Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-01-26
DANCY WRITES
ABOUT VALUES
County Judge Relates
Why Districts Are
Asked to Change
TO the Eerald:

To the Herald:
For fear your statement in Tues
days sour Valley regarding raise
IN county valuations may be misun-
derstood or misconstrued / feel it
proper to make the following state
ment:
1st: It is true that for every dol
lar of the six million dollars Of
bonds we issue there must be four
dollars of assessed real estate valua-
tions.
2ad: There are four Of the six
mIIilon dollars not yet sold, however.
IL will not be necessary to raise
our valuations sixteen million dol
lars to issue these bonds, Pro
EIDIAG Water Districts /, 2, 3 and
1 and Drainage District 4 change
over from Art. 3, Sec. 81 of the
constitution to Art. 10, Sec. 50. As
the result Of a conferenx. between
Judge Dillon of the Clay, Dillon
anu Nanaewater, bond attorneys. OF
l.O Broaoway, New York, the attor-
ney general and myself &C Austin
last week, / am able to state that
providing said changes are made the
necessary raise in real estate vaiua-
tons this year will be SS,u32.47O. or
a grand total of $35, 200, 900.
5rd: IL h change is not made by
SAID district, we would certainly
have to increase our rear estate
valuations not less than sixteen mil
lion dollars and | doubt if that
would be sufficient. | am of the
opinion that the commissioners
court would unanimously let the
road program be blown up rather
thar make such a high raise. No
one wants Cameron to be a Stacker
county in the matter of state taxes.
On the other hand we are bonding
ourselves to the hilt for irrigation,
drainage, schools, roads, etc. create
values which increases state taxes
enormously and we do not want to
penalize u people-the most pro-
gressive in the United States-to get
the road program through and if the
districts all cooperate this will not
be necessary.
4th: Thus if any one district fail
ed TO make the requested change
we, the commissioners court, would
IN order TO put over the will of the
people as expressed approximately
4 to / would be compelled to raise
our real estate valuations more than
so per cent and thus pay an unfair
amount of state taxes. On the other
hand if and when the districts so
change a less than III per cent in
crease will be necessary.
{ h This approximately ten per
cent will be in my opinion less than
the normal increase. The Southern
Pacific and the extensions of the
Missouri Pacific lines come on the
rolls for the first time this yea
these with the resulting increase Of
valuations of new towns, etc, will
represent a large assessment in
crease; then new acres have come
under irrigation and our building
has been There is the
Baxter building and 324 new resi-
dences in Harrington, the Stonewall
Jackson hotel and other buildings in
San Benito, an enormous building
in Brownsville, q large one
in La Feria and in fact all over the
county, so that in my opinion the
normal increase will be not less than
five million. / forgot to mention
that we are also coming lands On the
81 miles of new concrete.
9Th: We are just now marking the
time until we know what will be
finally done by the districts. To
bring this home to the herald and
Brownsville today, Jan. 20, instead
of just letting a little work on grad
ing and structures we would be let
ting the paving on the military road
west to the precinct line. We had
made special efforts to get ready for
this and get this road paved and
opened up before the potato crop
was moved; now at the very best we
will have to wait until this crop
is out Of the way.
9TH: / anticipate that all the dis
tricts will make the requested
changes. Under our arrangement
as a feeder road program, there il
not a water district but that has or
will get approximately two dollars
spent IN the boundaries of such dis
trict where it would get one if such
district was created into a road dis
trict to itself. You see the cities
already have connecting roads for
which the districts are paying and
they are getting city valuations.
railroad and other valuations as we'll
as a large proportion of the valua-
tons on the big tracts owned by
spectators.
II will interest the Herald to know
that IN Drainage District 4 more
than two-thirds of the resident tax
payers and also approximately two
thirds in acreage have petitioned for
the change and every few DAYS |
get a new signature from someone
whom we could not and did not see
before the petition was signed and
wants to show that they are for the
change.
Respectfully submitted.
Oscar G. Dancy. county Judge.