KRISTV.com | Continuous News Coverage | Corpus Christi
CORPUS CHRISTI –
Plenty of issues will be in voters’ hands come November, including a pivotal decision on how to spend sales tax revenue.
Depending on the vote, a powerful city board that spends your money, may not exist next year.
An eighth of every cent you pay in sales tax funds the city’s Type A Board, which controls the Type A Fund.
We’re talking millions of dollars a year controlled by five people.
The board spends most of it on economic development. They also spend money on seawall repairs and the American Bank Center.
CLICK HERE: Projects funded by Type A Board
The board (fund) is up for renewal this year, and it’s up to the voters.
Jerry Sansing is president of the Corpus Christi Taxpayers Association. He plans on voting against it.
“I’ve seen too much money go down the drain. You know, we can’t fix streets. We can’t do this. We can’t do that, but we can certainly tax for everything under the sun,” he says.
Sansing would rather the city give that money back to the people, or spend it, in part, to cut down palm trees off Airline. The ones right by the Gulfway Shopping Center.
Sansing says they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act because they take up too much room on the sidewalk, and make it almost impossible for people in wheelchairs to get by.
But Type A Board member Bart Braselton points out the board’s numerous accomplishments, like landing Schlitterbahn with a $5 million deal in incentives.
“It competes with other cities, and when you know, when you’re having somebody that’s bringing say, anywhere from 500 to 1,000 new jobs to your city, the return on investment is incredible,” Braselton says.
Sansing says projects like Schlitterbahn don’t need the money.
Braselton points out other things the Type A Board has helped fund, like the Engineering Department at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, or the truck driving program at Del Mar College.
If residents vote to get rid of the board, it’ll be disbanded after any remaining money is spent.
If that happens, it’ll likely be up to the city council to decide how to re-allocate that portion of sales tax revenue every year. Via KrisTv.com
