CURRENT GBIC BOARD'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS STIFLED BY SINS OF PREVIOUS BOARDS

Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation Board, 9/13/19

To understand the plight of the 2019 GBIC, one must separate the fairy tale from the reality.

The fairy tale, one that's been repeated on this and other Brownsville blogs, perhaps even in the Brownsville Herald, although the local paper has seldom covered GBIC in recent years, is that of a 4A economic entity dispersing roughly $5 million annually on projects designed to bring industry, jobs and economic development to Brownsville.

The reality, as made all too clear in GBIC Executive Director Mario Lozoya's 2020 Budget Report 9/13/19, is that of a hamstrung operation, that, after operating expenses and project commitments are paid, has only $684,000 left to play with annually for economic development projects.

A case could be made for simply scrapping the GBIC and returning its share of sales tax receipts back to the city's General Fund, except that the financial commitments would likely have to be picked up by the City of Brownsville anyway.

The institution's impotency in doing much in economic development is obvious in the numbers.

While projected 2020 sales tax revenues do approach $5 million, actually $4,934,366, the operating budget, including Lozoya's $220,000 base salary, exceeds $1,533,000.  Also included in the operating budget are 8 salaries for GBIC employees, their health insurance, rent on the fancy digs at the historic Young House, maintenance and mileage on the $55,000 vehicle purchased last year, employee travel, meals for employees on out-of-town recruitment efforts and hosting expenses for prospects visiting the city.

Administrative costs owed to the City of Brownsville pushes the total expense of running GBIC to $1,631,000 or 33% of 1/4 cent in sales tax diverted annually to the corporation for economic development.

Then, adding existing commitments, including $945,000 annually for the next 5 years to help pay for the new airport terminal, GBIC is left with only $684,000 to do its thing, only 13.67% of the $5 million we've tossed about as if factual.

For a city the size of Brownsville, that's not much money to disperse on economic development projects.

We could argue about how GBIC got into this predicament.  The weak-minded "leadership" of past board president David Betancourt factors in, as does the symbiotic relationship with GBIC's corrupt, now defunct, sister, the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation, with GBIC rubberstamping BEDC's world junkets sending Tony Martinez, Jason Hilts, etc. on lavish trips, the Colombian office and various boondoggles.

Brownsville's own City Commission bears some responsibility for GBIC's current economic plight, with the sleight-of-hand shifting of responsibility for the airport terminal from COB to GBIC.

The irony is that today's GBIC Board seems more astute, more scrutinizing, more engaged and informed than its mousy predecessors.  New members Dennis Sanchez, Graham Sevier, Jason Wolfe and Sandra Duran played a major role at the 9/13/19 meeting, not to mention a much more businesslike leadership by current board chairman Esteban "Steve" Guerra. 

Unfortunately, the current 2019 board must pay for the sins of the past, given much less to work with after years of malfeasance and waste.