That question is asked of many newspaper editors and reporters.
Why do you do that? Why did you cover that story? Why, why, why?
It’s not always easy to answer.
Newspapers are the watchdog. Newspapers keep the history of communities. Newspapers tell the stories.
Newspapers are also responsible for looking at governments and officials since taxpayers don’t have the time to look at everything that is going on.
Standard procedures are to check tax rolls, Continuing Education Unit certifications for elected officials, political financial reports and more.
Standard procedures – done all the time, to all elected officials.
That’s what happened when the story about Kyle Council Member Becky Selbera having unpaid tax bills broke. The staff was pulling tax records for every single member of both Kyle and Buda city councils, as well as the school board.
The county showed only one elected official with unpaid tax bills.
While Selbera said that she had deeded the property to her father, the county itself had no record of the transaction. Selbera said she had written the change on a piece of paper and given it to her father, who dealt with the family estate. Her father subsequently died.
Tragedies happen and families face lots of turmoil during these times. Things fall through the cracks.
But when this happens to elected officials, especially when the lawsuit dates back for years, it makes the news. Taxable values and taxes paid are public information on all citizens. Because taxes are what give us the freedoms and amenities we have, it is important that the public know how taxes are collected and how they are spent. Taxing income helps governments run the utility lines, pay for police and fire protection, pave roads, hire dog catchers, keep parks open and more. Everyone, especially elected officials, must pitch in for the general good.
While Selbera says that the properties in question were in her parents’ names and in her daughters’ names, the county has no documents to support this supposition. She might have actually made the transfer, but it is not legal until it is filed with the county.
No one is or was on a “witch hunt.” There was no attempt to smear a single official. There was simply a routine check to find out if officials who are paid by the government actually paid their taxes to the government.
The story will continue. Not everyone likes it, especially the council member and her family. But the fact remains that a public official, who is held to higher standards and by city charter law cannot hold office while owing monies to Kyle.
Other stories about other elected officials will likely come up in the future. Since Selbera got her tax situation settled, we reported that story, too.
That’s our job, and we take our job very seriously, even when it deals with friends.
