Embattled Dallas County judge talks tax increase

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Dallas County expects to face a shortfall of more than $58 million in the wake of a crumbling national economy. Property values are expected to fall at least 4 percent, causing an even greater shortfall by as much as $15 million.

County Judge Jim Foster plans to call a meeting with elected officials to discuss voluntary budget cuts. The judge also said the commissioners may need to “accept the reality” where tax increases are concerned. It would take a tax increase of nearly 17 percent just to make up for the current shortfall. That doesn’t address one of the big problems in this economy, people simply aren’t able to pay their existing tax bills on time.

It might seem unusual for a county judge to talk tax increase the year before he’s up for re-election, but it would be hard for Foster’s popularity to fall much farther anyway. He has lost the support of Commissioner John Wiley Price, the court’s only other Democrat, as well as State Sen. Royce West. Not quite three years after his improbable victory ushered an era of huge Democratic gains at the county level, Foster has lost the confidence of party leaders.

The break with party leadership is nothing short of stunning. Even Sheriff Lupe Valdez, so unpopular she barely pulled a majority in the Democratic sheriff primary, still had the support of the party’s power brokers. Names bandied about as 2010 judge candidates include former Dallas city council member Larry Duncan, Irving Mayor Herbert Gears and Cedar Hill Councilman Wade Emmert.