TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010
Texas Tax: Four San Benito candidates owed back taxes
Former City Commissioner Rene Farias, Tony Gonzales, David Cortez and Jose Morales have at one time since 2005 owed back taxes to the city, county tax office records show.
Rene Villafranco and Joe Avila also are candidates for two City Commission seats in a June 19 special election.
Records show that Villafranco and Avila have had no unpaid or late taxes owed to the city during those five years.
While Farias, Gonzales, Cortez and Morales have been late paying their taxes at some point in the last five years, all four are now current and have no outstanding taxes due to the city, according to the county tax office.
San Benito's City Charter states candidates must be current on their city property taxes by the election's filing deadline, city officials said. This year, May 19 marked the filing deadline.
The Charter states elected officials forfeit their seats if they owe the city back taxes while in office, city officials said.
The six candidates' tax records for 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 were reviewed at Cameron County Tax offices in Brownsville and San Benito.
Taxes for 2010 are not due until February 2011.
The six candidates hope to fill vacancies that resulted from Farias' and former mayor Joe Hernandez's violations of the City Charter that states elected officials are ineligible to hold office if they owe city taxes.
Gonzales, a former Post Office employee, was late in paying his taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007 on his home at 825 Garrison Drive, county records show. The annual taxes on that property are $1,837.20, Victor Salinas, a clerk at the county's San Benito tax office, said.
When contacted Friday, Gonzales said he paid his taxes late because he had been sick and his wife was not working.
County records show that Gonzales has paid his taxes in full and on time for 2008 and 2009.
County records show that Cortez, a Harlingen police officer, was late paying taxes on his home at 1160 N. Shore Drive in 2005 and 2006 show. His annual tax assessment is $1,014.33, Salinas said.
But Cortez said county records incorrectly cited him as a property taxpayer in 2005 because he didn't own real estate at the time.
In 2007, his mortgage company failed to pay his property taxes for 2006 on time, Cortez said.
Morales, the owner of Big Time Promotions, said his mortgage company failed to pay his school taxes on time in 2007.
Records show that the taxes on Morales' home at 789 Comfort Lane have been paid in full and on time since then. His property has an annual tax assessment of $1,978.94.
Farias is now current on his city taxes, according to the county tax office.
Delinquent taxes became an issue in San Benito in January when city commissioners, including Farias, voted that then-Mayor Joe Hernandez was ineligible for office because the City Charter states that officeholders cannot owe taxes to the city.
Hernandez owed the city about $1,000 in taxes on his home, barbershop and a vacant lot.
By early February, Farias had forfeited his seat after taking responsibility for unpaid taxes on a business that his wife owned.
"I made a mistake and I fessed up to it," Farias said. "I believe in following the rules and that's why I forfeited."
Farias' wife, Arminda, had owed $424.23 in taxes for 2007 and 2008 on an ice business that he said he operated, records show.
Farias tried to pay the taxes with a check on Jan. 19, the day that he and three commissioners voted that Hernandez was ineligible for office.
But Farias' check was returned for insufficient funds, Mary Ramos, a clerk with the county tax office, said.
Farias said his check was returned because he had transferred his money to a new bank.
The tax office added penalties, interest and a $25 fee for the returned check to the amount Farias owed, and he paid $455.71 on March 19, Ramos said.
On May 17, county tax officials removed homestead exemptions that had applied to the former owner of Farias' home at 448 Peacock.
The exemptions that had classified Farias as an over-65-year-old disabled veteran had saved him as much as $10,000 over a 10-year period, Frutoso Gomez, chief appraiser of the Cameron Appraisal District, said.
Farias, a 36-year-old who is not a veteran, said he asked the district in January to remove the exemptions after he became aware of them.
Taxing entities requested that Farias pay back about $5,000, or about half the taxes discounted, Gomez said, adding the law allows entities to collect no more than five years' worth of back taxes.
Farias paid $1,509.48 on May 17, Salinas said.
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