Cameron County leaders said no, for now, to the Border Patrol. The agency asked to put a device on a public beach. The leaders voted to put the plan off for now.

They met on Tuesday, September 1, at the Dancy Building.

The county is run by a group called the Commissioners Court. It has a county judge and four commissioners. Voters pick all five.

The plan came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agency wanted to test a rescue beacon at a county beach park.

A rescue beacon is a tall post with a light and a help button. A lost or hurt person can push it to call for help.

The park is E.K. Atwood Park. The county also calls it Beach Access No. 5. It sits on the Island.

The deal was item 2.K on the meeting list. The county gave it a number. It is Contract No. 2026C08437. It was between county parks and the Rio Grande Valley Sector of the agency.

A Border Patrol agent named Omar Vidal asked for the deal. He wrote to the county parks director in August. He said the beacon would be a test.

He wrote that the test would check the beacon's "connectivity, communication range, and connection stability in a beach environment."

The beacon would not work. Its help button and its screen would be covered up. That way no one would try to use it.

The beacon would carry no name. It would have no Border Patrol mark on it. It would have no Homeland Security mark either.

That is the part that bothered the court. Commissioners asked Vidal what the beacon was really for. They asked why it would have no name on it.

"I completely support the mission generally, and I know you all have a very tough job," County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr said, "but I'm finding it difficult to understand what's the point of this, because it's not within your purview to do what park rangers are assigned to do, plus local police, sheriff's department. And then you're not going to have any insignia on it."

Vidal said his job was just to get data. His bosses want to know one thing. Can a beacon that far north send a steady signal back to them? He said any money or any real project would come later.

Commissioner David A. Garza of Precinct 3 asked about 911 calls. He asked the county's chief park ranger, Horacio Zamora, if people had trouble getting help. Zamora said he knew of no such trouble.

Garza then brought up Flock cameras by name. Those cameras are all over South Texas. He said he feels watched.

"Folks are nowadays apprehensive about unmarked things," Garza said. "I see this as a precursor of even extending to our public beaches, that we control in Cameron County, being recorded as to who got in and out of the public beach."

Vidal said a name could be added to the beacon. He said the sticker that explains the beacon was covered on purpose. He did not want people to think it worked and try to use it.

"I understand, sir, and I totally agree with you on that point, but this is not to track anybody," Vidal said. "Our mission here is we're trying to help the public."

Garza cut in. The park ranger had just said no calls for help went unanswered.

"And props to them," Vidal said. "That's good. We're just trying to enhance the response."

"I suggest you give (them) the money to enhance the services instead of duplicating services," Garza said.

Vidal said that was above his pay grade.

Commissioner Sofia Benavides of Precinct 1 said she worried about the beaches. She said a beacon now could mean more later. She said some people would stay away.

"People are afraid to come out in everyday circumstances," she said. "I would not vote to allow anything like this to be put in county property."

The court then voted to put the deal off for now. The record does not show how each member voted. The county has not said if the deal will come back.

The court did say yes to the new budget the same day.

The new budget totals $265,252,780.55. That number is in a county news release dated September 3. County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr put the release out.

The new budget year starts October 1.

The property tax rate did not change. It is $0.424393 for each $100 of taxable value. That was last year's rate too.

But the same rate does not mean the same bill. Home and land values went up. So the county says it will take in about $11.5 million more in property taxes. The county puts that rise at 8.36 percent.

The county also listed one other rate. It was $0.545920. That is the rate that would have brought in the same money as last year. The county's rate is lower than that one.

County workers get more pay. Every full-time worker gets a 5 percent raise. The county says that is the fourth year in a row. Peace officers, jail staff and dispatchers get 10 percent. For them it is the second year in a row.

Two more items came up at the meeting.

Pete Sepulveda Jr. runs the county's road agency. He told the court about a new state road plan. The state put it out the night before.

He said a first read looked bad. Money for the whole plan looked down 4 percent. Money for the Pharr District looked down 12 percent. That district covers every county in the Valley.

"If that's the case, then that's a big drop for us," Sepulveda said. "We'll do a full analysis and see what projects were impacted and see why the funding dropped."

Most big local jobs stayed in the plan. The East Loop stayed in. So did the U.S. I-69 connector. The second causeway got $28 million more.

Last, Christopher Rodriguez of GDJ Engineering spoke about Isla Blanca Park. The work there is a $12 million job. He said changes to the job pushed the cost 4 percent over the first budget.