By David A. Diaz - Legislative Media
Edinburg Mayor Richard Garca says he would support a pending legal ruling currently being developed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott if that decision allows Texas homeowners with diabetes cancer and other long-term major illnesses to qualify for the states landmark homestead property tax freeze.
Such a legal ruling is known as an Attorney General Opinion which is a written interpretation of existing law according to the state attorney generals office. The state attorney general writes opinions as part of his responsibility to act as legal counsel for the State of Texas Abbotts office adds noting that opinions interpret legal issues that are ambiguous obscure or otherwise unclear.
Garca himself a veteran attorney and former long-time Hidalgo County court-at-law judge reports that Abbott has been asked to interpret legal issues arising from a recent change in the federal definition of a physical disability.
Earlier this year Attorney General Abbott was asked by Rep. Vernica Gonzles that in light of a recent decision by Congress to now consider diabetes and cancer as physical disabilities does that mean Texans with these afflictions now also qualify for a freeze on their local property taxes?" said Garca. If he rules that they and possibly others facing long-term major illnesses do indeed qualify then I would support such an expansion of the homestead property tax freeze."
As of Wednesday June 15 Abbott had not yet issued an Attorney General Opinion on the possible expansion of the homestead property tax freeze.
It can take several months for the issuance of an Attorney General Opinion.
Abbott is scheduled to be at the Cimmaron Country Club in Mission on Friday June 17 as the keynote speaker for the Hispanic Leaders Conference according to Rep. Aaron Pea R-Edinburg. The attorney general who himself qualifies for the homestead property tax freeze because he is confined to a wheelchair will be addressing the gathering at noon.
CURRENT FREEZE PROTECTS ELDERLY
AND PERMANTLY DISABLED HOMEOWNERS
Under current Texas law a homeowner who is 65 years of age or older or a homeowner who has a permanent physical disability can qualify for a property tax freeze on their principal homestead when they pay their annual school property taxes.
The existing property tax freeze must be offered by all school districts in Texas to homeowners who are age 65 years and older or who have a permanent physical disability.
In many other situations a homeowner who is 65 years of age or older or a homeowner who has a permanent physical disability can qualify for a property tax freeze on their principal homestead when they pay their annual city county and community college district taxes.
In all of these situations the qualified homeowner still must pay property taxes every year but under most circumstances those taxes will never increase.
The cities of Edinburg and McAllen along with Hidalgo County and South Texas Community College are among the many South Texas governmental entities in addition to all public school districts which currently offer the property tax freeze to elderly homeowners and homeowners with permanent disabilities.
But a change a few years ago in the Americans with Disabilities Act a federal law that provides protections for disabled Americans could mean that homeowners with diabetes cancer and several other major illnesses may also qualify for the Texas property tax freeze.
TEXAS ADULT DIABETIC POPULATION
NOW AT MORE THAN TWO MILLION
In her request to Abbott for an Attorney General Opinion dated January 4 2011 Gonzles said that the change to that federal law known as the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 has expanded the definition of a disability to include persons with diabetes cancer multiple sclerosis epilepsy and other illnesses that can be controlled by medications and other treatments according to federal lawmakers and published reports of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
For the large number of Texas homeowners who struggle financially with the medical costs to deal with these major illnesses your decision would have a major and far-reaching effect Gonzles noted. My House District in particular would be especially affected due to the high rate of diabetes in the Rio Grande Valley and among the Hispanic population.
Gonzles represents House District 41 in the Texas Legislature. House District 41 includes southwest Edinburg north and east McAllen northeast Mission Palmhurst and Alton.
According to Sen. Jane Nelson R-Flower Mound who serves as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services there are an estimated two million Texan adults with diabetes and that number could mushroom to eight million Texan adults by the year 2040. Today many other Texans have pre-diabetes or diabetes but have not been diagnosed with the disease.
TEXAS NEW CANCER CASES
APPROACHING 100000 A YEAR
The Austin American Statesman in an April 3 story on cancer in Texas quoted a February 2010 report published by the Texas Cancer Registry which found that although cancer rates (the number of new cases per 100000 people) have been declining in recent years the number of new cancer cases has been rising because of the increasing size and aging of the Texas population."
According to the Cancer Registry which the newspaper explained is a collaboration between the Texas Department of Health Services the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas there were 95607 new cancer cases in Texas in 2007 the most recent data available. Thats an increase of 3.6 percent from the year before."
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS) which is made up of the brain spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild such as numbness in the limbs or severe such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress severity and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another the organization reports.
Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. Its also called a seizure disorder according to The Epilepsy Foundation which further explains:
When a person has two or more unprovoked seizures they are considered to have epilepsy. Seizures can last from a few seconds to a few minutes. They can have many symptoms from convulsions and loss of consciousness to some that are not always recognized as seizures by the person experiencing them or by health care professionals: blank staring lip smacking or jerking movements of arms and legs. A seizure happens when a brief strong surge of electrical activity affects part or all of the brain. One in 10 adults will have a seizure during their life.
