In 2016 our County Commissioners earned $62,680 per year, but starting October 1, thanks to their recent vote for yet another double-digit raise, they will earn $133,500, an increase of 113% in only seven years.
The County Judge will earn $152,700, up from $87,577 in 2016.
In addition, the County Commissioners Court voted to increase our County property tax to the highest rate permitted by law without voter authorization, even as the City has committed to not raising our City property tax and the Governor is pushing for a major reduction in our school tax.
In addition, they had voted for $100 million in new debt in the form of COs and tax anticipation notes, and they plan to go for a $100 million GO bond in 2024.
Saul Saens of KVIA invited attorney and activist Veronica Carbajal to debate County Judge Ricardo Samaniego on ABC 7 XTRA Sunday night, and she did an admirable job!
Judge Sameniego tried his best to defend the indefensible. With all due respect, it was hard to watch.
At the 15-minute mark, the Judge took a nasty swipe at Commissioner Iliana Holguin, who opposed both the salary increase and the tax hike, telling her that she is free to donate her raise back to the County and that “she doesn’t have to be at the ribbon-cutting when we use the [34 million in new tax revenue] for infrastructure, for helping…”
Nice.
We hope that the good Judge enjoys his ribbon-cutting ceremonies while the taxpayers suffer yet another tax hike.
My guess is there will never be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a tax cut, especially because there has never been a tax cut from any of our five local taxing entities, at least during the last 15.