Firefighters union starts airing new ad

In the midst of a battle to push its three city charter amendments across the finish line, the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association began airing a 30-second spot this week that claims City Hall increased taxes annually over the past six years.

The ad backs into the statement in a one-two punch that leads with the union’s favorite target, City Manager Sheryl Sculley.

“How can San Antonio afford to pay the city manager more than the president and governor combined?” a voice queries. “They raised your taxes the last six years in a row.”

A photo of Sculley flashes on the screen, superimposed atop images of the White House and the Texas Capitol as $100 bills fall from the sky. Then, a mock newspaper headline declares: “CITY HALL RAISED TAXES 6 YEARS IN A ROW.”

Sculley’s base salary is $475,000. The president is paid $400,000 and the governor $150,000, for a total of $550,000. Sculley, on top of her base pay, collected a $75,000 bonus for 2018, bringing her overall compensation to $550,000.

“The ad is blatantly wrong,” said Jeff Coyle, the city’s director of Government and Public Affairs. “The city has not raised the property tax rate in 25 years, including the entirety of City Manager Sculley’s 12-year tenure. In fact, she has recommended — and the City Council approved — reducing the tax rate four times.”

Stephen Moody, the union’s sergeant-at-arms, defended the ad.

“Have they raised your taxes? Yes,” he said. “Have they raised the rate? They didn’t have to technically raise the rate. At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s a bald-faced lie. People’s (property) values go up, and so their taxes go up.”

Moody, who was instrumental in the union’s effort to kill plans for streetcars in San Antonio several years ago, has been one of the union’s most visible advocates for the charter amendments.

Moody said the union ad strikes at the meat of the property tax issue — that people have seen their tax bills increase.

Tax bills have gone up in recent years as property values in San Antonio have risen.

Eighty percent of property tax revenue goes to entities other than the city of San Antonio, including Bexar County and health and college districts.

The city has no control over valuations set by the Bexar Appraisal District.

“The argument to that,” Moody said, “is the city had the ability to say, ‘Yeah, you know what? They raised your valuation — I’m gonna go ahead and drop your rate.”

Christian Archer, who runs the opposition Go Vote No campaign, said he wasn’t surprised by the fire union’s ad.

“It’s kind of more of the same — no real facts, misleading information, trying to win over the public with untruths,” he said. “They’re just trying to mislead the public, and they’re doing it with a splashy television ad.”