As the Webb County Tax Collector’s office reopened this week, Commissioners Court heard Tax Collector Patricia Barrera explain the errors that may have led to the closure. Meanwhile, Judge Tano Tijerina asked why he was involved in the matter.

Barrera spoke on Monday and shared her account of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles closing county tax offices due to noncompliance from August 5-9.

Judge Tijerina asked why he was mentioned by name in Barrera’s press release last Wednesday regarding the closure for the rest of the week.

Tijerina was outraged at the mention of the IRS’s staff shortage. He was prepared, showing two previous Commissioners Court videos in which IRS employees were asked if they needed more staff. Both times, IRS employees said no.

According to Barrera, they are demanding more staff, but she only realized this with the closures last week – a little too late.

“We’ve always asked for additional staff, but I think when this happened, when that happened, we realized how understaffed we are,” Barrera said. “In 2014, I had 51 employees and 10 years later, I’m down to 53. That’s understaffed, especially with the growth of this county.”

Barrera mentioned that she made a mistake when she took office in 1993.

“I’ve trained tax professionals in motor vehicle matters,” Barrera said. “My people in the tax office do motor vehicle renewals to help out during their lunch break because we’re understaffed. I mean, I’m understaffed when people call in sick and when they go out to lunch. And that’s the time when most Laredo residents come in and do their renewals – during their lunch break.”

Barrera said she has many legacy employees among her current staff who do not need to learn the modules, but employees from the last 2-3 years have completed modules and training. She said she is grateful for the mandatory training that all of her employees must complete.

“I’m grateful it happened, but I just didn’t like the way they did it,” Barrera said. “They just forced it on us. That was wrong. And yes, I blame the court, maybe the judge himself, but either way, it was bad and the state (DMV) did it badly because they had their own rules.”

She was referring to Texas Administrative Code 217.78. The email stated, “The Executive Director of the TxDMV will make a final decision regarding reauthorization within 21 calendar days from the date the Department receives the application for reauthorization.”

“It says to send me a letter,” Barrera said. “They themselves broke their own rules. Unless they thought I was committing fraud and therefore couldn’t send me a letter. I was the one who told them there was fraud, and that’s what offends me.”

During the hearing in Commissioners Court, there was talk of “dirty politics,” but Barrera said she suspected the DMV.

“I didn’t play unfairly,” Barrera said. “I think they were the ones on the other side, the DMV, who played unfairly, just like they did before under their own administrative order. We knew we weren’t good, so we emailed them to set up a time (for training).”

According to Barrera, she was never given a written exam, only an oral one, by someone working with TxDMV.

“To date, we have not received her final exam in writing, even though it was supposed to be submitted,” Barrera said. “So there are a lot of discrepancies on the state side, but we sent an email because we hadn’t heard from them since our meeting in June. In just 20 minutes, she read what she had.”

Barrera and her staff told the Laredo Morning Times last Wednesday that no one should speak on her behalf because she is a duly elected official. By that, she meant Webb County Clerk Leroy Medford. He spoke briefly about what may have caused the tax office closure last week.

“It didn’t seem to be an isolated incident,” Medford said. “Generally, anyone who accesses the system and enters information is not behaving satisfactorily or is not complying with the legal requirements — there are laws that specify how that information should be received — and I guess that was their concern. So, like, ‘Hey, I guess we need to shut down access and this is what you need to go through and how you enter that information,’ and literally look over their shoulder and show them how to do it.”

Barrera said she could speak for herself because she was the one with whom there was a bond.

“If something gets stolen here, I’m responsible for it unless we can prove in court that it was someone else,” Barrera said. “And we were the ones who told that person that we know of a person who is committing fraud and that we have already reported that person to the Texas Rangers. We were honest.”

Barrera added that she has exposed any darkness in her office. She said a Texas Ranger investigation has been ongoing for over a year into a former employee. The employee has since resigned from his position.

“I washed my hands when I gave it to the Texas Rangers, but I also washed my hands when that woman, the DMV representative, came into that office and we told her what was going on in the office,” Barrera said.

The name, Mary Lou Cardenas, a compliance specialist at TxDMV, was provided to the Laredo Morning Times by Barrera’s staff. The emailed letter that started it all on Aug. 5 was sent to Tijerina. Barrera’s staff reiterated that Medford and the rest of the county do not speak for her, to which Barrera heatedly interjected.

“We didn’t tell anyone,” Barrera said. “We just entrusted it to the Texas Ranger so he could have free reign and conduct this investigation without interfering. And I’m being judged for that? Leave me alone. Yes, there were mistakes, I mean – I’m very understaffed.”

Barrera said she has asked for additional staff, but only has three people, and she needs more. She added that with webDEALER, most of the paperwork will be digitized next year, and she believes she will need more and better trained staff as webDEALER will work with franchises and used car dealers.

“We need to have trained people to do this,” said Barrera. “We need more people.”

According to Barrera, while she would like to have more staff in her office, she wants to have better-trained individuals working for her and the county because of the benefits and pension that come with it. She gave the example of a person who got the job and was trained by them, only to quit and move to a bank. Barrera suggested that better pay would help retain employees and likely allow them to have a career in her office by taking advantage of the benefits that come with the job.

“Yes, we have turnover, but it’s a process,” said Barrera. “We do our job.”

According to Barrera, her department collects more than $168 million in vehicle and property taxes.

“And they treat me like any other department — I’m not,” Barrera said. “To tell you the truth, I’m self-sufficient just on the revenue I get from the state comptroller and motor vehicles. I could maintain my office, increase my staff and still have money left over for the county without considering the tax revenue, but even then I believe I owe this department a share because I’m part of the county.”

Barrera said they have been asking for the same training they completed last week for some time. And as for the letter, Barrera said her due process rights were violated but she can appeal.

“We had approached the state about this training, but we would have done it in a timely manner and informed the public, but I don’t know why they expedited it,” Barrera said. “It’s not like we didn’t ask for the date.”

“And the notice had to be addressed to me. Not to the county. So were they in contact? Did you even investigate? Did you ever ask, ‘Why did you send the letter to the district judge?’ And why does it say, ‘Since we were in contact before’? With who? With who they sent the letter to. So tell me what that is.”

Barrera said the Webb County Judge’s office should have told them to talk to her and that the letter should not have been sent to her office.

“Look, I can’t speak for this office and just tell you what I’ve read, but that letter should never have been sent to them,” Barrera said. “And you know what? According to the DMV, they sent it to the district judge. Well, they’re violating everyone’s rights. I mean, nobody is smart enough to realize they’re an elected official. They think they’re servants. We’re servants of the public, but not of the district court. I’m an equal. I’m an elected official, just like the judge.”