Fort Bend County Judge Daniel Wong directed a public message to county employees and their families Tuesday, Aug. 11, addressing how the ongoing budget standoff affects their pay and benefits as a seven-week political boycott threatens a proposed $792 million county budget.

The message, posted on the official @FBC_Judge X account, came one day before the first regular Commissioners Court session since Democratic commissioners Grady Prestage and Dexter McCoy began refusing to attend meetings June 25. That session is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13.


Without Prestage and McCoy, the five-member court cannot reach the four-member quorum Texas law requires to adopt a tax rate. The deadline is Sept. 10.

What's at stake for Katy and Fulshear taxpayers

The proposed budget assumes the overall county and drainage tax rate stays at 42.2 cents per $100 of taxable value, according to Houston Chronicle reporting. If no quorum materializes by Sept. 10, the county reverts to the lower no-new-revenue rate, cutting roughly $21 million from the budget.

That cut would eliminate a $10.4 million cost-of-living adjustment for full- and part-time employees, including sheriff's deputies, emergency dispatchers, road and bridge crews, librarians, parks workers and public health staff.

County Auditor Ed Sturdivant warned at an Aug. 5 budget workshop that bond transactions already in progress would have to pause, delaying road, parks and flood-control projects, the Chronicle reported. The county has already advanced about $70 million from its general fund to keep mobility projects moving while awaiting bond financing, plus $5 million more for park projects.

Sturdivant said the county could face a recovery period of up to five years if the quorum issue is not resolved before the tax rate adoption deadline.

Commissioner Vincent Morales, whose Precinct 1 includes Fulshear, has continued attending meetings alongside Commissioner Andy Meyers and Wong. Every county road partnership and mobility dollar affecting FM 1093, FM 359 and other corridors runs through Commissioners Court.

Wong's message followed a Monday, Aug. 10, ruling by visiting Judge Jeth Jones denying motions to modify the judgment and clarify the order in the case that placed Wong in office. Wong also filed his formal response to the quo warranto lawsuit brought by County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson, asking the court to dismiss the case, Covering Katy reported.

As we reported Aug. 5, the trial on Wong's authority is set for Nov. 10, one week after the Nov. 3 election in which Wong faces McCoy for the county judge seat.

Prestage and McCoy have argued that Wong's participation in votes could create legal uncertainty that jeopardizes the county's AAA bond rating. "There is still an opportunity to resolve this without putting the County at greater risk," Prestage said in an Aug. 7 joint statement with McCoy.

Prestage and McCoy did not respond to requests for comment on Wong's Aug. 11 message.

What's next

Whether Prestage and McCoy attend Thursday's session will determine if the court can advance budget work before the Sept. 10 deadline. Residents can watch Commissioners Court proceedings on the county's website.