It's been said that politics makes strange bedfellows.
But did you know that it also breeds a very peculiar form of amnesia?
The selective forgetfulness in this political season is now coming from former Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos who as far back as 14 years ago (2007) got the rest of the county commission to sign off on his resolution to do exactly that: support his efforts to build a regional convention/events center in Cameron County.
But as he contemplates a run against incumbent Eddie Treviño who is pushing for the passage of the proposition, the center/arena he championed now seems a bad idea. But guess whose good idea it was way back then in 2007?
So suddenly – as the political season for the primaries in March approaches – some tend to forget where they stood on the center/arena before. Since his opponent will likely be his successor and his future Democratic Party opponent for another term (Treviño), maybe now it doesn't seem like such a hot idea.
And he has allowed comments filled with misinformation on the funding to continue on social media. An example of this confusion lives on in statements like this:
"NO ! NO ! NO ! FIX COUNTY ROADS, DRAINAGE & PUT UP SOME LIGHTS IN THE DARK AREAS ON THE ROADS ! BETTER PROGRESS NEEDED."
Here's Public Funding 101.
Property taxes (ad valorem taxes) are used for things like funding public schools, libraries, city streets (potholes), county roads, public safety and city and county personnel payroll, infrastructure improvements, etc...
In other words, these property taxes are severely restricted in their use.
Venue taxes such as the funding proposed for the center/arena, are also restricted and deal strictly with tourism and are generated by the tax on car rental and hotel occupancy taxes paid by visitors to the area, not county property taxpayers. These include stadiums, hotels, arenas, mutli-use venues like the proposed arena/center. These are also strictly restricted funds and can only be used for that purpose – to encourage tourism and attract outside visitors.
Cities have been allowed to promote economic development by being allowed to use a small percentage of their sales taxes through Economic Development Corporations (EDCs) which are split into Type A (like the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, GBIC), and Type B (like the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, BCIC).
Both these corporations split one-quarter of a penny each from the city's sales taxes (8.25 percent) and reap about $5 million each annually. GBIC uses its funds to offer economic incentives to attract industry to create jobs. The BCIC uses the money to promote "quality of life" projects such as downtown renovation, parks, etc...
So there can be no co-mingling of funds from ad valorem, venue or CDCs. Simply put, building a center/arena will not take money from funds used to patch potholes.
The fixing of roads, lighting, or drainage cannot come from these restricted venue funds either. In fact, until the venue project gets approved and built, those funds do not exist and its implementation and construction cannot come from taxpayer funds or taken from city-county budgets used to fix roads or drainage.
With the pandemic receding and people who have been cooped up for the better part of two years yearning to travel freely, county planners think that building such a center/arena is more feasible today than it may have been just a few months ago.
8 comments:
Between the City Commission and their goons with the building grant fiasco and the County leaders creating controversy over large scale projects that may benefit the community, it is a shame that the voters have zero confidence that these BOLA de MAMONES are scamming for personal benefit.
It is time for Brownsville Voters to step up and kick all these RATAS to the curb! We cannot seem to find legit public servants to trust in local politics.
Bernal likes a cheap fuck. Helen Ramirez is free.
There is no misunderstanding. No is no. We don't need it we don't want it. You cannot fix the old, we want nothing new. You have stolen enough money. Everyone of you deserve to be insulted for stealing money. Fuck you about doing it by the book.
Yes. you are right. But this is not the time to create a project that will not work.
Focus on important things:
flooding: fix the problem. So you you to the arena and your car floods !! LOL
Put all the smart people in Brownsville to think how to fix the problems of Brownsville.
Also, we are still in the pandemic..... who is crazy enough to congragate in an enclosed place with thousands of people that carry the virus....
Another example: It is like if I want to plant red flowers all over the city. I create the funds from X entity. Then the flowers freeze or burn during the summer. ALL THE MONEY IS GONE.
Or if I own taxis and I paint them PINK and hope that customers want to ride my pink taxis. CRAZY idea: people just want a taxi to go from one place to another...they will not wait for my pink taxis.
This arena is like my examples.... throwing money away, money that doesn't exit, money that somebody is going to pay.....
TIME FOR PEOPLE THAT LOVE BROWNSVILLE to step up and STOP this nonsense.
NOT CONFUSED AT ALL! BUT TYPICAL THINKING OF YOU! We have bigger improvements that needs to be addressed first for our County than this flawed plan that most of the Community will not support or use. Instead of taking responsibilities for the much needed improvements, the POLITICIANS move on to their next PET PROJECT. Address the whole comment not just a sentence to comprehend the situation. "VOTE NO to this Plan. According to them, it's not going to cost the local taxpayers but the monies to pay for this will be the Visitors. BS, sounds like a (Biden) Democratic Idea, we will pay for this in the long run. Bad enough, the County Officials voted for their pay raises but nothing for the employees. Then, they also raise taxes when the Appraisal District raises the property values to the extreme, making the taxes higher. Wake up and make a STAND. Enjoy these ideas when inflation is getting out of hand. NO ! NO ! NO ! FIX COUNTY ROADS, DRAINAGE & PUT UP SOME LIGHTS IN THE DARK AREAS ON THE ROADS ! BETTER PROGESS NEEDED"! Thank You & have a nice day !
Public Funding 101 Questions?
Property taxes have been doubled for most taxpayers... Why do classes are too big where most students can not learn how to read and write?
How come the streets get fixed one year and the following year they break down? Why the only salaries that increase belong to the administrators and not the staff that works hard and gets paid nothing?
If the venue taxes are from car rental and hotel occupancy taxes paid by visitors, why don't the hotel owners and the car rental owners decide what to do with the monies? Why does the county involve the citizens that will not go to this arena? I am not going, so why should I vote and decide what to do with money that I do not generate?
Please explain, Juan. I do not know much about anything.
Its the kick back they are after, nothing else, they know if it don't go they'll sell it to the feds again
Harlingen bridging digital divide; Officials planning $4 million broadband project
Y aqui que? NADA NADA NADA
They projected for the HOT exemption to only pay for 30 PERCENT of the project over 30 YEARS - the rest SUPPOSEDLY covered with the lofty promise of grants. It's straight up misleading, especially when they planned to build the project in a TIRZ that keeps taxes in that area alone instead of into the general fund to be used for the entire county's benefit.
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