It’s that time of year. That property tax bill staring back at you is the monument to 30 years of Republican hypocrisy in Lubbock County. For a generation, they’ve perfected the art of complaining on the campaign trail but have never learned how to explain why your taxes only ever go up.
I’ve been here my whole life, and I’ve heard the same hollow promise from every single one of them. First, it was Carl Isett. Then it was John Frullo. Now it’s Carl Tepper. Every two years, it’s the same old song: “We’re conservatives! We’re gonna cut your taxes!” And every single year, the boot on your neck gets heavier. How can these people keep a straight face while they tax working families and our elderly right out of their own homes?
The GOP political class in Austin, and their cronies right here in Lubbock, have become the very thing they used to rail against: Big Government swamp creatures. They’ve abandoned local control, blown up the budget, and now they’re coming for what’s left in your pocket.
Look no further than our own County Commissioners Court. In a move of staggering arrogance, the Republican majority slashed the volunteer firefighter budget in half—the folks who run into the flames to save our neighbors—while voting themselves a fat 2% pay raise. It’s shameful.
It’s time for a new kind of politics in West Texas. I’m calling on every forgotten taxpayer—the independent, the conservative, the common-sense Democrat—to join us. We’re building a party that believes in actually cutting property taxes, from the family in a trailer to the grandmother in East Lubbock trying to hold onto the home her husband built.
This March, come on home. The Democratic primary is open. Let’s send a message they can’t ignore.
Stuart Williams is the chair of the Lubbock Coalition of Black Democrats and a candidate for chair of the Lubbock County Democratic Party in the March 2026 Democratic Primary.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: They tax, you pay. Are you tired of it yet? | Stuart Williams
Reporting by By Stuart Williams, special for the Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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