Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish used what some are calling scare tactics to pressure two county commissioners to support a property tax increase that their constituents oppose.
Parrish held a press conference Thursday with Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe and UMC Health System President and CEO Mark Funderburk to discuss the “long-term implications” to the county, sheriff’s department, and hospital district if commissioners fail to raise tax rates at their September 23 meeting.
Commissioners Jason Corley and Jordan Rackler have intentionally missed the last two Lubbock County Commissioners Court meetings, ensuring that a quorum would not be present to vote on a tax hike supported by Parrish and the other two commissioners.
State law requires four commissioners at a meeting to approve a tax levy. Without a quorum vote by September 30, the tax rate for the next fiscal year will default to the No New Revenue rate.
Parrish, who is known for wearing bow ties, said Thursday the impact over the next 5 to 10 years of not raising taxes now is “what’s kind of frightening to me.”
Robert Pratt, host of Pratt on Texas, said on his radio program Thursday that “Bow Tie Bully” Parrish was trying to “scare Lubbock voters” about the impact of the No New Revenue rate.
“The No New Revenue rate is not cutting any government’s funding. The budget would be bigger than the current budget,” argued Pratt.
“They’re trying to scare people, and they keep talking about cuts, but there are no cuts. Except Curtis Parrish says we have to put the tax rate at the Voter Approval rate every year so that we can keep increasing the size of government,” he said.
The No New Revenue rate raises the same amount of revenue from the same properties as the previous year. Additional tax revenue comes from new properties added to the tax rolls. Any rate above NNR is a tax increase.
The Voter Approval rate yields the maximum increase over the previous year’s tax revenue allowed without a public vote.
Pratt replayed audio of Parrish during a public budget hearing in July, stating that the county should continue adopting the Voter Approval rate, and residents who didn’t like it should move:
Why go backwards?… The vast majority of voters in Lubbock County want good government. They don’t mind the tax rate being increased…
You want to pay less taxes? Move, I guess.
Pratt added that the law regarding county tax rates was “specifically written to protect taxpayers.”
He said if two commissioners block a quorum vote on a new tax rate, the rate defaults to a “pro-taxpayer position”—either the NNR or the previous year’s tax rate, whichever is lower.
Lubbock County residents David and Cyndi Acuff support the strategy used by Corley and Rackler to protect their constituents from higher taxes.
“People are tired of their representatives ignoring and acting against their consent and are stepping up everywhere,” David Acuff posted on Facebook. “Hopefully the trend will spread.”
“You need to hear both sides of the story,” Cyndi Acuff wrote in a separate post about Parrish’s press conference.
“Since the beginning of time, governments/politicians have used scare tactics, lies, and fear to control people and to get them to comply. Don’t fall for it!” she wrote. “Remember, they work for us! They are our employees and we hired them to manage OUR money. Jason Corley and Jordan Rackler are doing the HARD thing, but the RIGHT thing.”
After Parrish referred to citizens opposed to higher taxes as “crazy kooks,” the Acuffs and others embraced the moniker “Crazy Kooks against tax increases” and have worn shirts sporting the slogan and a bow-tie image to court meetings.
The next Lubbock County Commissioners Court meeting is set for Monday, September 23, at 10:00 a.m.
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