Maverick County Commissioners Court to address County’s Miscalculation of Tax Rate for 2016 at September 29th Meeting

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2016

Maverick County Commissioners Court has posted notice of a special meeting on Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 5 P.M. at Commissioners Courtroom in the Maverick County Courthouse, 500 Quarry Street, in Eagle Pass, Texas, to address their alleged miscalculation of the County Tax Rate for 2016 at an earlier meeting on September 12, 2016.

Agenda Item No. 23 (3) of the September 29th meeting calls for Executive Session regarding consultation with Legal Counsel regarding calculation of the 2016 (1) tax rate; (2) effective tax rate; (3) rollback tax rate; (4) maintenance and operations; (5) interest and sinking; (6) tax calculation worksheet to determine effective tax rate and tax rollback rate; and (7) 2017 Budget, and possible changes, revisions, and modifications to same including but not limited to rescinding adoption of 2017 Budget and 2016 Tax Rate and all other matters relating thereto including Order/Resolution on the 2017 Budget and 2016 Tax Rate.  Following the Executive Session, the agenda calls for an Open Session for possible action.

This Agenda Item No. 23 (3) and its subsequent Open Session provides Commissioners Court an opportunity to correct their omission of the $3,0040,863 in sales taxes collected in 2015 and not used in the calculation of the 2016 Tax Rates.

Concerned Maverick County taxpayers caught the error or omission which allegedly miscalculates the proposed Tax Rate for 2016 of Maverick County stated in the Notice of 2016 Tax Year published in a local newspaper of $0.586535 per $100 ad valorem property valuation.  The material error or omission is the failure to take into consideration the sum of $3,040,863 in sales taxes collected in 2015 for Maintenance and Operations.  The Notice discloses in Section 28-B the $3,040,863 of sales taxes collected in 2015, but glaringly omits and fails to take into account the same $3,040,863 sales taxes collected in 2015 in Section 42 of the Notice for determining the effective Tax Rate of $0.586535 for 2016 resulting in an increase of eight percent or less. However, when the $3,040,863 sales taxes are added or taken into consideration in Section 42 of the Notice to determine the effective tax rate for 2016, the tax rate is greater than eight (8%) percent and subject to a tax rollback petition and election.  Taxpayers are disturbed and angry that Maverick County Commissioners Court either negligently or intentionally omitted the $3,040,863 of sales taxes collected in 2015 in the determination of the effective tax rate for 2016, particularly when the State of Texas Form for the Notice of the Proposed Tax Rate expressly provides that “a taxing entity unit that adopted the additional sales tax must complete the lines for Additional Sales Tax Rate” in Section 42.

The Maverick County Commissioners Court meetings are open to the public. All concerned taxpayers are encouraged to attend the September 29th meeting and request to be heard during the Visitors Recognition part of the meeting.

Taxpayers are concerned that the entire Maverick County Commissioners Court, County Auditor Sandra Watkins, County Tax-Assessor Collector Isamari S. Villarreal, and County Treasurer Rito Valdez, III, failed the use of the $3,040,863 in sales taxes collected in 2015 into the proper calculation of the Tax Rate for 2016.  Taxpayers argue that the checks and balances system provided by state law to ensure that Maverick County follows the proper procedures in calculating the Tax Rate was not properly followed or omitted.

Petitions to call for a tax rollback election against Maverick County are being circulated throughout the community by concerned taxpayers and all County registered voters are encouraged to sign it.  A tax rollback petition signing post will be opened on Monday, October 10, 2016, from 10:30 A.M. To 1 P.M. At the Roma Apartments located at 452 Washington Street, Eagle Pass, Texas.  For more information, please call (210) 920-5404 or email them at: epmavtx@yahoo.com.

The Maverick County Commissioners Court is composed of County judge David R. Saucedo and Commissioners Roberto Ruiz, Jerry Morales, Pete Venegas, and Rosy Cantu.