Complimentary to churches L°//< -^';///</- < and community groups JHmnrftu (©ppurhmfiij £fefri$ 2730 STEMMONS FRWY STE. 1202 TOWER WEST, DALLAS, TEXAS 75207 fiov VOLUME 6, NO. 3 March 1997 Is it on the rise? • Yvonne Gonzalez The new gives "State of Concludes "Blacks alternative? DISD" address In Television" Series From The Editor Chris Pryer photo b\f Derrick Waltera Grunt work in Governor's tax reduictioin imuist not the trenches If you were to use the terms "in the It seems as if each new session of the school expenses and that an alternative posed reducing property taxes, repealing trenches" or "grunt work," you would be legislature brings sortie old themes re- plan might be more advantageous. To the franchise tax and replacing it with a hard-pressed to find someone who didn't wrapped in new words. Our current state this end. Governor Bush has proposed business activity lax. During his speech understand what you were talking about. legislative session has not disappointed' reducing property taxes, repealing the he recommended the following provi­ No matter what kind of task being under­ us in this regard. Perhaps the best exam­ franchise lax and repbcing it with a busi­ sions of what is now known as House Bill taken—construction work^ academic ple of this phenomenon is the debate ness activity lax. Business oivners are No. 4: endeavors, clerical duties, political about the Governor's request that the very familiar With the franchise lax, •Reduce school property tax rate by machinations, family relationships—the property tax burden on the homeowners which is assessed as a part of the process .20. Increase the homestead exemption terms "grunt work" and "in the trenches"' of Texas be reduced. of registering and authorizing a company to $25,000 for school maintenance and connote the basic actions and duties nec­ But first, here is a brief primer on to do business in Texas. operations tax. essary to gel things done. taxes. Essentially, there are three types of While all the specifics of what the •Eliminate the inventory tax paid to This is the work of your basic foot taxes: income taxes, consumption taxes business activity lax will entail have yet school districts ' soldier. No matter how smart and innov­ and wealth taxes. Income taxes are based to be specified, it is essentially a value • Replace the franchise tax ative the decision-makers are, it's the on the profits of businesses and the per­ added lax base on a business tax system • Repbce the franchise lax with a busi­ common workers that make it happen. sonal income of individuals. Consump­ used in Michigan. As is the case with ness activity tax Grunt work is unglorified and usually tive taxes refers.to the revenue gleaned most political debates, there are varying • The stale sales tax will be increased by done behind the scenes, out of the lime­ from business activity (gross receipts) opinions as to the merits of each option. .5 percent. light. And it's always, always under­ and the sale of goods and services. Texas In fact, after the staff of the Governor's appreciated. Few pursuits better symbol­ currently ranks 7th in the nation in sales office identified these alternatives, he While much of this discussion may ize the metaphor of working "in the lax rate, although many products and appointed a Citizens' Committee to hold come across as a political shell game, the trenches" than the act of parenting. services are still exempt in Texas, includ­ public hearings around the state to deter­ implications have real meaning for the During the past month, the commu­ ing food and most professional services. mine if there was a consensus on how the business community and the lives of nity at-large was inundated with "Black Wealth taxes are the main source of rev­ properly taxes could be reduced. After most Texans. There are those who argue History Month" moments. Even the enue for supporting local government fourteen hearings and 72 hours of testi­ that all of this effort is an attempt to use more normal passions are stirred as the and education. Nearly 50 percent of the mony, the committee came to the pro­ the much aligned "I" word in Texas, i.e., reality of persistent and unrepentant state budget is devoted to education. found conclusion that there was no con­ income lax. Whatever the case may be, inequality and its long legacy in these Financing much of the cost of the sensus for any lax proposal. As a result, the bottom line is that it is about money United States is brought into sharp focus. public schools in Texas is derived from the committee recommended keeping and, in this case, how public education in Indeed, there is so much more to do in the tax dollars of each homeowner, based some property taxes in place to provide our state will be funded. And guess the African American's quest for a fair on the assessed value of their property. some local control and that a blend of whose schools have the greatest interest shake. So why don't we do it? In part, the Governor's rationale for taxes be used to supplement the reduc­ in how we support our public schools? When I say "do it" I don't mean pub- property tax reduction is based on the tion. lically demanding, demonstrating, dis- belief that there needs to be a more equi­ On January 28, during his State of MON • rupting, posturing, accusing and baiting. table sharing of the burden for these the State address. Governor Bush pro­ I mean the grunt work of parenting. Doing the things necessary to raise a gen­ eration of children so emotionally pre­ pared, so academically capable, so suc­ Viewpoint System of providing electricity cess-expectant, that their sheer brilliance Roy Douglas cannot be denied. Malonson works for the inner-city What is the gmnt work? It's home­ work supervision. It's partnering with lack large commercial and institutional teachers instead of expecting them to be Virtually every aspect of our Ufe is users of electricity—clearly the most , There are several other common the parents. It's overseeing and restrict­ dependent on a reliable supply of elec­ attractive targets for electricity re-scUcrs. sense reasons why it is inappropriate for ing television and video game time. It's tricity. No other industry is as essential to If undei" a regulated market, a utili­ lawmakers to consider retail competition knowing your children's closest our safely and well-being. ty's large commercial and institutional in Texas' electric utiUty industry. friends—and their parent(s). It's estab­ This year, the Texas Legislature will customers are lured away, the remaining lishing a work ethic by expecting regular consider deregulating the sale and distri­ customers would have to pick up the cost •Electric rates in Texas are already performing of household chores. It's bution of electric service in Texas. Behind in the form of higher electric rates. That's among the lowest in the nation. Our not fair. And it should not be permitted. demanding that they read. It's taking this effort are large national electricity re­ economy is strong, and that trend is This cost shifting would occur because as expected to continue for the foreseeable them somewhere besides McDonalds, sellers and big industries, both of whom would directly benefit from an overhaul large commercial customers depart from future. There is no grouhdswell of public the movies or a video arcade. existing systems, a greater percentage of support to disrupt the current system. Oh, and here's a novel concept. It's of the current system. Essentially, the changes they seek would permit compe­ the utilitiy's fixed costs will have to be talking to them sometime. Not fussing at tition for the sale of electric power at the absorbed by a smaller group of retail cus­ •No state has implemented full them, interrogating them, lecturing them, tomers. Also, under these conditions, retail competition, although several arc retail level—to homes, businesses, facto­ electric providers will not be able to sus­ scolding them. But talking to Ihcm. Yes, a ries, schools, everyone. studying the idea and have implemented real discussion. A dialog. ' tain current levels of investment for per­ pilot programs. It's no coincidence that Try doing some grunt work in the Proposals to institute retail competi­ sonal, customer service, maintenance or these states, unlike Texas, have electric trenches of parenthood. It works. Better tion or "retail wheeUng," would be most system upgrades. This would result not rates well above Ihe national average. than anything else. disruptive to inner<ily urban areas that only in higher rates for smaller cus­ tomers, but a system whose reliability are primarily made up of residents and Continued on page 4 MON small businesses. Inner-city areas tend to and stability has been compromised. [ iTCTr7fflm'.(»i?i-i5ffl!mteiJ!xrmg> c i^ggr^ 'yJ O i-^Skfv^'i^^ * * * 'Hil!ffi©QI0I3=©lWil!B(i^^ Cover Story Any journalist worth 14 Nation Of Islam - their.,. Editorials I read with interest Cheryl Smith's 02 Governor's Tax Plan article, "Any Black journalist worth their..will be there" (Pen on Fire^ Mhwri- Features ty Opportunity News, February 1997). As 20 Viewpoint: Roy Malonson Ms. Smith implies, it is indeed hypocriti­ 10 Charter Schools cal lo criticize the efforts of an organiza­ 24 Education tion without putting forth personal effort 25 .....Yvonne Gonzales-Lyle lo advance Ihe goals of the group. How­ "Stale Of District" ever, after making at least four attempts via telephone over the last Iwo weeks to Special gel basic National Association of Black 21 Proprietary Info JournaUst membership/registration m 25 Update: Deadly Merchant information, and having none of my ][i 27 „..The Texas A/A Chamber nil 3^^ZM% phone calls returned, I feel entitled to fire ^: in Of Commerce's Grant a salvo at the local organization.