Maverick County Taxpayer Ethelvina I. Felan files lawsuit against Maverick County Commissioners Court & Election Administrator for 2016 Tax Rate and Invalidation of Roll Back Petition

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2017

Maverick County Taxpayer and Resident Ethelvina I. Felan filed a lawsuit against Maverick County Commissioners Court, including County Judge David R. Saucedo, Commissioner Jerry Morales, Commissioner Rosy Cantu, Commissioner Pete Venegas, and Commissioner Roberto Ruiz in their official capacities, as well as County Election Administrator Teodoro Roy Schmerber in the 293rd Judicial District Court in Maverick County, Texas, on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, seeking a writ of mandamus, declaratory relief, permanent injunction, reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses concerning Maverick County Commissioners Court’s approval of the 2016 County Tax Rate of $0.542309 per $100 ad valorem valuation on October 3, 2016 and the subsequent invalidation of concerned taxpayers’petition for a Rollback Election on the County’s 2016 Tax Rate.

Felan and over 2,980 concerned County taxpayers signed a petition requesting a Roll Back Election on the County’s 2016 Tax Rate of $0.542309 per $100 valuation approved by Maverick County Commissioners Court on October 3, 2016 and subsequent unlawful invalidation of the Taxpayers’ petition for a Roll Back Election due to insufficient validated signatures on the petition.

Felan and concerned County Taxpayers have provided notice and the alleged correct calculations for the 2016 County Tax Rate and the proper procedures to count the signatures on a petition pursuant to the Texas Election Code to Maverick County Commissioners Court and County Election Administrator Teodoro Roy Schmerber, but the Taxpayers notices and assistance have been been declined by Commissioners Court and County public officials.

Maverick County has been collecting Taxpayers ad valorem property taxes for 2016 since Commissioners Court approved the $0.542309 per $100 valuation tax rate on October 3, 2016 and Maverick County Tax-Assessor Collector Isamari Sanchez-Villarreal issued the tax notices immediately thereafter to Taxpayers via United States Postal Service.

Felan and other Taxpayers contend that the 2016 County Tax Rate approved by Commissioners Court is incorrect and miscalculated because it fails to take into consideration over $3 Million in sales taxes collected by Maverick County during 2015.

A copy of Ethelvina I. Felan’s original petition against Maverick County Commissioners Court is attached to this article and can be obtained from the Eagle Pass Business Journal’s Facebook.

Felan is represented by highly-regarded San Antonio, Texas Civil Rights attorney Jose Garza of the law firm of Garza, Golando, Moran, PLLC.

If Felan prevails in her lawsuit, Maverick County Commissioners Court will have to call a Roll Back Election on the County’s 2016 Tax Rate and allow taxpayers decide whether to approve the alleged correct tax rate for 2016.  Felan alleges that the correct 2016 Maverick County Tax Rate should be $0.456839 per $100 valuation instead of the $0.542309 approved by Commissioners Court.  Furthermore, if County taxpayers approve the alleged correct tax rate of $0.456859 per $100 valuation, Maverick County may have to partially refund its taxpayers who have already paid their 2016 County taxes for the difference of what they paid ($0.542309 per $100 valuation) and the alleged correct tax rate of $0.456839 per $100 valuation.

Maverick County legal counsel is Robert “Woody” Wilson of San Antonio, Texas.

Felan and concerned County taxpayers seek Truth-in-Taxation and full and complete financial transparency by Maverick County Commissioners Court.