala, I never broke a rule, and if I had, I’m fairly certain the statute of limitations has passed. We could’ve fixed a lot of problems without begging five departments and sacrificing a goat to the bureaucracy gods.

But the birria from that sacrificed goat was on-point - no cap. 

Sorry, I drop those gems in to annoy my daughter who thinks my blog has no aura, rizz, and is 6-7 at best. 

So today, let’s talk about Precincts 2, 3, and 4.

For those of you playing Who Is My County Commissioner? at home:

• Precinct 2: Central / Lower Valley – Commissioner David Stout

• Precinct 3: Lower Valley – Commissioner Iliana Holguín

• Precinct 4: Northeast / Northwest – Commissioner Sergio Coronado

Precinct 4: Sergio Coronado – Trees Over Tantrums 

Commissioner Coronado’s discretionary spending mostly went toward planting trees in parks and green spaces in the unincorporated parts of his precinct.

And honestly? That makes a ton of sense.

Most of the County Parks budget gets swallowed whole by Ascarate Park - the county’s beloved, beautiful, budget-eating albatross. Ascarate is inside the City of El Paso, but it still drains county resources like it’s on life support.

Its the Teddy’s of local parks. Its old as hell, no one admits going there, but a couple of times a year, as long as no one finds out, we all have fun reliving some old memories…

And if you don’t get the Teddy’s reference, stop reading my blog, you’re not really from El Paso - or you use 6-7 regularly and not to make your kids cringe. 

So Coronado using discretionary funds to green up parks that don’t normally see much love? That’s just smart governance. Trees provide shade, reduce heat, and make parks look less like the surface of Mars. No cap.

Sorry, once I start with the kids’ slang, I can’t stop. I know, cringe. 

Ohio. 

Precinct 2: David Stout – Saving It for a Rainy Day 

Commissioner Stout appears to have not spent his discretionary funds this past year.

Before anyone starts clutching pearls, relax.

Precinct 2 is entirely within the City of El Paso, which already has access to city funding mechanisms. Holding onto discretionary funds for emergencies or a large-scale project is a perfectly reasonable move. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do with money is not touch it.

I know. Shocking.

Precinct 3: Iliana Holguín – The Budget Dragon 

Commissioner Holguín also appears to have not spent discretionary funds.

And if you know anything about her, this tracks. She’s fiscally conservative, extremely cautious with taxpayer dollars, and probably views discretionary funds the way your abuela views her good Tupperware - for something important, not just any occasion.`

Her precinct has major needs, yes. But stockpiling funds for cost avoidance, taxpayer relief, or one big, impactful project is a legitimate strategy. Not sexy. But responsible.

So far, so good, right? Trees planted. Money saved. No scandal. No torches. No pitchforks.

But don’t get too comfortable.

Because next up is Eastside Precinct 1 and Commissioner Jackie Butler’s discretionary spending…

…and let me just tell you now:

that one is going to piss you off.

In fact, it's such bullshit - if Commissioner Holguin used it to lay down as fertilizer at the park in Tornillo - that shit would be a fucking botanical garden overnight. 

Stay tuned.