It all started with local attorney and City Councilman Victor Hernandez, who was sworn into office in 2010 when he had delinquent property taxes owing on his office building. By February 1, 2011, he had two years of delinquent taxes. Someone, apparently a commentator on KFYO radio, broke the story, though KCBD-TV claims credit.
The tax records, by the way, are public and available online at http://www.lubbockcad.org/Appraisal/PublicAccess/, so the story did not require a lot of investigatorial digging to unearth, especially since it was an issue in the campaign for that council seat back in 2010.
Hernandez is one of two Democrats on the city council, and has a habit of asking embarassing questions. Lately he has expressed the intent to take a look at the relationship between local banker and LP&L utility board member W.R. Collier with his son who happens to be involved in building a utility outside the city and perhaps buying power generating stations to sell to the city utility. In Chicago or New York, situations like this would occasion shootings and nighttime burials in concrete foundations. In Lubbock, Texas, it means the city council get together to ban the offending questioner.
And so, after a few days' legal research, the city attorney, former state district judge Sam Medina, reported to the mayor that the City Charter was violated when Councilman Hernandez was sworn in with delinquent property taxes due.
And here is where it gets interesting. Where the fur starts to fly.
The Lubbock City Charter is online at http://z2.franklinlegal.net/lubbock-flp/ . The relevant provision is at Article IX. Section 4. Quote--
"Sec. 4. Qualifications of mayor, councilmembers, officials and employees.
The Mayor and each Councilmember shall be a resident citizen of the City of Lubbock and have the qualifications of electors therein. The Mayor and all Councilmembers shall be bona fide residents within the City and within the applicable District at the time of filing for office and must continue to reside within the City and the applicable District during the term of office. The Mayor, Councilmen, and other officers and employees shall not be indebted to the City; ..." Emphasis added.
The question is, does owing delinquent taxes constitute being "indebted to the city"?
The city attorney took this question and returned with a strong "Yes!"
My initial take was, "Maybe." Since then, I've moved steadily to the "no way" category. Several reasons. The city has been ignoring this provision as to employees, and not checking at all regarding concilpersons or mayors, so there is the appearance of waiver. The city's portion of property taxes are assessed and collected by a separate intergovernmental entity called the Lubbock Central Appraisal District. Since the charter provision probably was intended to keep those owing money to the city from being in a position to forestall collection or alter the books, it does not apply at all to property tax collection under the auspices of a separate entity like LCAD. And then there is the problem of what is meant by indebtdness to the city. There is a debt when a bill is sent out, so everyone owes a debt, for taxes or for city utilities, for a period of time, perhaps even months, in the case of property tax bills that are sent out in September but not delinquent until February 1.
So this week I have been commenting and posting, trying to alter public opinion. I may have been the first to point out that the city charter provision applies to employees too, and there are thousands of employees. In any case, the search for tax delinquents at the city of Lubbock snowballed, with -- interesting -- results. And my arguments have come to be more and more reflected in the comments of others, which either mean I have influenced them or that we are all moving together independently; either way it's gratifying.
Some of the revelations about the tax bills of prominent Lubbockites are in my opinion due to the researches of Clif Burnett, whose blog is located at http://lubbockcountyregister.blogspot.com/ Clif has been a long-time gadfly in the local Republican party and lately concerning city government and politicians as a whole. I think Clif's criticisms and exposes are healthy. Others think he is crazy. And back in January, both city and county served criminal trespass notices upon Clif to keep him away from city and county buildings, meetings, etc. I protested this publicly.
Clif and I have a mixed relationship. When we get together in a forum, we argue like cats and dogs, until Clif gets banned. One time, he took umbrage after a dispute with me over what the copyright law meant and posted this exposure of me: http://lubbockcountyregister.blogspot.com/2010/11/ironfoot-mcgurk-of-talklubbock-unmasked.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FVARK+%28Lubbock+County+Register%29 Regardless, I think I've helped Clif with investigative tools, and started him looking into the LCAD website for prominent tax delinquents. I get ideas from him, and think he gets ideas from my posts. Local media gets ideas and stories from Clif's blog, though more often it works the other way.
At any rate, I've been campaigning in a low key against the charter provision that the powers that be, mostly Republicans, have been using against Victor Hernandez. I've done this in two ways, by commenting in the Avalanche Journal newspaper website, and in posting on the forum http://www.talklubbock.com/index.php?sid=0c6b0ff7418ef144d155fe1c8f17590f .
Today, there was the ultimate descent into theater of the absurd:
http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2011-02-10/council-hires-outside-attorney-after-sam-medina-found-have-tax-issues The city attorney who opined that Councilman Hernandez violated the charter by owing delinquent taxes was exposed as having had delinquent taxes for a time after he was employed by the city. His interpretation of the city charter that he applied to Victor Hernandez applies to him as well!
Now that doesn't mean that Hernandez is off the hook. If the charter provision is valid, and if indebtedness to the city includes past-due taxes, then Hernndez should not have been sworn in. On the other hand, a councilman or employee who for a time owes taxes and cures the default is likely not removeable merely for having a momentary tax delinquency.
And so it goes in the City of Lubbock. More to come, you may be sure.
Part of the problem with the charter provision about city employees and councilpersons not being in debt to the city is that it would seem to apply to any debt including city water and electrical utility payments and even public library fines.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, a "debt" exists whenever a bill is sent out, and remains owing until paid. In the case of property taxes, those bills are sent out by October but are not delinquent until Feb 1. Strictly speaking, nobody who owns a home fails to owe the city for a period of time.
All of which ought to tell us that the city charter provision is void. The city attorney and his office should have made that determination, but instead we are on a course for psending more money to obtain the same outcome.
There are two ways a judge can go on this. S/he can decide that the fact that property taxes are collected by a semi-independent entity, Lubbock Central Appraisal District or LCAD, means there is no conflict of interest when a councilman or city employee owes property taxes, delinquent or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteOr, the judge can look at the broader picture that involves all debts owed the city, library fines, city utility bills and so on, and hold that the "no debt to the city" provision of the city charter is impossible to comply with and unforceable as to any debt.