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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1978)
THE BATTALION TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1978 Page 5 te news legislators voice stiff opposition Briscoe’s new tax proposals neut) Uik- Jnited Press International 1 TINj— Legislators did not * !s s overwhelming support / for Gov. Dolph Briscoe’s " ! ils to bring as much as $1.1 1 n tax relief to Texans, and at °pl tree of the items drew stiff ion from some lawmakers. •tit legislators agreed repeal of icral sales tax on residential ': , increasing the inheritance mption and increasing the lotion value of residential M eads from ad valorem taxes by school districts would y pass easily. i lithe [governor will probably lur ?sistance in his effort to push pti n of a constitutional amend- I squiring two-thirds majority wal of both the Senate and i T to impose new or additional mixes. mv. Bill Hobby and several 1 >rs also said they had reserva- rtaout another proposed con- 'nal amendment creating a jn on taxes imposed by local jnents imd setting a limit on jjiture increases. have a pretty good system m, ormer that has led to very low level of taxa tion,” Hobby said. “We have re sponsible people in state offices and my basic philosophy is, if it ain’t broke, don t fix it.” Sen. Lloyd Dogget, D-Austin, Taxed income lower in Texas, comptroller says United Press International AUSTIN — Texas ranks 46th among the states in the amount of personal income paid in state taxes. State Comptroller Boh Bullock said in 1977, Texans paid 5.82 percent of their personal income in state taxes, compared to a na tional average of 7 percent. Calitornia s state taxes a- mounted to 7.75 percent of per sonal income and New York’s taxes were 8.04 percent in 1977, Bullock said. said the two-thirds legislative ap proval would handcuff the Legisla ture with a freeze “on the repressive taxation system we have today.” He said the amendment also would pre vent adoption of refinery taxes or other severance taxes Railroad Commissioner John Poerner, a Bris coe appointee, has recommended. “You don’t accomplish property tax reform by freezing the present tax system,” said Dogget. Rep. John Bryant said the gover nor’s proposal would be completely cosmetic if Briscoe did not submit a bill Rep. Wayne Peveto, D-Orange, tried to pass during the 1977 Legisla ture. The Peveto bill, which passed only in the House during the last regular session, would reform the system of appraising and collecting property taxes. The bill would consolidate tax appraisal offices within each county and set uniform statewide guidelines to determine taxes. Briscoe said he had discussed with Speaker Billy Clayton, Hobby and a handful of legislators the possibility of asking the Legislature to consider the Peveto bill. “I’ve asked Don Adams (the gov ernor’s legal counsel) to review it,” said Briscoe. “We need to see the various proposals in the bill and de termine if they would help. ” Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Houston, was among those who said he was unsure of the impact of Briscoe’s proposals. “I’d say it’s about 50-50,” said Le land, who will succeed Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Texas, in Congress next year. Most legislators, however, were hard pressed to show any enthusiasm for the governor’s proposals. Briscoe was welcomed with only moderate applause at the beginning and end of his 10-minute address to a joint ses sion of the Legislature. Rep. Stan Schleuter, D-Salado, was one of the few who gave whole hearted support to Briscoe’s pac kage. “I support all of them, ” Schleuter said. “I think this package pretty well touches everybody that is having trouble with ad valorem taxes. And I think we can afford it.” son-in-law, woman charged ith murder of missing Winnie family .United Press International i^UMONT — A refinery and a 30-year-old mother of lejjpcused of kidnapping and kil- 3 of his former in-laws be- ill feelings related to a di- ,, , vere charged Monday with nurder. The five bodies were ed from a common grave onday. 3 Joseph Dugas Jr., 32, of ffiur, had been arrested Fri- l charged with kidnapping, day Burnett of Nederland, jd as Dugas’ girlfriend, was 'YJl at 2:30 a.m. Monday. *t 1 a.m. Monday, deputies , a l unearthing the bodies of Phillips, 64; his wife. Ester, | ()r ir son, Elmer, 31; his wife, 34, and their son, Jason, 4, ■» tge totes dence guns protection [reunited Press International LAS — A county criminal dge who keeps a .38-caliber tind a derringer within reach idutearing misdemeanor cases it. [firmed he confiscated the s from his court’s evidence I i l Dallas newspaper has re elf ler • Tom Price said he has been ting guns from his court’s ^3e room for the past two •Practicing his shooting skills * *em and using them to arm against persons who have ned his safety, the Dallas ig News reported in a hted article. int to be able to blow their ff if I have to,” Price said. I j once in a while I get nervous | et. People say they’re going mething to me and I want to to hit them if I have to.” J said the law which requires s held as evidence in criminal /entually to be returned to timers or destroyed by police no sense.” aid instead of returning the .s he keeps some of them for ; use. pjYe taken two or three of them ‘ metimes, I shoot them at a l : range,” he said. “I want to i.ire I can hit what I’m shooting ^ict Attorney Henry Wade would have to check to de- : whether Price’s use of the s was improper or illegal. in a private hunting preserve where Dugas was a member. Dugas and Burnett were accused of kidnapping the five from the elder Phillips’ home at Winnie on July 1, binding them, taking them to a wooded area, shooting his in-laws, then burying them in a 5-foot-deep common grave. Jefferson County Sheriff R.E. Culbertson said Dugas, after initially resisting questions, led deputies to the gravesite late Sunday and impli cated Burnett. The written com plaint against her said she signed a full confession. "He was remorseful,” Culbertson said. “I think his conscience finally got to him.” Dugas once was married to Phil lips’ daughter, Mary. A justice of the peace said the family had filed previ ous disturbance charges against Dugas and that he had undergone treatment at Beaumont Neurological Center in 1975. Chambers County Sheriff Doil Pounds’ original complaint against Dugas said he had told friends of angry feelings against the Phillips and that he planned to kill them. “The man was mad at the old man and the old lady because they sent him off to a mental institution for being off in the head,” said Justice of the Peace Jack Cravy. “He said he’d kill them all when he got back.” Dugas was jailed Monday at Anahuac, seat of Chambers County, where the kidnappings occurred, in lieu of $500,000 bond. Murder charges were filed against him at Beaumont, seat of adjacent Jefferson County, where the bodies were found. Cravy, in a hearing at Hamshire near where the bodies were found, set Burnett’s bond at $500,000 Mon day during a hearing interrupted by her weeping and fainting, perhaps due to the crush in the grocery store where court was held. Defense lawyer Joe Goodwin pressed for less bond so Burnett could be with her children. Cravy said he would schedule a hearing later to consider lower bond. Authorities had mounted a mas sive search for the Phillips after another of their sons, George Phil lips, returned to find them gone. The Elmer Phillips lived at Woodward, Okla., and had been vis iting his parents at Winnie. There were a few scattered spots of blood in the modest tin-roofed house in a grove of trees on a 10-acre plot. A fan, skillet and coffee maker had been left on. The first major clue to surface was discovered unknowingly July 2 by a couple running an early morning paper route. Elmer Phillips’ car was burned in a roadside ditch at the edge of a bayou 10 miles east of the Phillips’ home. But because efforts to report the car went awry and searchers were working near the house, it was Thursday before the car was linked to the disappearance. WIDE PIPE SELECTION CUSTOM BLENDED TOBACCO CIGARS - DOMESTIC & IMPORTED 3709 E. 29TH ST. TOWN & COUNTRY CENTER ManseTs Sent 300 W. 25th St. BRYAN BRAKE SPECIALS Front Disc Brakes . . . $43 88 Drum Brakes (including turning drums, Q88 all 4 wheels). O Wheel Cylinders Rebuilt , 7 00 eaC h • Strobe Light Wheel Balancing • Shock Absorbers • Wheel Alignment - Ameri can & Foreign Cars • Brake Service 822-2089 779-4862 SPECIAL NOTICE OPTIONAL BOARD PLAN Summer students may dine on the board plan during the first session of summer school at Texas A&M University. Each board student may dine three meals each day except Sunday evening if the seven day plan is elected, and three meals each day, Monday through Friday, if the five day plan is preferred. Each meal is served in the Commons. Fees for each session are payable to the Controller of Accounts. Fiscal Office, Coke Building. Board fees for each plan are as follows: for the quiet times. .. elegance in lingerie PLANS SECOND SESSION Seven Day Five Day - - $144.00 $127.00 July 13 through August 18 1978 X !oft Touch 707 Texas Day students, including graduate students may purchase either of the board plans.