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| 4/30/2008 9:32:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vote 'No' on ACC
tax district
Round Rock voters have been told that having ACC build a campus here would be a great benefit because it could increase the number of available workers with a higher education.
ACC wants the Round Rock property owners to pay the bill with higher property taxes. A higher education does create more job opportunities. If you're considering education beyond high school and wondering how you will pay, this guide may help.
There's money available, but students need to apply in order to be eligible. See(http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/FundingEduBeyondHighSchool_0708.pdf)
The Pell Grant does not require repayment. There are other federal educational grants and loans, in addition to the Pell Grant, which are available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The federal aid is paid for by - you guessed it - our federal taxes.
Why should property owners add yet another tax to our property? Once the ACC tax is in place it is highly likely that the tax will go on indefinitely. Property owners should not vote for another tax!
Vote no regarding the ACC plan.
Don Harris
Round Rock
Vote 'No' to tax hike
Dear editor,
I have just read your editorial regarding ACC incorporating the remainder of RRISD. It is apparent that the Leader is a strong proponent of this idea, since there have not been any articles opposing the issue.
Do the citizens of Round Rock realize that if they approve this move that they are raising their taxes again, then come November RRISD is going to float a bond issue in the amount of $300-$400 million? There go the taxes again.
We are in a housing/mortgage situation that is affecting everyone. The current problem is not only the mortgage, it is the constantly increasing property and school taxes that fuel the fire. Two tax increases (ACC and a bond) in one year will cause a lot more people to lose their homes.
The ACC incorporation is not necessary. Students can move to an area within the ACC current limits and get the reduced rate and still stay in this area for a job. If that is not feasible, then they need to go to work and pay for their college the way many of us did.
The RRISD bond has a few items that are absolutely unnecessary. Why do we need another 600-900 seat PAC? The luxury-adorned schools that are being built these days are an excessive waste of dollars. Cut back on the "frills" and put that money into the transportation department to meet rising fuel costs.
Round Rock citizens, wake up! Your tax dollars are being wasted yet you are willing to give them more.
Raymond G. Wilgeroth, Sr.
Round Rock
We can't afford ACC
Dear editor,
As usual the Round Rock "elitist movers and shakers" want the taxpayers to subsidize their children's college education by having the RRISD join the Austin Community College tax district.
The RRISD is already in their service area and our community has a very viable and active organization already established in the Round Rock Higher Education Center capable of conferring up to a master's degree, something ACC doesn't do.
What will you get if the RRISD joins the ACC tax district: higher taxes and no representation on the ACC Board of Trustees at least until 2010 (two of nine places) if then.
As such the ACC will take our tax revenue and spend it as they see fit without any oversight from local taxpayers. In all the years ACC has operated only one trustee was ever elected from outside the City of Austin.
Additionally, home appraisal values will increase approximately 6 percent or better this year (mine went up 10 percent). The ACC homestead and over-65 exemption remains where it was ($5,000 and $75,000) when the district first began yet my home value has increased over 57 percent in the past few years.
The RRISD is preparing for an additional bond election in 2008 and the economy is slowing, sales tax revenue across Central Texas is declining and the small business owner will be faced with another tax burden and shrinking revenue. Don't forget the 36 percent increase in house foreclosures since a year ago.
Do we need an additional tax to defray the cost of a college education for others? You decide and vote your conscience on 10 May or during early voting. Me - I am voting no!
R.W. Tagge
Round Rock
The best and the brightest?
Dear editor,
This letter is regarding Congressman John Carter's April 22 column, "A few facts about rising gas prices."
I have just one question for Mr. Carter, who reels off the usual list of hindsight errors and stale "we need to get down to business" platitudes.
The question is: Aren't these people you refer to on the "list of leading columnists and economists," already a part of the incompetent group of experts who got us into all these messes to begin with?
H.P Bradish
Austin
Taxpayers subsidize Republican folly
Dear editor,
The representative from Exxon, John Carter, in his latest spin attempts to smokescreen why he and Exxon are enjoying record excessive profits at all our expense. They do this while not paying us royalties for drilling on our federal lands and tidelands.
The representative from Exxon also tells us the Bush-Cornyn-Carter regime's gross misadventure in Iraq has nothing to do with our collapsing economy, despite most economists telling us the trillion dollar (and going toward $3 trillion) borrowed from the Chinese Communists has no doubt been a major factor in our falling dollar.
The Bush-Cornyn-Carter regime is spending billions each month for Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraqis pay $1.35 per-gallon for gas (subsidized by the American taxpayers), while our military forces in Iraq are forced to pay market rate, which of course is nearing $4 per gallon.
Meanwhile, these chickenhawks continue to sneak in and out of Iraq for photo-ops with our heroic soldiers and Marines, while at the same time refusing to support the "New G.I. Bill."
Ian Foley
Round Rock
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