A planned high-speed train between Houston and Dallas, backers say, would allow travelers to avoid costly and time-consuming freeway traffic.
Before it can deliver that relief, however, the company behind the high-speed rail project will have to stop avoiding its own costly property tax bills for dozens of properties across Texas.
At least $623,000 in property taxes owed by Texas Central Railroad are delinquent, according to a brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court in an ongoing condemnation lawsuit, filed by county attorneys from nine of the 11 counties through which the train is planned to run.
“If (Texas Central) cannot afford to pay less than $1 million in property taxes, how will it ever be able to raise the $30-plus billion it needs?” the brief states, referencing what some claim will be the total cost of the project.
Texas Central officials did not respond to a request for comment.
I’m hard pressed to think of a non-embarrassing reason for this. If it was just an administrative screwup, it’s bad but survivable. If it’s something else…hell, I don’t want to know. Just pay your damn taxes already.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the story broke and with no comment from Texas Central to date, it’s looking less like an administrative screwup and more like something else.
Hoping Dug digs into this some more, like how did Texas Central’s properties in Ellis county get a full exemption (no property taxes due, it’s said to be an error that’s being corrected).
And what is going on with the NCTCOG thinking of loaning Texas Central $800,000. They ultimately did not make the loan, but would love to know more about that project, how Texas Central is involved, and more about the Federal tax dollars involved.
SHOW US THE MONEY & STATE SUPREME COURT’S “VETO” POWER
For more on “something else” see the 2 most recent amicus letter briefs:
04/14/2022 Supplemental Amicus Curiae Letter received on behalf of Ben Leman, et al. [multiple Texas legislators complaining of the prospect of Japan taking land in Texas]
03/30/2022 Supplemental Amicus Curiae Letter received on behalf of Grimes County, et al., submitted by Elton Mathis of Waller County, Texas.
Docket here: https://search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=20-0393&coa=cossup
The irony here is that the Texas Supreme Court could kill this off, for ostensibly purely legal reasons (Does Texas Central satisfy the legal definition of a railroad for eminent domain purposes as a matter of statutory interpretation? – Yes/No), and thereby exercise veto power over what is, in essence, a huge transportation infrastructure project (with, as you can see from the most recent amicus brief, significant foreign-policy implications).
Should the third branch be in charge of such matters of public policy?
Perhaps the prospect of that happening – i.e., the legal uncertainty – has already had an adverse effect on the viability of the project in terms of financing.
Choice quote from the friend-of-the-court submission on behalf of the counties, which details the property tax delinquencies:
“If TCRI cannot afford to pay less than $1 million in property taxes, how will it ever be able to raise the $30+ billion it needs to construct the Project?
Amici respectfully request that the Court consider this new information in
deciding whether to grant TCRI the power to condemn 240 miles of rural Texas for a Project that is circling the drain.”
A little more on the NCTCOG loan that didn’t happen (yet). The NCTCOG February Agenda says Texas Central Partners couldn’t come up with collateral so Texas Central paid the $800,000, but still may get a loan from NCTCOG:
“He also discussed high-speed rail in Dallas and the loan to Texas Central Partners approved by the RTC in November 2021 to advance engineering of
the City of Dallas Floodway Extension. He noted that collateral for the loan was not able to be secured by the deadline, so Texas Central Partners paid the $800,000. Staff will review backstop elements if a loan is determined to be necessary in the future.”
I would like to know more about this project and Texas Central’s involvement (and any tax dollars involved). It sure seems like Texas Central doesn’t have much in the way of assets.