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Socorro ISD cash reserves dip below district standards; $300M Lower Valley data center approved [1]
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Date: 2024-12-27
This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
Socorro ISD Reveals Depleted Cash Reserves
The Socorro Independent School District used more than half its savings between 2022 and 2024, and may need to spend more to cover its expenses.
The district had $50.4 million in reserves in 2024, or enough to keep the district running for 33 days. Those reserves are expected to drop to $28.4 million in 2025, or enough to operate for 19 days, SISD officials said during a board meeting Dec. 18.
SISD policy requires the district to have enough to keep the district afloat for 75 days. Texas school districts also need to have enough to keep running for at least 75 days to get an A in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas.
This update comes as SISD deals with a series of financial woes, including an ongoing budget deficit, overtaxing homeowners in 2023 and having to repay them, and taking out a loan to make payroll.
Now the district may need to tighten its belt to avoid using its reserves, SISD Chief Financial Officer David Solis said during the meeting.
“We can no longer dip into fund balance anymore. We really have to live within our means for the upcoming future. It’s not only living within our means, but it’s also, how do we plan to save so that we can rebuild fund balance to the levels that we previously had in 2022,” Solis said.
SISD’s cash reserves have dropped dramatically since 2022 when the district had $116.4 million, or enough to operate for 80 days. By 2024, the district’s reserves fell by nearly 57%.
Cristóbal Alex, center, introduced Valerie Biden Owens, the sister of the president-elect, at a March 1, 2020, campaign event in his hometown of El Paso. Omar Salgado, a star player for the El Paso Locomotive soccer team, is at left. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters)
El Paso Native Tapped to Lead National Latino Group
Cristóbal Alex, an Andress High School graduate who served in the Biden administration, has been elected chair of the board of Latino Victory, which promotes progressive political candidates.
Alex was the founding president of Latino Victory in 2014, and was a key leader in Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. He served as deputy White House cabinet secretary in the Biden administration and now works as head of the Washington, D.C., office of the consulting firm Tusk Strategies.
New Data Center Coming to Lower Valley
A mid-size data center is coming to the Lower Valley just east of Loop 375 after the El Paso City Council recently approved giving a development firm incentives worth $1.52 million.
The developer, a Minnesota-based company called Oppidan, and an unnamed tenant company plan to spend $300 million over 10 years to build a 60,000-square-foot data center that will house servers and other computer hardware that the tenant will operate, according to the city’s economic development department. The council unanimously approved the incentives Dec. 17.
There are different kinds of data centers, but generally the facilities have big racks of air-conditioned computers that store and distribute data that enable internet users and web-based work. They typically have few on-site employees.
Oppidan said the first phase of the project is building the $40 million data center on North Loop Drive near the Las Placitas del Rey subdivision. After that, the developer plans to spend $60 million over four years to expand the building. The tenant company plans to spend $20 million annually over 10 years installing and refreshing server equipment.
The city’s $1.52 million in tax incentives are only for Oppidan and only apply to the initial construction phase of the project.
The incentive package includes a waiver on a building permit fee that would have cost Oppidan $100,000, and a waiver on sales tax for construction materials that’s worth $200,000. But the big incentive is a 10-year property tax rebate worth $1.22 million.
The city still expects to generate more tax revenue from the facility than it collects from the site today. The property currently is a 10.5-acre undeveloped lot worth $1.4 million with a property tax bill of $40,000. When the data center starts operating, the city expects that the property will be worth $42 million and pay annual property taxes of $947,000.
Over the 10-year incentive period, the city said the data center will generate nearly $24 million in additional property tax revenue for six taxing entities compared with the taxes the current property would pay over that time. That includes nearly $10 million in additional revenue from the data center for the Socorro Independent School District, and $5.2 million in new property tax revenue for the city.
City Libraries, Rec Centers Available As Winter Warming Centers
The city of El Paso is making its libraries and recreation facilities available as warming centers during the winter.
The city said the facilities are open to anyone seeking a safe and warm place to stay during the day, particularly vulnerable populations looking to save on utility costs.
Here are city facilities available as warming centers.
Libraries
Armijo Library (620 E. Seventh Ave.)
Clardy Fox (5515 Robert Alva Ave.)
Dorris Van Doren (551 Redd Road)
Esperanza Moreno (12480 Pebble Hills Blvd.)
Irving Schwartz (1865 Dean Martin Drive)
Jose Cisneros/Cielo Vista (1300 Hawkins Blvd.)
Judge Marquez (610 N. Yarbrough Drive)
Memorial Park (3200 Copper Ave.)
Richard Burges (9600 Dyer St. Suite C)
Sergio Troncoso (9321 Alameda Ave.)
Westside (125 Belvidere St.)
Through Jan. 1, the libraries are observing holiday hours. They are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday; and closed Wednesday and Sunday.
After the holidays, libraries are open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday; from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday; from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and closed Wednesday and Sunday.
The city’s four recreation centers are also available as warming centers.
Valle Bajo (7380 Alameda Ave.)
Marty Robbins (11600 Vista Del Sol Drive)
Galatzan (650 Wallenberg Road)
Nations Tobin (8831 Railroad Drive)
They are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday. The recreation centers will be closed New Year’s Day.
County Protective Order Unit to Remain Open During Holidays
The El Paso County Attorney’s Office protective order unit will remain open during the holidays to serve victims of domestic violence.
The services allow victims of domestic violence to apply for a protective order through this link. The protective order unit will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 2.
Protective orders are civil court orders signed by a judge that instruct an alleged abuser to stop certain behaviors such as contacting the victim, approaching their place of residence, workplace and others specified by the judge. It is a criminal offense to violate a protective order and the punishment varies based on the offense which may include fines and jail time.
Help and information: El Paso County Protective Order Unit, 915-273-3242; National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE (7233); or Center Against Sexual and Family Violence, 915-593-7300.
Sign Up for Alerts, Assistance Through State Emergency Registry
Residents with disabilities, who are medically fragile, have communication barriers or limited mobility or those with medical assistance requirements such as personal care or transportation are encouraged to sign up for the State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management and Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program are spearheading the effort to get residents to sign up for the registry.
The registry is free and voluntary and provides city, county and state emergency responders with information to assist individuals with needs during disasters.
Personal information is kept confidential. Registering does not guarantee services or assistance, but may help first responders reach those in need.
Register by calling 211, online at STEAR.tdem.texas.gov, or send by fax to 866-557-1074 or email forms to
[email protected].
El Paso ISD Considers Updating Dress Code Policy
The El Paso Independent School District is considering changing its dress code policy in the coming school year to be more consistent across all its campuses.
District staff and the school board discussed during a meeting Dec. 17 some of the potential changes, including setting a standard uniform color across the district.
These potential changes are a part of an ongoing process, which EPISD calls Destination District Redesign, that aims to address declining enrollment and funding shortages by closing eight elementary schools while improving the ones that remain open.
District staff said these changes would offer access to school uniforms to students who are moving to new schools due to the closures.
“It was a good time for us to provide just an update on dress code and have some conversations about where we need to go next as we think about a number of students who may be in flux and transitioning to new schools in the future. It was also a good time for us to share some of the review about our dress code and our uniform policies as we think about being more consistent across the school district,” EPISD Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said during the meeting.
The district plans to form a task force made of parents, teachers and students to give their input to help create the policy.
The board also reviewed data on dress code infractions throughout the district and the demographics of students who were affected.
During the 2022-23 school year, the district had just under 170 dress code violations. The following year, it had 250 violations, 140 of which were in middle schools.
The rise in infractions happened after a middle school adopted uniforms, said Assistant Superintendent of Student and Parent Services Lisa Estrada-Batson.
“That was their first year of uniform implementation and so, of course, it was getting everyone used to the new uniform,” Estrada-Batson said.
During the first half of the current school year, EPISD recorded 85 dress code violations.
Newly Elected El Paso County Officials to be Sworn in
Two county commissioners, the new district attorney and the new sheriff will be sworn in on separate dates ahead of taking office.
Oscar Ugarte will be the first of the elected officials to be sworn in as El Paso’s sheriff. The ceremony will be held New Year’s Eve at the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office headquarters at 3850 Justice St. Doors open at 11 p.m. and the swearing-in will take place at midnight.
James Montoya, El Paso’s next district attorney, will be sworn in at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6, at the El Paso County Courthouse Ceremonial Courtroom on the 12th floor.
Jackie Arroyo Butler, the newly elected Precinct 1 County Commissioner representing Montana Vista, will be sworn in at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at the Montana Vista Fire Rescue Emergency Services District 2, 13978 Montana Ave.
Precinct 3 County Commissioner Iliana Holguin will be sworn in at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1, at the El Paso County Courthouse Ceremonial Courtroom on the 12th floor.
City Names Economic Development Director
Karina Brasgalla is the city’s next Economic Development Director after serving as interim in the role since last January.
Brasgalla was hired in May 2017 as a long-range planner for the department.
Brasgalla, a native El Pasoan, graduated from Columbia University. She also has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has a certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Brasgalla spearheaded the public/private partnership and incentive deal with Venu Holding Corp., formerly Notes Live, for an $80 million 12,500-seat amphitheater to be built in Northeast El Paso. She also played a key role in the Meta, previously Facebook, data center deal that includes a multimillion-dollar reconstruction of one mile of Stan Roberts Sr. Avenue.
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