County commissioners to vote on $1.71 billion budget today

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff gives the 2016 state of the (Bexar) county speech Friday May 20, 2016 to the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce at the Omni San Antonio Hotel. Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff gives the 2016 state of the (Bexar) county speech Friday May 20, 2016 to the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce at the Omni San Antonio Hotel. Photo: John Davenport, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: John Davenport, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close County commissioners to vote on $1.71 billion budget today 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Bexar County commissioners are expected to vote on a roughly $1.71 billion budget today that would slightly reduce property tax rates, devote about $19.6 million for new road projects and restore constable positions the court was considering eliminating.

The budget represents a decline in overall funding of about $54 million from last year, when the budget was $1.76 billion.

The property tax rate is set to decrease again next year, to 30.1097 cents per $100 of property value, but rising property values mean the county will actually collect 4.7 percent, or about $19 million, more in revenue, according to county officials.

Officials said new construction accounts for $10 million of that revenue. The tax rate last year was 30.4097 cents per $100.

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Average property value increased by more than 20 percent from last year in four Bexar County ZIP codes, according to data from the Bexar County Appraisal District, with some homeowners seeing their appraised values double. Click through to see the 20 zip codes with the highest average property market value increases from 2017 to 2018. less Average property value increased by more than 20 percent from last year in four Bexar County ZIP codes, according to data from the Bexar County Appraisal District, with some homeowners seeing their appraised ... more Photo: Ray Whitehouse, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Ray Whitehouse, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Bexar County property value increases 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

Commissioners backtracked on their plan to cut 15 positions from the county’s four constable offices. After the constables criticized those cuts, the commissioners said they were able to certify more revenue to save the positions.

But Commissioner Paul Elizondo said Monday that he plans to create a task force to study constable workloads. He said it’s an annual issue in which the county’s data suggest cuts should be made and the constables say the numbers aren’t accurate.

One late addition to the budget was $118,000 for a law enforcement psychologist in the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Javier Salazar asked County Judge Nelson Wolff about the funding Sunday, after a weekend in which three of his deputies were arrested.

Salazar said the psychologist would take on a multifaceted role that includes screening future applicants, helping officers manage stress, as well as teaching mental well-being classes at the academy and advising officers during SWAT or negotiation situations.

Dylan McGuinness covers county goverment and local politics for the Express-News. Reach him at dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net and follow him on Twitter at @DylMcGuinness.