The Juarez Municipal Budget: Less Money Than Last Year

From Diario (click here): Yesterday the city council of Cd. Juarez approved a budget for 2011 of 2.754 billion pesos (around $220 million at the current exchange rate), about $40 million (U.S.) less than the 2010 budget, a reduction of about 18%, a huge hit. The city council also approved a measure to allow the mayor to seek additional funds through increases in the fees charged for city services. About 40% of this budget will come from municipal income; about 31% will come from state-federal funds; and about 29% will come from strictly federal funds.

Xóchitl Contreras Herrera, a city council person, indicated that much of the deficit next year is due to the closing of businesses, which in turn is due both to stagnation in the Mexican, U.S., and global economies, and to the severe security environment in Cd. Juarez. The city also has an outstanding debt of about $32 million (U.S.), for which no funds have been allocated in the projected budget.

By contrast, the El Paso City budget for FY 2011 is $693 million, and for El Paso County it is $247 million. The Municipio de Juarez is more or less the equivalent governing body corresponding to both El Paso City and El Paso County. It should be noted, however, that the cost of living is significantly lower in Mexico, so the disparity between the nearly $1 billion being spent on local government in El Paso county and the $220 million for Juarez is not as dramatic as implied by the numbers.

If we take a look at the entire Paso del Norte region, the population is somewhere around 2.4-2.6 million people, counting Juarez, El Paso MSA, and Dona Ana County. Local governments (El Paso County, El Paso City, Cd. Juarez, and Dona Ana County) have budgets adding up to about $1.2 billion.

In contrast, the Albuquerque MSA, with a population of about 730,000 (El Paso has a county-wide population of about 763,000), has a budget of $455 million plus Bernalillo County has a budget of $612 million, in the same ballpark as El Paso alone (almost $1 billion), on a per-capita basis, but, region-wide local government in the MSA of Albuquerque, with a population less than one third the size of the Paso del Norte region, spends just a fraction under the total amount spent on local government in the Paso del Norte.