HARRIS COUNTY – Local voters showed support for their elected officials and passed every proposition in the state, county, and City of Baytown on Tuesday.
In Harris County, all seven Propositions passed.
Proposition 1 for road improvements at about $700 M. passed by 73% to 27%.
Proposition 2 about funding improvements to parks passed 64% to 36%.
Proposition 3 for an improved animal shelter passed 62% to 38%, the lowest of all county percentages.
Proposition 4 for flood control work passed 74% to 26% So the county can spend $64 M. to drain the areas.
One Proposition that did not pass was the City of Houston, Proposition 1, the HERO proposition was voted down 39% to 61% on election day. For Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner had 32% and Bill King had 25% while Adrian Garcia had 15%. Turner and King will face each other again in a run-off election in December.
San Jacinto College bond passes by 67.51 percent
Based on preliminary figures from the Harris County Clerk’s office, voters in the San Jacinto College District have given their approval for the College to move ahead with a $425 million bond measure to fund new construction and renovation projects throughout the District.
The unofficial count of Tuesday’s election saw nearly 68 percent of voters in the College’s taxing district approve the capital improvement bond program, with a vote of 17,247 for the referendum, and 8,300 against. This year’s voter turnout totaled more than five times the number of total votes cast in the 2008 bond election. The votes will become official after the San Jacinto College Board of Trustees canvasses the election on Nov. 16.
According to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, “Texans have spoken loud and clear by voting all seven propositions into law today from property tax relief to transportation.
“Rest assured, today’s vote on property tax relief is only the first step in providing property owners real tax relief. I wanted a huge margin victory to give us the clout to do more property tax relief next session. I think today’s win should end the opposition by some who opposed reducing property taxes last session.
“Texans have also spoken for significantly improving transportation funding for Texas’ roads and highways. Government transparency will be increased as well as veteran benefits and our right to hunt and fish will be placed in our constitution. These are all steps in the right direction. However, we’re still not done.
“All seven constitutional amendments are important and affect us all. Thanks to everyone who voted today: as a result, Texas is a better place.”
Many initiatives were predicated upon property taxes and keeping them low. The county tax rate remains the same but as the county population grows the demand is higher so the evaluations will grow as properties sell for higher amounts. The valuations will also grow so by that factor taxes may also grow. Nobody talked about that.