San Benito among few Valley cities to post no sales tax gains

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

City of San Benito

City of San Benito

San Benito is one of only a few cities in the Rio Grande Valley that did not post retail sales tax gains during 2013—this according to the Texas Comptroller’s office.

In 2012, San Benito collected $3.85 million in sales tax revenue but fell to $3.84 million the following year. The Rio Grande Valley Chamber of Commerce reported that San Benito is now ranked 15th in the Valley in sales tax collections, above Alamo (16), Raymondville (17), Port Isabel (18) and La Feria (19).

The RGV Chamber indicated that in 2013, the “vast majority of Rio Grande Valley cities posted retail sales tax gains, a positive economic growth indicator…”

Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the March 19 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2014/03/18/san-benito-among-few-valley-cities-to-post-no-sales-tax-gains/

10 comments

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    • Pepe Roni on April 10, 2014 at 9:53 pm
    • Reply

    Remember when Mayor Joe Hernandez and his cronies were all upset and up in arms when they claimed the Veteran’s Memorial plaque was not historically correct, according to them.

    Let me take you down memory lane again with these video classics someone posted to utube…….

    “I am the history of San Benito”

    “Excuse me, call me Mayor”

    “I want my name on the Plaque”

    Well it appears that the same people who brought you the new city logo with a “marijuana looking leaf” also decided to rewrite history when it comes to the city cemetery.

    Here is what the original historically correct cemetery sign was. Here is the revised sign, which is not historically correct, devised by the same people. I don’t recall the San Benito News ever reporting that the city was revising the city cemetery name asking for citizen input. I also don’t recall the city public relations department releasing a press release announcing the change. I didn’t look very long but I could not find any nopales or a single nopal at the cemetery now named Cementerio el Nopal

    I am not against change but I am against changing the name of a city historical site without keeping the citizens aware of what the city is doing in their name. What else is going on behind closed doors or in unannounced or at worst not publicly posted meetings? What is next? What are you changing without informing the public? What is being discussed at coffee with breakfast or a steak dinner?

    Where is the outrage now Mayor Joe Hernandez and company? May 10 can not arrive sooner.

      • WeThePeople on April 11, 2014 at 11:54 am
      • Reply

      Wow! I was wondering about these ugly a** signs. It took forever to get them put up; now we learn they are historically incorrect as well!
      By the way, should the San Benito Veteran’s Memorial Pavilion have the apostrophe. If so, where should it be?? Read this first, and let me know.

      http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp

      A couple of other thoughts about the Pavilion:
      1) Where are the ‘memorial’ plaques?
      2) The site should be renamed and dedicated to all veterans with a ‘memorial’ section to honor those that died in combat. What about the millions of vets who ‘died inside’ while in combat, came home and never got honored for their service??

    • I love my city on March 24, 2014 at 8:59 am
    • Reply

    Let’s not forget how much those signs cost the city! There was an article on them wasn’t there?? My vote is for SANCHEZ, RODRIGUEZ, and BAKER-VEGA! Change is desperately needed, and the change starts with you! Let’s vote these careless, self-centered, unprofessional people OUT!

  1. That new so called LOGO looks like it was created by a KINDERGARDENER. And that is what greets people that come into OUR CITY. What a Shame no wounder we are the LAUGHING STOCK OF THE VALLEY.THE TIME FIR CHANGE IS HERE. I AM STILL WAITING FOR THE 50 NEW BUSINESSES. OUT WITH THE OLD IN WITH THE NEW ELECTION TIME.

    • Ray on March 20, 2014 at 8:17 pm
    • Reply

    Maybe they should of opened it up for a public forum or ideas w finalist being chosen like everything else.

    • Denny Crane, Jr. on March 19, 2014 at 2:24 pm
    • Reply

    Interesting that the only members of the city commission commenting on this story are the one’s not up for re-election.

    Were Mayor Joe Hernandez and Commissioners Rene Villafranco and Tony Gonzales too busy too comment?

    What happened to all the business that was to be generated by the Shenzhen China trip? Remember the Telemark Development Group power plant plans?

    This is what we get from an administration with a city manager with two assistant city managers and an executive assistant for the city manager.

    Regarding this new city logo, why did the city commission approve it? The logo has too much white space, the palms look like marijuana plants and the words resaca city should be all caps or at least the first letter.

    The lettering would also appear better if they were inside the circle.

    I guess you get what you pay for. It really looks like it was created with Microsoft Paint software.

      • Croc on March 19, 2014 at 9:56 pm
      • Reply

      Oh the china trip was a horrible experience for them! They stayed in the room most of the time and the food there was horrible! So that makes it business and ok to come back with nothing to show for it. Oh and I’m sure the logo was created at some random persons house using Paint. Just like I’ve seen them do with the fire trucks being used by the Fire Dept. These leaders leave quarter million dollar equipment at some random persons house to get work done…….they’ll take their chances with a logo 🙂

      • WeThePeople on March 22, 2014 at 10:00 am
      • Reply

      In one of the SB News stories regarding Telemark, the principals of the company promised we would be sorry since other local cities and the county would be clamoring to make a deal with them to build their plant. So far, no clamor.
      The City logo is a mess; done by amateurs with no experience in design. How does the City waste monies on China yet can’t hire a professional to at least finish off the logo so it doesn’t look like something out of pre-school. Getting input from the citizens would have been the best idea, and then hire a professional to finish off the design.

  2. Click on the link below to see what the sales tax numbers look like by month and year….

    The headline “Still Stagnant” for this article pretty much explains it all!

    Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
    enter “San Benito” in the CITY name then click “Get ….Summary”.

    (note: the sales tax numbers you see in each month are for the sales taxes collected two months prior).

      • WeThePeople on March 21, 2014 at 9:00 am
      • Reply

      stagnant: to stop developing, progressing, moving, etc. : to be or become stagnant.
      After stagnation, begins the smell. Odoriferous emanations are currently present!

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