The city of San Antonio is facing a crushing budget deficit. A reader blames Texas lawmakers for the fiscal mess. Texas Republican leaders got to play the hero by increasing the exemptions for their taxpaying constituents. Now San Antonio is faced with an increase in our tax rate, a reader says.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) conducts flight operations in support of Operation Epic Fury in March. Readers are appalled by the plight of these service members under President Donald Trump’s leadership.
U.S. Central Command Public Affa
Texas GOP dug tax hole
Re: “Case for raising property tax is lacking,” Editorial, Aug 16:
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The recent decline in the city’s taxable property value is the first in 15 years. The city’s tax rate has not increased in more than 30 years.
One can almost be assured that property values will increase next year, but a rate increase will never be decreased. Does anyone remember last year’s election? Several measures, all sponsored by Republicans, were approved.
Proposition 9 raised the business inventory exemption from $2,500 to $125,000. Proposition 11 gave a break to elderly homeowners; their exemption went from $10,000 to $60,000. Proposition 13 increased the regular homeowner exemption from $100,000 to $140,000.
There were other tax breaks in the 2025 election. Texas Sen. Paul Bettencourt, Rep. Morgan Meyer and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick all got to play the hero by increasing the exemptions for their taxpaying constituents.
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Now we are faced with an increase in our tax rate.
RELATED: On the table: $90M in San Antonio budget cuts, tax hike, higher fees
CPS Energy accountable
Our governor wants to break up CPS Energy’s “monopoly” on delivering electric service to San Antonio.
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That so-called monopoly is a city-owned service.
Having lived in numerous cities and San Antonio for 28 years, my experience is that CPS Energy is the best and more cost-efficient utility.
In that time, I’ve seen CPS Energy invest in a variety of power sources in an effort to provide ample, stable power, just as the San Antonio Water System has done to provide long-term water supplies.
What CPS Energy hasn’t done is extract as much profit as possible, which is the aim of a for-profit business. This seems to be yet another effort to fit everything into an ideology that assumes privatizing is always better.
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That didn’t work when the Soviet Union collapsed, and it didn’t work when the neoconservatives pushed it in Iraq. Black-and-white thinking is dangerous and foolish. Just as democracy requires much more than simply voting, a modern economy is far more complex than one idea can capture.
If we don’t like what CPS Energy is doing, we have recourse. Would we with a private company?
Stop hurting Big Bend
Growing up in Europe, where most national parks are considerably smaller, I was impressed by the size, beautiful wilderness and changing scenery of Big Bend National Park.
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When our families visited we were very proud to show them something so unique. Our local family has gone multiple times to enjoy this wild, remote land, beautiful and striking in any season.
It is full of amazing canyons, hikes, different flora and fauna, with the magnificent Rio Grande cutting across. It has the darkest skies in Texas. I remember the star parties from Chisos Mountain Lodge at 5,400 feet high.
The park was established in 1944 to protect it for future generations.
It is horrifying to think that after more than 80 years of protection, we are willing to destroy this treasure with the obsession to detain the few immigrants crossing illegally.
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If this activity continues, our children and grandchildren will never be able to enjoy Big Bend National Park as I have done multiple times. A different solution has to be found.
Trump never served …
President Donald Trump was arrogantly dismissive about the concerns of service members’ families regarding grim conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.
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Their deployment, overextended due to the Iran War, has resulted in lack of regular ports of call, shortages of food and personal items, lack of breaks for the service members, resulting in some mental issues, with reports of some attempting to jump overboard. There are also reports of broken toilets and laundry machines.
When questioned, Trump downplayed families’ concerns and, regarding extended length of time at sea, said, “No. No. No. Not nearly long enough.”
This from someone who evaded military service.
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EDITORIAL: Trump’s dismissal of USS Lincoln sailors belies compassion of ship’s namesake
… yet he’s the expert?
So President Donald Trump is telling the U.S. Navy it must go back to using steam-driven catapults rather than electromagnetic catapults on all new aircraft carriers.
I sure hope Trump knows more about aircraft carriers than he did about Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
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Not looking out for Navy
So, the president says that our sailors on a carrier have not been there long enough. This coming from a person who was eager to fight in Vietnam, except for those nasty bone spurs that kept him home.
If there are any veterans who agree with the president, please let your voices be heard.
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As a U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose son, a disabled Navy vet with severe PTSD, shot and killed himself after his tours on aircraft carriers, I completely disagree with our president.
Have a response? Send us a letter to the editor.