The numerous misleading points political group makes about the Kerrville City Council

We decided to look at “We The People, Liberty In Action’s” latest posting attacking Kerrville City Council candidates Brenda Hughes and Joe Herring. Here’s a breakdown of the group’s misleading claims against Hughes and Herring. To support Roman Garcia for mayor and Barbara Dewell Ferguson for Place 4 on the City Council, “We The People” cooked up a document featuring misleading or false information on every point. Strangely, the right-wing group’s positions are a mix of liberal NIMBYism, anti-business sentiments, a failure to respect property rights and some environmentalism that seems insincere. However, the biggest problem is a fundamental lack of understanding of the legislature’s power over cities and counties regarding development — there’s not much cities can do to slow it. Here’s the rundown of their 19 positions (everyone misleading). Have fun. 

We, the people, say there is a 100% voting record of raising taxes. The group said everyone received their tax bills post-2023 proposition and saw that they increased by almost 20%. Why this is misleading: First, this is factually incorrect and vague. We assume this references the 2022 Public Safety Building bond measure that 54% of voters approved. As a reminder, previous City Councils and city management had a plan for the public safety building that would have cost less, but the “Let Us Vote” crowd (a pre-runner to “WTP”) torpedoed that effort in 2021, leading to the 2022 election. The 20% number is vague and inflated on valuations, which the City Council has no control over. It’s also important to remember that mayoral candidate Roman Garcia voted to put the public safety bond on the ballot. 

WTP: Property tax collection is 35% higher than four years ago. The Lead: Why this is misleading is that property valuations were significantly lower four years ago. Based on sale prices, property values were $370,000, but four years later, they soared to $449,000. The numbers should not be surprising since Texas relies heavily on property taxes, considering the rise in values. 

WTP: City debt nearly doubled from 2020 to the present, currently approaching $120 million. The Lead: During the 2021 effort to stop the public safety building, those associated with “We The People” offered the same misleading tactics. Remember that more than $90 million is the public safety complex and water infrastructure debt. Property taxpayers will feel the impact of the public safety building, while the water ratepayers will never be off the hook for paying for water infrastructure. It’s a hard reality about municipal water systems — constant threats to the water infrastructure. The other debt payments come through existing revenue sources — property and sales taxes. Regarding quality of life projects, the Economic Improvement Corp. pays for those through its 1/2-cent sales tax revenues. 

WTP: We’re more dependent on debt now than ever. Why this is misleading: The claim is dubious because most large-scale municipal or public projects require financing. For instance, it’s an oft-told fantasy that financing through existing funds is doable. It is, but at what cost? What would you have to cut to pay for large-scale capital projects? Currently, nearly half of Kerrville’s budgetary expenditures are for public safety. 

WTP: Supported unsustainable growth that benefits out-of-town developers. The Lead: They believe it’s untenable, but we’re not sure their definition of unsustainable. 

WTP: The not-so-low-income housing of the “Lennar homes” project is low quality, not low-income. The Lead: Once again, “We The People” think the homes are low quality. Opponents consistently brought up quality issues by cherry-picking complaints, but Lennar offers a unique position to keep housing as affordable as possible. However, the most significant gap in this logic is that this is a property-rights issue. At the time of the approval, Lennar was negotiating to purchase the land for its second development from Schreiner University. Thanks to a property-rights-focused state legislature, Lennar had considerable leverage to do what it wanted with the development, including a wildly uneven amount of tax reinvestment zone dollars to pay itself back for infrastructure. The second Lennar project initially called for more than 700 homes, and the City Council and staff held the line on a smaller development of 500 homes. The facts are that Lennar did get a favorable incentive package to build here. Still, it’s the first significant step in bringing a more affordable housing product to a market that saw skyrocketing housing values. 

WTP: Government subsidies given to Lennar will raise taxes for everyone and increase the cost of housing. Incentivized unsustainable growth, such as Megaacrete and Lennar. The Lead: There’s no evidence to support either argument. Megaacrete could substantially benefit Kerrville’s sales tax revenue base because the company’s decision to headquarters here means sales taxes stay here. The taxes raised by Lennar will partially remain within the development’s footprint to pay for the infrastructure costs. 

WTP: Did not protect water resources or our small-town values. The Lead: This is a ridiculous and defamatory comment against the city’s public works employees and staff. It also suggests that everyone’s values should align with theirs — for many of you, it’s not being their definition of conservative enough. 

WTP: City leadership refused to comply with Headwaters Groundwater District drought restrictions that were imposed to preserve our water. The Lead: This is a false statement because there is a significant difference of opinion between the city and Headwaters, which lawyers were and or are still figuring out. The reality is that you have two agencies that didn’t align on determining water resources. Kerrville spends millions to protect the water supply and to complement Headwaters’ efforts through groundwater storage. Headwaters was briefly in Stage 4 drought restrictions in the summer of 2023 and quickly reversed course to Stage 3 by October 2023, while Kerrville remained in a more stringent limitation. While Headwaters remains in Stage 3, other groundwater districts nearby are under stricter drought restrictions. 

WTP: Incentivized businesses that overuse water resources. For example, the new Megaacrete facility. The Lead: This is false. Megaacrete helps solve a problem by purchasing water that is currently being flushed down Turtle Creek thanks to the Texas Commission on Environmentally rules on dead-end water lines. The city must flush out 26,000 gallons of water per day under state rules that help mitigate a rise in potential toxins by water sitting in a dead-end line. Not only will Megaacrete purchase that water, but it will also purchase an additional 6,000 gallons. 

WTP: Penalizes citizens for water conservation. The Lead: This is misleading. The city moved to a tiered system, but there’s a base rate. The plan tried to limit heavy users, especially those who irrigate properties with potable water. So, there is an incentive for those who do pull back from irrigating, but you still have to pay a base rate. 

WTP: Supported sexually explicit material in the children’s section of the library. Promoted obscene material for children at the library. Rather than leading, council passed the buck to the unelected Library Advisory Board.

Continued to turn a blind eye and denied the existence of this issue. The Lead: The manufactured crisis at the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library was born out of a national effort by Moms For Liberty. This designated hate group faced a sex scandal involving the founder of the group. Still, at the local level, the vague definitions of sexually explicit books and access to them by minors turned into a significant dust-up, which included a threat against the City Council. When a man wished death upon four members of the City Council, no one from “We The People” condemned the actions, nor did Garcia. “We The People” like to show Hughes slamming down the Bible in a courageous speech about what should define what’s obscene and not obscene. 

Finally, “We The People” claims that Hughes and Herring prioritize out-of-town developers’ wants over residents’ needs. “That the council caters to special interests and Joe and Brenda prioritize pet projects that cost taxpayers money over the general needs of the city. Prioritized wants of Lennar Homes over the needs of citizens, such as low-income housing and a reduced tax burden. They prioritized the water and land-use wants of Megaacrete above citizens’ needs.” The Lead: There’s a lot to unpack here, and the idea that special interests are the main interests of “Herring and Hughes” is egregious, considering Garcia is a frequent self-dealer on his projects, especially around youth baseball. Lennar and Megaacrete will be businesses with significant local landholdings and tax contributions. Once again, Megaacrete took control of idle land for nearly 20 years and developed a product that meets stringent European regulatory requirements — ones that are far tougher than state standards. Megaacrete also did so with the backing of Gov. Greg Abbott. The WTP position also fails to mention that Kerrville has worked to bring low-income housing to seniors and others here through at least two apartment projects. The City Council has also held the line against some projects that don’t fit, including massive apartment complexes along Texas 16 south of Riverhill.