CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A proposition failing Tuesday night was the annexation of Robstown into the Del Mar college tax district.
The Robstown for Del Mar College campaign was an extensive one, that took much of the year to get onto the ballot. So, when the results came in, those involved in the campaign were a little surprised.
The movement hoped that adding Robstown to the college’s tax district would bring growth to the city and cheaper tuition for residents.
“We believe that this was an investment for the RISD (Robstown Independent School District), for the future and that’s what we wanted,” Ricardo Bosquez said, a member of the campaign.
He believed just the thought of taxes was what put off voters from voting for the annexation. Based on their campaign’s information, the average property value in Robstown is 55,000 dollars. In that case, had the proposition passed, homeowners would have paid about $12 a month.
“Yes, the tax was going to be there, but for the long run I think it’d be very beneficial for the family to have the full service of Del Mar College and want to expand it to the RISD,” Bosquez said.
Another thing Bosquez believed that may have hampered the campaign was the lack of support from Robstown mayor and some city council members.
“They made signs and you can see them around town. You can go take a picture of the signs that says no more taxes and stuff like that," he said. "Kind of scaring people about it.”
Those signs Bosquez spoke of were paid for by Robstown Mayor Gilbert Gomez.
Leaders of Del Mar College were unavailable for an interview, but they did provide a statement:
"Del Mar College Proposition A-Annexation of Robstown ISD," an election measure proposing the annexation of the territory encompassing the Robstown Independent School District into Del Mar College's taxing district, was submitted to the voters on yesterday's ballot. The measure was placed on the ballot after the College received a petition earlier this year calling for the annexation and signed by a sufficient number of registered voters residing in the Robstown ISD territory. If approved, the annexation would have provided residents from Robstown ISD with "in-district" tuition and fees. The results of yesterday's balloting showed 1,777 (62.33%) votes "against" and 1,074 (37.67%) "for" the proposition. The College was enthusiastic about the interest shown in the expansion of the College's boundaries but absolutely respects the vote and outcome of Tuesday's election.
We were unable to get in contact with Robstown ISD for comment.
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