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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2004)
Page 5B • Thursday, January 29, 2004 Opinion The Battalion 29. M ■ M 1W 'urden of senior citizen tax freeze should not be put on shoulders of others isast ingn t seems contradictory that at a campus known for its friendli- .ness, the surrounding communi would be working against those ho define it. The battle between jirmanent College Station resi- Bnts and Texas \& M students rns over a new leaf this year as |i.i/.os County seeks to enact a I operty tax freeze for elderly and psabled residents. I While it is commendable to ease the financial b rden of those on a fixed income, the proposal b ought by the Texas Legislature does more harm I an good to both sides. Not lily could Brazos County resi- d nts be paying an increased rate to make up for those whose I tes do not increase if the ■ moposition goes underway, but e\en those it applies to will l e toe eventually be hurt by it. is anftJ The implications of this tax n doe'I eeze a f ew years down the road are disconcerting. The freeze lould only postpone the pay- lent of the taxes, requiring that they be paid when the resident I locates or be paid by relatives n the event of the resident’s liath. except with an X percent I impounded annual interest rate. Iicording to The Eagle. it’s chU . But,! ve ton e these eadyfx i rarefc i mottr 9 hosp leld up reasec I.N. re; t almost i Jerussi issthei— ©111 Palest-Baking money off a wary community left with no options and an unsuspecting retirement community ice bo r B^° vvron £ l .y they are getting a break. tthesitS P' ece °P Icgtsl'dion might be beneficial for other counties in Texas, where there is enough excess income of homeow ners to swallow the costs Not only could Brazos County residents be paying an increased rate to make up for those whose rates do not increase if the proposi tion goes underway, but even those it applies to will eventually be hurt by it Already, elderly and disabled Brazos County resi- I :nts receive $75,000 worth of property tax exemp- I ans. an addendum that raised Brazos County's tax I te by 2.44 cents, according to The Eagle. This addi- ianal freeze would be neither beneficial nor produc tive. but instead is the local government’s way of that can’t be paid by the elderly, Brazos County would only suffer from the enactment of this plan. The penalty would fall upon the community, made up of mostly college students who may want to buy property instead of lease it, but cannot afford excess bills this legislation would create. Students who do own property are already paying increased rates for those in the commu nity who often make it clear that college stu dents are not always welcome tenants. However, students’ voices are drowned out by local city and county officials because of the lack of student activism in local politics. The tax freeze, which will possibly appear on the November ballot, could easily pass due to the lack of students registered to vote. In the event the bill does pass in Brazos County, Judge Randy Sims told The Eagle that the cur rent exemption for elderly and disabled residents might have to be decreased. The other option to counteract the loss of revenue would be to raise property taxes overall, something that would not only hurt property-owning col lege students, but could potential ly affect leasing prices as well. College students dealing with rising tuition bills aren’t die only ones to lose. Despite recurrent community aims to retain college students to improve the economy, the tax freeze and probable tax increas es will only be one more factor that draws them to bigger cities and better paying jobs. The elderly residents of Brazos County may innocently believe that the frozen tax rate would be favorable and deserved, but in actual ity what is deserved is reasonable and just treat ment towards all residents. Sara Foley is a junior journalism major. Graphic by Ivan Floes iHaki MAIL CALL [dwards not without his flaws |/n response to John David Blakley's Jan. 28 column: am writing to respond to Blakley's comments on let Edwards. Since I am originally from Waco, I am | very familiar and well-versed with Edwards’ record. JTo begin, Edwards is nothing more than a liberal, |j )t a moderate. Edwards voted in step with former 1 ’esident Clinton, supporting a liberal agenda, flanks to a highly liberal, gerrymandered district that ]|(isted prior to redistricting. Edwards champions himself as pro-military and ‘pro-Fort Hood, but what congressman in his or her pht mind would not try to champion the largest mil- kry base in the United States if it were in his own [strict. 1 Edwards voted against tax cuts, thinking that he |(]in spend your money in Washington better than you and I can here in Texas. Edwards has con- buted to our deficits by his sponsorship of pork krrel projects that he frequently brings back to aco, while lining the pockets of area business- an who faithfully support him. ie opposed school vouchers, but his kids attend livate schools. I guess he doesn't want minorities to |ve the same privilege to get a better education an his kids get. Edwards may be an Aggie, but so have been many lers that might have different political and ethical Rvalues than that differ from me and other Aggies. ■ The congressman is only trying to pander to fjgies because they are in his district, not because ay might possibly share values with him. | hope that Aggies and constituents of this new dis- II see through this facade of a political act and Died us from Congressman Edwards keeping his lat in the House of Representatives. A. Brannon Kroll Class of 2001 A blow to the First Amendment CBS is simply wrong for refusing to air commer cials sponsored by groups like MoveOn.org and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Have they forgotten about that little clause of the First Amendment guaranteeing free speech to all Americans? Or have they just been co-opted by the Bush administration’s policy? Let's not forget there was just a bill passed tai lored to large corporate media outlets like CBS and Fox. And, not surprisingly, we will see an ad spon sored by the White House. CBS gives as its reason that it will not show "controversial" advertisement, yet it has shown equally-controversial ads linking drug traffic to terrorism. Furthermore, there is nothing controversial about MoveOn's ad, which cites the fact that the Bush administration has created a $1 trillion deficit, a number actually proven low by the Congressional Budget Office's numbers released Jan. 26. If you are incensed by this affront to the liberties guaranteed by our Constitution, please contact CBS and let them know. And sign the petition at MoveOn.org. This is about more than an ad; it's about free speech. Andrew Prihoda Class of 2004 The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 200 words or less and include the author’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submit ted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also may be mailed to: 014 Reed McDonald, MS I 111, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Fax: (979) 845- 2647 Email: mailcall@thebattalion.net ‘Robin Hood’ plan needs replacement L ast year, the Texas Legislature decided it would do away with the “Robin Hood” plan for funding Texas public schools. However, it failed to create a replacement plan due to partisan bickering and posturing. It appears that this failure may force Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session of the Legislature this year to deal with this problem of school funding. Texas taxpayers and students deserve a workable plan to replace Robin Hood, but the way things are looking, more of the strife that dominated the Legislature in the past year is still to come, and little will likely be done. Last year, legislative ' special sessions were the rage, with two being called to deal with redistricting. But in the fuss, important fiscal issues such as school finance were neglected. The only thing that was a priori ty in this area was to abolish the old plan, which was done by passing a law that would eventually repeal the current Robin Hood plan. This seems odd, however, when com pared to the vocal tendencies of the state’s top politicians on other matters. The only major elected official who even ventured to propose a plan was Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. He told the Amarillo Globe News he wished to end local school taxes and replace them with a lower state prop erty tax and increased taxesjof services such as “alcohol or insurance.” But other state leaders are relatively quiet on the issue. House Speaker Tom Craddick, appar ently eager to leave his mark on the state and redraw its congressional boundaries, did not even bring Dewhurst’s plan up for a vote in the House, according to The Houston Chronicle. He has been relatively quiet on the issue, as has the usually- vociferous state Comptroller Carol Keeton-Strayhorn. Legislative Democrats have also been relatively quiet, except to complain about the repeal of the old plan. Although Perry has comments about the issue of public schools in Texas, they rarely have to do with funding. He recent ly appointed a new state education com missioner, Shirley Neely. She was former ly with Galena Park ISD and, in a Houston Chronicle column, she said, "We must never, ever accept failure, mediocrity, the status quo or excuses (in the schools).” She needs to send that message to her boss. Perry, about funding for those schools. But the appointment of Neely is just part of Perry’s recent kick on “educational excellence.” In an article in The Chronicle, Perry proposed three cash incentives for achievement. In total, he proposed $500 million in incentives, according to the arti cle. The governor made no mention of where that money will come from. Perry also opposed discussing new taxes in the article. But he can not keep his head in the sand forever. Texas school districts have already begun to mobi lize on a lawsuit over school funding, howev er. Although Perry wants to fund the schools at acceptable levels, this seems in conflict with his desire of excellence. At least this time, unlike the last battle over the issue in 1993, the Legislature is not operating under the threat of a court order. It has the time to make a proper plan that should see the schools for the long run. Although Dewhurst’s plan may not be perfect, it at least recognizes the fact that the state will have to raise more money somehow to pay for schools. Perry, Craddick and the Democrats should drop the election shtick and own up to the fact that the state faces a serious funding prob lem in its schools, and the only way to fix it may be to restructure state taxes. Texas’ future may depend on it. David Shoemaker is a junior management major. DAVID SHOEMAKER Texas taxpayers and students deserve a workable plan to replace Robin Hood, but the way things are looking, more of the strife that dominated the legislature in the past year is still to come.