A growing coalition of community, environmental and neighborhood activists petitioned the full Cameron County Commissioners Court not to raise taxes, award pay raises or consider tax abatements for the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas plants planing to locate on the channel of the Port of Brownsville.
Representatives from community and environmental groups in Laguna Madre, Port Isabel, San Benito, Rio Hondo joined a spokesperson from Citizens Against Voter Abuse under the umbrella of Valley Interfaith to make their point.
Nearly a dozen speakers took to the podium at today's 8:45 a.m. commissioners court meeting and said that as the commissioners considered raising taxes to the rollback rate, they should not consider giving county employees and elected officials pay raise or the the companies tax abatements that will be paid by their higher property taxes.
Since the comments came under the public comment section, neither County Judge Pete Sepulveda nor the commissioners were required to reply to the group's request.
They told the commissioners that property taxes should be used to address the needs of the colonias and communities in the county, and not to give abatements to the billion-dollar generating companies building the plants.
"We stand in opposition to the tax abatements," said CAVA's Mary Helen Flores. "Any increase in property taxes should be used to provide service like street lighting for the neighborhoods and colonias."
Their comments ranged from their concerns abut the impact of the companies on the environment, to the increasing burden on taxpayers to fund their construction.
"There should be a risk evaluation when you consider granting these tax abatements." said one. "In the case of LNG plants, the risks are up here and the benefits are down here."
A woman from San Benito said the commissioners should not issue the 100 percent ax abatements requested by the companies since all industries were different and "one size does not fit all."
She pointed out that apart from the higher property taxes the county was considering, there was also the proposal to increase the Port of Harlingen by six cents per $100, the proposed health district by 25 cents, the homestead exemptions and the proposed 100 percent exemption for the 19,000 veterans in the county.
"We are left holding the tax bag," she said.
If approved, the tax abatements for the LNG plants probably won't apply until sometime in 2020, but realistically, probably 2022. Today the county gets nothing from the lans since it is on Brownsville Navigation property.
Nonetheless, a speaker took issue with the fact the property tax payers are bearing the burden of providing pay raises, paying for the abatements and for the payment of the recent $22 million verdict against the county for allowing construction of hotels on land donated to the county for parks.
"We shouldn't be paying for a bad decision," she said to applause.
5 comments:
They absolutely will not listen to the citizens.
The way to get them back is to vote against their fucking health district. The one the ultra rich UT system should be paying for, not the stressed taxpayers of Cameron County.
The reason for the "health district" is for the County tax payers pay for the high cost of health care. Our beloved governor and the Republicans in Austin have refused to received the 22billions in Med Aid that has been allocated to Texas. The dumb Shits have stated they don't want dirty old Washington funds. It's Money that has been collected thru Taxes allocated to the State . We need to Vote this Law down. The Republican mentality is that those "Meskins" don''t vote. We can ram it down their throat ,
No body listens, and when its time to vote pistol pete and david el cooly went out the door and left the rest of our gang holding the bag, ha ha ha lol, what a bunch of morons y pistol pete wants to run for county judge, what a crock.
Joe rivera pretty boy, time to get the signs and
start cleaning them joe, this time compadre you cud
go all the way and win for county judge, el pistol pete let falta munnnnncho.
The Republican mentality is that those Meskins living down in South Texas are all deportable . Just wait till we get the 14th Amend passed. We will get rid of Anchor Babies then we go for the rest. My fellow Americans, that's why we need to get the Democratic Party fully elected .
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