In this week’s mailbag, we hear about taxpayers getting gouged, out of control HOAs, and obstruction in Hill County!
Editor’s note: Each week we publish commentary from our subscribers. Commentary may be edited according to community standards.
Coppell ISD: Unnecessarily Gouging Taxpayers
I believe that the proposed CISD tax rate will unnecessarily gouge taxpayers.
The CISD tax is broken into two parts; one for maintenance and operation (M&O) and the other for debt service to pay off bonds.
CISD plans to leave the tax rate for the M&O portion at $1.17. The appraised value of property in the district increased by 10.31% this year. That means that the average tax assessment on the M&O portion will increase by 10.31%
CISD employees are scheduled to only get a 3% raise this year. Where is the rest of the tax money going?
The tax rate on the debt service portion is increasing by 5 cents, an 18% increase.
Adjusted for the 10.31% increase in appraisals, the total debt service tax increase is about 30.5%.
CISD taxpayers deserve to know why they are being taxed so much, and where CISD is spending the money.
CISD spends tens of millions of dollars on technology but does not video tape any of their special meetings or work sessions, only regular meetings.
CISD should video tape all of their special meetings, work sessions, training meetings so citizens can know what information Trustees are receiving and how they use that information to make their decisions.
There will be only one public hearing on the CISD tax rate on August 29th, right before the meeting where the Trustees are scheduled to vote on it.
This will not provide adequate time for the Trustees to consider the merits of the public comments, so the public is basically cut out of the process.
By contrast, the City of Coppell will have public hearings on the city tax rate on August 23rd and August 30th and vote on the tax rate on September 13th.
The combined CISD tax rate for the M&O and debt service is $1.492700. The rate that would require a vote of the citizens is $1.492702. CISD is squeezing every single penny they can from the taxpayers without giving the taxpayers a vote.
I ask that CISD hold the public hearing on the tax rate on August 29th and delay the vote on the tax rate until September.
CISD Trustees talk a lot about openness and transparency; however it seems that it is just a lot of meaningless hot air.
J.Shirley,
Coppell, TX
Homeowners Associations Out of Control/against the LAW!!
Thank You for asking for my opinion!
Your article about the different ‘types of cities’ allowed by the State of TEXAS… stirred a lot of emotions in me… and questions about where these LAWS reside.
Is it not true that the laws of Texas reside within the Texas Constitution itself? If those laws that allow cities to be ‘special’ cities, where do the laws reside that give HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS “special” powers over its residents?
How many of these associations are there in Texas? How many cities are there in TEXAS? How many of these associations are within cities?…how many are NOT!
OF The Texas Property Codes, i.e. laws that govern homeowners associations…or is it they govern individuals within those associations?… Who, but attorneys that wrote those LEGAL EASE documents, can read and understand such?
Our own Attorney General’s office will not stand up to such ‘hogwash’…telling the TEXAS RESIDENTS, “Sue Your Neighbors”…we don’t wish to ‘take on’ these subjects ‘at this time’!” (As our GOD asks/demands, “Who is your neighbor?”)
I have seen it written by ‘our’ Texas representatives that “We need these laws to make sure that ‘everyone’ abides to these/(our?) LAWS”…(THEIR OPINIONS/DEMANDS). How many of our ‘Representatives’ have read even a small portion of the Property Codes that deal with such a tremendous amount of our Texas population?
NO, most of us, the populous, have not read even one sentence! Does that make it “right” for our elected officials to demand of us such ONE-SIDED LAWS?
Yes, Declarants/developers have some rights to guide the development of their land/investment in the fashion they perceive, yet when that development is past on to a self-interested group of power grabbing individuals that have totally different interests in mind, the LAWS of TEXAS must change to protect the ‘innocent’!
D. Collins
Montgomery, TX
Obstruction in Hill County, Par for the Course
While there are only but still 17 votes/voters unaccounted for, you are dead-on on the County Attorney wastefully using the AG’s office to delay/kill requests for information. This has long been a ruse in this county and we had similar stall/delay tactics during the Primary when asking for records from the Sheriff’s office. Still have not had an answer.
B. Leetun
Abbott, TX
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