By Noah Dawson

When I checked the mail today, I knew that, being the last weekday before early voting begins next week, I would be getting a flood of campaign mailers. However, one mailer in particular stood out in terms of how misleading it was.

In a mailer, Ginger Nelson, who has presided over Amarillo City Council for the last four years, tries to take credit for our city’s low property tax rate, which is among the lowest in the state. Few things could be further from the truth. For four years in a row, our city council has raised the municipal property tax rate. Every single time, Ginger Nelson voted for the tax increase.

In fact, the rate she lists on her mailer itself is somewhat misleading. According to her mailer, our municipal property tax rate is 39￠. That was true until the most recent tax increase. Now, thanks to Ginger Nelson and her council, our tax rate rounds to 40￠.

But that’s not the worst part. Last year, Ginger Nelson supported the Prop A tax hike, which would have increased the municipal property tax rate from about 40￠ to nearly 55￠. Such a tax hike would have, in a single move, made our municipal tax rate eclipse the tax rates of Frisco, Plano, McKinney, and Lubbock. Fortunately, Amarillo voters rejected that tax hike, no thanks to tax-and-spend politicians like Ginger Nelson.