HOT tax a necessity

Editor,

Nobody likes taxes. There are some in the community who are hypercritical of any tax. Generally, however, tax revenue is used for the benefit of the community. Purposes include public safety, parks, roads, education, and more.

Keep in mind that the more locally the tax is levied, the greater the local impact. For example, property taxes collected in Kendall County stay in Kendall County because many services are provided there.

The Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) is a small fee collected from visitors staying in short-term establishments such as hotels, B&Bs, etc. 100% of the amounts collected in Kendall County benefit Kendall County businesses.

The use of HOT revenues is an important economic tool available to the Kendall County Commissioners. This tool is already used by nearly 500 successful and dynamic public entities in Texas. The Boerne Visitors’ Center is an example of this success.

Funds must be used primarily to directly promote and support tourism, including supporting special events that encourage visitors to stay overnight in Kendall County.

Almost as important, the proceeds can be used to support the arts and to fund historic restoration and preservation programs, both of which are of great importance to Kendall County.

An additional benefit of the enhanced marketing programs will benefit event centers, retailers and restaurants that rely on regular out-of-town visitors.

As a small business owner in Kendall County that operates a small eight-bed overnight facility, I, along with many other business owners in the Comfort community, strongly support and encourage the implementation of the HOT initiative.

Gary A. Louie

Owner of a convenience store

School taxes, explained

Editor,

Bob Imler’s letter on Kendall County’s tax increases contains understandable views. But without providing any facts, Bob criticizes what he calls the “tax increase troika” of county, city and school governments.

As a trustee of the Boerne ISD Board, I will offer these relevant facts. Taxable assessed value in BISD has increased 84% since 2018, yet property taxes generated for BISD’s general fund (salaries, utilities, transportation, security, etc.) have only increased 6.4%.

Why this discrepancy? BISD’s maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate has dropped from $1.04 to $0.669 since 2019. Voters also approved a large increase in the homestead exemption limit.

BISD trustees have long advocated for tax relief, knowing that school taxes make up the largest portion of property taxes. Until recently, the average BISD homeowner paid $500 per year in school taxes (“Robin Hood”), which were allocated to the state’s general fund rather than the state’s education budget.

Texas’ share of school funding fell from a historic 50% to just 37% in 2019, increasing dependence on property taxes.

The trustees worked hard to pass HB 3 in 2019, which raised state funding back to historic levels. This increased state support for our schools and allowed us to lower tax rates.

A key to understanding public school funding is the state’s funding formulas, which have not been increased since 2019 despite cumulative inflation of 22.4%.

Texas limits its spending growth to the combined rate of inflation and population growth, a useful metric. Because of static funding formulas, BISD’s general fund has grown significantly slower than the combined rate of enrollment growth and inflation since 2019; a difference of $6 million per year.

BISD trustees’ legislative priorities include updating funding formulas, improving teacher salaries and advocating for additional property tax relief.

Last year, the average BISD homeowner saw their school taxes reduced by $900. We don’t want that progress to be lost.

Rich Sena

Residents of Boerne

Democrats’ actions “extremist”

Editor,

On August 10, an interesting article by a Kendall County Democrat appeared in the Boerne Star. It was a classic example of projection, distraction and gaslighting.

The article began with a history of propaganda, from Roman times to Nazi Germany to Russia. It then warned us about “our current times and the use of lies and misinformation that could destroy our democracy.”

We later learned about the efforts of a group called Braver Angels to eliminate “toxic politics” and were warned about “actions by extremists.”

Numerous members of the Kendall County Democratic National Committee have compared Donald Trump to Hitler. Are they extremists? Is this toxic politics?

Numerous members of his party called for Trump’s imprisonment. Are they extremists? Vladimir Putin had Alexi Navalny, his only serious political opponent, imprisoned. Now Navalny is dead.

Is our president an extremist for refusing to enforce our existing immigration laws? Are members of our government extremists for dictating what kind of stove you can use and what kind of car you can drive?

Are members of state and local governments extremists because they want to take children away from parents who do not comply with their children’s wishes for gender reassignment surgery?

Democrats, who claim to want to preserve our democracy, now have a presidential candidate who skipped the Democratic primary nomination process after Biden was forced to resign by the former Speaker of the House.

Democrats are tolerant until you contradict them. Then you are labeled an extremist.

Richard C. Burnett
Residents of Fair Oaks Ranch