He said it in a New York Times article back in 2006.
“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
That was sixteen years ago, and he was talking about income tax in the United States, but it could have been yesterday in El Paso, talking about property taxes.
Why do El Paso’s “philanthropists” get breaks on their property taxes?
City Council granted Woody Hunt’s WestStar Tower in Hunt Plaza, in downtown El Paso, a $15.2 million tax break when it was built. Now, Paul Foster’s Kress Building renovation will get property tax, sales tax, and use tax rebates for 20 years.
Somebody has to pay the taxes that those billionaires aren’t paying. Someone has to pay for public safety, and maintaining the infrastructure, and servicing the debt that years of poor management has saddled the City with.
Is making downtown El Paso a playground for the rich a legitimate function of city government? Or should we trust the free market to prioritize our needs?
Are you getting any tax relief? Or are your taxes going up every year?
What’s almost as shameful is that there’s no outside, impartial oversight of the CAD. They just run up property assessments with no plan. Here’s an example, street blocked out for privacy. Notice that every house has a different cost per square foot. Might want to mention that every property owner should be protesting every year. Less than 5 percent protest.
Assessed Assessed
Value Built Sq Ft Value
Per Sq Ft
195047 1986 2217 87.98
157444 1985 1870 84.19
138073 1985 1916 72.06
211457 1987 2245 94.19
155089 1981 1545 100.38
106986 1985 1559 68.62
163256 1984 1626 100.4
174324 1985 1780 97.93
170434 1985 1714 99.44
188814 1986 2041 92.51
179571 1985 1888 95.11
180064 1986 1868 96.39
158431 1986 1534 103.28
199500 1985 2031 98.23
186577 1985 1998 93.38
200802 1985 2042 98.34
126243 1985 1641 76.93
200840 1986 2162 92.9
174015 1985 1763 98.7
148881 1987 2038 73.12
167591 1985 1626 103.07
194809 1987 1978 98.49
167204 1986 1755 95.27
185369 1987 1896 97.77
164591 1986 1533 97.77
165377 1985 1636 107.37
165029 1985 1851 89.16
127086 1987 1686 75.29
168543 1985 1667 101.11
114906 1985 1958 58.69
164376 1985 1571 104.63
183137 1985 1983 92.35
216159 1985 2690 80.36
193225 1985 2104 91.84
175836 1985 1860 94.54
190355 1985 2078 91.6
192055 1985 2030 94.94
187695 1981 1983 94.65
187105 1985 1994 93.83
Certainly they are winning the class warfare, the same in Juarez, the Chamizal park is every time more small because it has been privatized and not only that, is full of garbage with no technical diagnostic about the damage, and the mayor of Juarez, Cruz Perez Cuellar from the party Morena, is in total complicity with them. Last Saturday they organized a festival in the park, promoted by the Tecate beer company. They cut trees left garbage all with the support of the Mayor, which stated that they’ll do it whenever business wants to make an event. So Juarez and El Paso, are in the same conditions.
It does no good to protest, as my wife reported just yesterday. They insist that values are determined based on “recent home sales,” but we know that there have been no homes listed or sold within our immediate neighborhood – which is low income compared to those a few blocks away – in the last two years, so our property is being compared to other, larger, newer, and more costly properties. Our taxes keep going up, but the streets keep falling apart. The rich own us, and they are squeezing us for the last drop of profit they can get.
El Paso’s wealthy elites control through their “philanthropy” and their business influence which are everywhere. Most will go along lest they and their family are excluded from largess, opportunities, and acceptance in the local “high echelons of society.” Vote out the candidates of the elites!