By Don Bommer
Contributing Writer

Comal County residents Mike and Sylvia Burns last Thursday presented county commissioners with a petition containing over 1,400 signatures asking for an election to increase the homestead exemption from $11,100 to $50,000 for senior citizens 65 and older.

Senior citizens currently are allowed a $11,100 exemption. In addition, all county residents who claim a homestead exemption get a 20 percent reduction in the assessed valuation of their homestead. Also, seniors have their property taxes frozen at age 65.

The signatures will be verified by the tax assessor’s office, and if found in order, the commissioners will put the item on the May 10 ballot. The county has until March 10 to certify that there are enough valid signatures to call the election. It requires 1,132 signatures to place the item on the ballot.

The exemption would reduce county revenues between $800,000 and $1 million and will result in shifting the shortage to younger taxpayers, officials said.

According to County Judge Danny Scheel, the election would cost taxpayers around $45,000; however, commissioners could approve the increased exemption without holding an election.

Commissioner Precinct 2 Jay Millikin pointed out that Comal County has the lowest net tax rate among the Hill Country counties, including Kendall, Blanco, Kerr, Bandera, Medina, Hays, Bexar and Guadalupe.

“I don’t agree with the philosophy behind giving seniors a $50,000 tax exemption,” said Millikin, who is 67. “Young people have children to educate, food to buy, and gasoline prices continue to soar. I did not support the tax freeze for seniors. The sheriff’s patrol continues to run as well as county road maintenance crews, and road materials continue to increase. The county expenses are going up day by day. I view this not as a reduction in taxes, but rather a tax shift.”

In other business, County Engineer Tom Hornseth told commissioners all bridges in county were recently inspected and found to be acceptable. Hornseth also presented the final results of the Private Road Study Committee. The committee crafted a lengthy and detailed report on private roads within subdivisions. Hornseth said some private roads in subdivisions are not kept up by the homeowners associations.

“Now they want the county to maintain them and convert them to county roads,” he said.

A conversion to county maintained roads would need an election in order to let the residents of a subdivision decide. No action was taken and the commissioners will review the report.

The commissioners heard from several residents regarding the proposed outer loop and their concerns about how their property may be affected.

Scheel said a town hall meeting would be scheduled the end of March with the New Braunfels City Council and county commissioners to hear public comment. Scheel said there is a lot of confusion on the issue and the meeting would allow the residents get a better understanding of the proposed outer loop.