Kids having kids: Never discuss it?
Tue, 2016-08-30 21:54
News Staff
County taxing debate
By G. Romero Wendorf
As the November election fast approaches --- less than 70 days remaining – not only is the presidential choice being discussed, but so is the proposed Hidalgo County Healthcare Taxing District (8 cents per $100 property valuation). Is it a good deal or a bad deal for county property owners? For the second time in two years, voters will decide its outcome. No voter photo ID required.
The prior attempt to get it passed failed in 2014: 51.76 percent to 48.24 percent, by a margin of less than 3,000 people. Of the registered voters in Hidalgo County, not counting those who voted twice, only approximately 26 percent made it to the polls.
But this year is different. The Hospital District has been renamed the Healthcare District, and its taxing cap is 25 cents per $100 property valuation vs. the Goliath that it was in 2014: 75 cents per $100.
If the new Healthcare Taxing District passes this year, when more people are expected to make it to the polls, both the living and the dead, given the fact that 2016 includes a hotly contested presidential election, the initial tax will be 8 cents per $100 property valuation.
If it gains voter approval,