5 letters. 5 different people.
1 of them is just a little different from the rest.
You cannot see the future in your rear view mirror. Even if it appears as a simple and clear vision, nonetheless it is the past.
As we look around, signs of growth are everywhere. Growth is outpacing our law enforcement agencies, our congested roadways, our burgeoning schools and our healthcare delivery systems. Are we to deny reality and refuse to confront these needs — safety, eased traffic flow, more and better schools, and financially sound hospitals for our children and grandchildren — because taxes of necessity will go up?
Hidalgo County government helps folks who cannot afford it to obtain basic health care. It acts to deal with threats to our population’s well being through means of vaccination programs, mosquito eradication and other worthy endeavors. Hidalgo County government does not as a regular course directly subsidize hospitals and keep them open — ask Mission Regional Medical Center.
The hidden tax of higher insurance premiums and ever increasing healthcare costs remains with us because of the stubborn refusal of elected leaders to address and confront this heavy anchor tied around our necks. A healthcare district is not the answer to all problems but it will help our hospitals, and in the end all of us.
Growth is here and more growth is still ahead of us. We should not just stand still refusing to move to confront the future. If we refuse to move, we will find ourselves in that rear view mirror living in the past.
Enthusiasm about how county leaders looked at past conditions is nostalgic and not realistic. Conditions and needs have changed. Leaders do not deprive constituents of what they need by responding to the future with a simple “no.” Instead, leaders ask us to follow them forward to confront the future, not to live in the past. The future will find us all, whether we are prepared or not.
Ricardo Flores, Edinburg
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As expected, Hidalgo County Commissioners by a split vote placed the healthcare district on the November ballot. It should be obvious that every Democrat on the ballot supports this increase in taxes. All the Republicans on the ballot oppose this unconscionable tax increase. If Hillary Clinton, or one of her surrogates comes to the Valley, it is likely that one of the supporters of the healthcare district will sponsor her visit. When you vote “no” on Proposition 1, vote for all the Republicans, including Donald Trump, on the same ballot. Emphasize your no vote. If elected, Republicans would not just rewrite the bill, like the Democrats did. They know no means no!
Jim Barnes, Mission
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To take away the fruits of one’s labor by calling it a tax or a fine to purchase a product or service that they may not want or need seems just wrong. What is happening to freedom of choice and personal responsibility in this country? How is that hope and change working out for you?
Ray Markowsky, Palmhurst
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Well it’s back again folks. The politicians won’t let it go, even when it was voted down the last time. They just want what they want. The public be damned. If you want more property taxes then vote yes for the hospital district. Even renters will pay more rent if property taxes go up because owners will pass along the tax increases to their tenants.
Once that tax sets in you will see it keep going up in the future. It always does. They will probably eventually get their 25 cents per $100 property valuation rate.
They already have opened the first medical school in the Valley and soon will graduate doctors here. But I guess they want us to pay for the whole Valley and northern Mexico.
It’s up to you folks: The politicians want what they want.
Charles Del Genovese Sr., McAllen
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Well there you have it in black and white. On Tuesday, The Monitor told us that if Steve Crane, Hidalgo County’s legal adviser, had correctly interpreted Special District Law 1122.021, then Hidalgo County Commissioners would probably have approved the first proposal submitted by the healthcare district proponents and provided a blank check for the tax rate.
Would the final rate be above the “promised” 8 percent? Was that an end run around the cap? I’ll let you readers figure that out.
And, should we believe Ricardo Flores from Edinburg who wrote in a letter that “taxes will of necessity go up?” Yes this may happen, but only for as long as we let them. I would like to point out that the county has had the same property tax rate for the last 14 years and the City of Mission has reduced its tax every year for the last eight years and has had no significant increases since 2002. With all due respect, this is not an increase in existing taxes, as Mr. Flores assumes, to cover growth. This is a whole new layer of taxes being placed on overtaxed citizens to increase profits of the wealthy.
The absolute lack of answers from the proponents’ political action committee and Hidalgo County Commissioners to questions asked over and over again, in my opinion, does not reflect well on their intentions.
Ned Sheats, Mission
Subtle.
