September 5, 2006 17:59 - County increases elderly exemption
Commentary
By Bill Peterson
SAN MARCOS – The Hays County Commissioners decided Tuesday to increase the county's homestead exemption to $45,000 for the elderly and handicapped, turning away a proposal by Pct. 2 Commissioner Susie Carter to increase the homestead exemption for everyone else at the cost of the elderly and handicapped.
A potential for dueling tax cuts between Republican adversaries Carter and Judge Jim Powers went away quietly when Carter's motion died for lack of a second. Carter's plan and the Powers plan that won unanimous support from the court appeared right next to each other on Tuesday's agenda after three weeks of delays since the items were first posted.
The new exemption won't go into effect until the Fiscal Year 2008 budget is adopted a year from now.
Presently, all homes are exempted $5,000 by the county, with the elderly receiving an extra $25,000 exemption. The new plan will add $20,000 to the homestead exemption for the elderly, while giving the disabled a new $45,000 exemption along with the $5,000 they already receive.
Carter's plan called for a homestead exemption increase from one-percent with a $5,000 minimum to 20 percent with a $5,000 minimum. Any non-elderly home worth more than $25,000 – that is, virtually every home – would have received a larger tax exemption. Those owning $300,000 homes would be exempted to the tune of $60,000.
However, it would have slapped the elderly living in homes worth less than $150,000, which is a substantial percentage. For those elderly living in homes worth $100,000, for example, their exemption would come to $20,000, rather than $30,000. The extra tax bill from the county would be $45, but $45 is $45 for people on fixed incomes.
The approved plan will allow such elderly to keep an extra $90, and, likewise, $90 is $90 for people on fixed incomes.
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September 5, 2006 18:43 - The thrill is gone
Commentary
By Bill Peterson
SAN MARCOS – The folks in this town really know how to take the air out of a good political skirmish.
Not even a month ago, we were looking at four city council races and votes on 17 charter amendments, including a city council age requirement that would have pitted university students against permanent residents and forced council candidates to court student voters.
Now, we're down to one contested council race and 16 charter amendments, with the call for 21-year-old council members off the table.
The latest in San Marcos has it that no one will run against Mayor Susan Narvaiz, meaning a mayor is running unopposed for the first time since 1984. The race for John Diaz' Place 5 council seat dwindled from three contestants to one at last week's filing deadline, when Diaz and former Councilmember Bill Taylor withdrew. A special election for the resigning Place 1 member Ed Mihalkanin's seat is down to one hopeful after tempting three.
After all that smoke clears, only Councilmember John Thomaides in Place 6 is dealing with an opponent. Michael Ryan Thomason, who originally filed to run against Betsy Robertson for Mihalkanin's seat, decided to instead run against Thomaides. Former Councilmember Jane Hughson also had filed for Mihalkanin's seat, but withdrew.
Meanwhile, only San Marcos businesswoman Pam Couch remains in the race for Place 5. Diaz withdrew at the filing deadline, the second time he changed course in the last few weeks as to whether he would run. He reportedly cited a dispute concerning his residency, for he lives in a southwest neighborhood that has been de-annexed since his election to the council in 2003. Taylor cited health and business reasons for his withdrawal.
Only in San Marcos is the filing process more dramatic than the actual campaign.
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September 5, 2006 18:52 - When minus-17 is really minus-10
Commentary
By Bill Peterson
The school districts along the highway won't realize the entire 17-cent decrease in the tax rate promised this summer by the state legislature, but that's just another example of why it's become nearly impossible to take the legislature seriously.
The legislature seems incapable of much beyond deferring problems and details to local governments. When legislators brag about solving problems, check carefully to see if they've solved the problem, or simply kicked it down to someone else.
For example, the legislators didn't really reduce school property taxes by 17 cents this year. They really reduced the tax by 13 cents. The legislature told the public it was 17 cents, but then incentivized property poor school districts to reduce the cut to 13 cents by offering nearly four times as much equalization money for each of four additional pennies.
So, the Hays CISD approved a Fiscal Year 2007 tax rate of $1.778 per $100 of taxable value last week, a rate cut of less than ten cents from the present rate of $1.8763. Why isn't the new rate $1.7063, as a 17-cent rate cut promised?
Beyond $1.7063, voters approved an additional three cents by passing an $89 million bond issue in 2004. Then, the school district, like almost every other property poor district in Texas, took the state up on its offer for enhanced equalization on the four magic pennies. The other 0.17 cents is because the legislature didn't really provide for 17 cents in Maintenance & Operations cuts. It provided for a cut to 88.67 percent of FY 2006 levels, which comes to 17 cents for districts taxing at the former maximum rate of $1.50. But for the Hays CISD, which took only $1.485 on the M&O side, the cut came to 16.83 cents.
Meanwhile, the new property tax rate in the San Marcos CISD is exactly 13 cents lower than in FY 2006, dropping to $1.70 from $1.83. The San Marcos district took the state up on those four magic pennies and added no new taxes on the Interest & Sinking (I&S) side because it added all the I&S tax increase from the 2004 bond election in FY 2005 and 2006.
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