Jefferson County is in its best period of industrial expansion in its history.
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick spoke at Tuesday’s State of the County event to share news about the county’s budget, economic development, environmental projects and its new mental health diversion center. Branick said overall, the county is in a good place.
Here are four key points that were discussed at the event.
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1. The county has seen recent inflation in many of its expenditures
Just like individuals have seen a large increase in prices over the past eight years, so has the county. Branick said he and the county auditor looked at how much the county’s expenditures had increased since 2017 and saw phenomenal changes.
- General medical expenses increased by 197% from $3.2 million to $9.5 million.
- Health insurance went up 43% from $14 million to $20 million.
- Jail food cost went up 199% from $870,000 to $2.6 million.
- The county saw increases in its cybersecurity insurance in order to meet new requirements. In 2017, the payment was $50,000, and this year it was $1.4 million, resulting in a 2700% increase.
- Autopsy fees increased by 57% from $800,000 to $1.4 million.
- Road materials costs have increased by 100% since 2017.
- Indigent defense fees have risen by 14% in just the last year.
However, Branick said industrial expansion has allowed the county to spread its costs without pulling from its reserves or raising the tax rate. Since he was elected in 2007, Branick said the county’s reserves have increased from $2 million to $68 million.
“The kind of growth and activities in construction that we’re seeing today (has) been a blessing to us from a budgetary standpoint, because obviously the more taxable property on the road, the easier it is for us to maintain adequate reserves with the county level,” Branick said. “While at same time reducing tax rate, which we’ve done several times over the last few years.”
2. Industrial expansion has brought $56 billion in economic development projects to
Jefferson County
Branick talked about the county’s industrial expansions, stating that this is the “biggest industrial infrastructure expansion in the last 15 years (that) we’ve seen in the history of the county.”
Over the past seven years, he said the county has approved economic development agreements that add up to $56 billion. He added that the county has a lot of projects coming in that will bring new jobs to the area. Branick said the county is excited about its incoming prospects.
He mentioned a recent deal signed with Chevron that will bring thousands of jobs to the area. A potential $1 billion project will bring 1,000 to 2,000 high-paying jobs, with a company outside of the typical petrochemical and refinery businesses this area is known for. He said that the county is in discussion with companies in other industries that are more diverse in the area.
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Branick said even though it’s not as large an investment as others, they are still excited.
“The one we’re talking to only a $1 billion project, which, 15 years ago, we’ve been thrilled to get a billion dollar project,” he said. “After a lot of $5 billion and $10 billion projects, we’re still thankful for those (smaller ones).”
3. County working on projects to continue to restore the coastline
Another big project that Branick has been invested in during his time with the county is restoring the county’s coastline. After the BP oil spill in 2011, funding opportunities for this finally opened up. Branick said that he felt the fast-moving deterioration of the area’s coastal margins was killing them. and the county wanted to act.
Branick said that there aren’t many ways to help the Gulf of Mexico, which was the purpose of the Restore Act.
“There’s nothing you can do to improve the health of the Gulf by going out and doing anything in the Gulf other than maybe building artificial reefs,” Branick said. “The way you improve the health of the Gulf is through freshwater influx, and the Sabine Neches waterway is responsible for over 65% of the freshwater that flows out of the state of Texas into the Gulf of Mexico.”
Since then, the county has received over $200 million in grant funding to restore our coastline and restore freshwater inflows to the 138,000 acres of the Chenier Marsh. Recently, the county completed the dune restoration project and completed 17 miles of coast. They have four more miles to go from Sea Rim State Park to Louisiana.
Branick also talked about other projects the county is involved in, including living shoreline projects that prevent erosion and the creation of an oyster nursery habitat.
“A lot of private landowners along the intercultural waterway are losing land at a phenomenal rate, and it’s really kind of an inverse condemnation of taking private property that needs to be fixed,” Branick said.
The county is also looking into creating a hike-and-bike path that runs all the way from the Big Thicket to Sea Rim Park. They are also working with the Lone Star coastal recreation area to create a kind of quasi National Park area that can be added to the maps of the National Park Service and promote eco-tourism.
4. Major project for county is new mental health diversion center
Branick said that during upcoming budget hearings, the county will discuss funding the operation of a new mental health diversion center for the jail. The center is being funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and contributions from both the city of Port Arthur and Beaumont.
The county is building two dorms at the location of the former Texas Youth Commission facility, and the center is partnering with Lamar University and Spindletop to facilitate care of the residents. Branick said that jails are overrun with individuals suffering from mental health problems.
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“We have a lot more mental health (and) substance abuse issues than what we experienced 25 years ago, and our youth are much more anxious today than I was when I was their age,” Branick said. “I certainly did not have the worries that they have. As long as I had enough shotgun shells and fishing lures, I was fine. But unfortunately, the jails in the state of Texas and across the nation have become the biggest mental health hospital.”
Branick said jails are not a place to house mentally ill people. The purpose of the diversion center is to take mostly nonviolent offenders and move them out of the jail and into this center, where they can have access to resources and enter recovery.
“We want to get those people directed to resources that will assist them to live fuller, more productive lives, and ultimately to deal with those substance abuse issues and get them the resources they need, so that we don’t have a revolving door in and out of the jail system,” Branick said.