Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald June 7, 2010

Like most retirees my income has not increased and my cost of living continues to increase especially taxes. More so when I feel the community is being badly mistreated by the taxing authority. We are being taxed by Texas Southmost Community College and it exists only in name. The University has another Campus that unlike any of the others we must pay for.
I recently got my new property tax statement, my home was appraised at a value ten percent higher than last year and the Texas Southmost College tax rate is now $0.161924.
In these difficult times find it problematic to financially support a nonexistent entity and any politician that continues to maintain, what appears to me, to be a fraud on the community. Especially, when you consider that it is where a large percentage of its members cannot afford the university rates currently in force.
Perhaps, a few of you will remember a column I wrote, that appeared in September of 2004. It was conceived in response to a proposed bond issue and a presentation that the University and Texas – Southmost College officials provided at St. Marys Church. I went there with preconceived notions that were dispelled to some extent by Dr. Tony Zavaleta’s discussion and forced me to rethink my position. More »