1. Approve all 5 LNG plants with substantial reduction in property and school taxes through abatements.
2. Approve the LNG plants, but insist they pay their fair share of property and school taxes.
3. Reject the proposed LNG plants.
4. Approve 1 or 2 LNG plants with tax relief somewhat less than the 76% of property tax and 99% of school taxes Annova is requesting.
Option 1 is a real killer for the hardworking taxpayers of Cameron County. If all 5 proposed LNG plants follow the Annova model, asking for a 76% reduction in property taxes and 99% reduction in school taxes, what is in this for the taxpayers? Annova alone would get out of paying $220,000,000 in taxes. It can't be jobs as Annova only promises 10 with no guarantee the hirees will be locals.
Advocates for LNG talk about clean burning natural gas, but forgetting the hydrogen sulfide, hydrocarbons, mercury and carbon dioxide these plants release into the atmosphere, not to mention the millions of gallons of hot effluent dumped daily into our shallow water bays and estuaries.
The requested ten year tax abatement may be just enough time for these profiteers to make their billions and get out of Dodge, leaving Cameron County with 20 miles of 200 foot tall scrap iron, possibly containing hazardous waste.
Good points, Jim! I think that even if somebody supports LNG they need to be realistic about the cons and not just the pros. It doesn't need to be all or nothing, and we need to support our community instead of one business that intends to exploit our home.
ReplyDeleteYou can bring jobs to the Mexicans, but you can't make them work.
ReplyDeleteWhy give them any tax advantages when they are only going to hire 10 people? They should be required to pay higher taxes to clean up the pollution they will cause.
ReplyDelete