A local non-partisan taxpayers group that searched the CAD records to “ensure that all candidates for our local offices are paying their property taxes along with the rest of us” says it has discovered what may be “ a new principle of Texas politics." 

“Apparently, contested elections are good for getting people who are running for office to pay their delinquent property taxes,” said Tom Tyler of Dickinson, chairman of the Texas Taxpayers Network, a locally-based property tax group that has been working for lower caps on CAD assessments in the state legislature. 

The local election the group is pointing to as an example is the race between incumbent democratic County Court #2 Judge C. G. Dibrell of west Galveston Island and Republican challenger Bret Griffin of League City. 

Tyler said, “The challenger Bret Griffin is all paid up on his property taxes, but Judge Dibrell was delinquent on five lots he owns in Texas City for 16 years, from 1989 to just two months ago.” 

As part of its “Property Tax Awareness Campaign” for the November election, Tyler said the group checked the Galveston County CAD records online “to make sure all local candidates for state and local office this year were paid up on their property taxes.” 

“We want our elected officials to be property taxpayers,” said Tyler. “ This is especially important when the office they are running for will be dealing with property tax issues, whether at city hall, in the legislature or as judges who may be hearing cases involving the rights of property taxpayers.” 

Tyler said the TexTaxNet had found “ that everybody running for office here in Galveston County was all paid up on their property taxes, except for one really strange case.” 

That case was Judge Dibrell, who GalCAD records showed had been delinquent on property taxes for five lots the judge owns in Texas City “ for what appears to be a period of 16 years, from 1989 to just two months ago, in June 2006.” 

“We don’t understand why it took the judge 16 years to pay the delinquent property taxes,” Tyler said. 

“The only thing any of us can figure is that this is the first time he has faced an opponent in the general election, and maybe got wind of the fact that our group was looking into the records. 

Tyler said all other candidates regardless of party were “clean on this as far we can tell from the CAD records on the Internet.” 

Tyler said the group was concerned ONLY with local property taxes and not any other taxes. 

“We are not delving into people’s finances or disputes with the IRS or anything like that, as I said we just want our guys to be property taxpayers so they are aware of the problems we face every year with CAD assessments and property tax hikes!” 

Tyler said the group’s next effort in its “Property Tax Awareness Campaign” will be to name the “Ten Worst Anti-Taxpayer Legislators” in the Texas House and Senate, and “The Ten Worst Anti-Taxpayer Lobby Groups and Organizations” in Texas.