TEXARKANA, Texas — The mayors of Texarkana in Texas and Arkansas have pledged to cooperate on the annual homeless counts in their respective cities.
The Texarkana Gazette reports the mayors of both cities on Tuesday agreed to help synchronize the count.
Arkansas-side Mayor Allen Brown and Texas-side Mayor Bob Bruggeman plan to contact legislators. Both states dictate when to do "point in time counts" of the homeless. The figures help determine government funding.
Officials say some homeless in Texarkana frequently cross the state line, leading to duplicate numbers. The most recent Texarkana counts happened on different days during the same week in January, recording 63 homeless on the Arkansas side and 120 on the Texas side.
The mayoral comments came during a meeting of the Joint Texarkana Community Committee held in Texas.