Refineries Ask TCEQ for School Funding

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is evaluating 16 property-tax refund requests that could add up to more than $135 million, according to the Associated Press. A group of big oil companies, led by San Antonio-based Valero Energy, have requested the rebates for installing pollution-control devices on their refineries. Valero argues that the units should qualify for a tax exemption under an amendment to the Texas Constitution that says industrial plants don't have to pay taxes on equipment purchased to reduce on-site pollution. Opponents say that the updates were required by federal regulation in the first place and point out that more than half of the money would come directly out of already-stressed school budgets, especially in districts near the refineries in question.

Valero's initial request was denied, but Valero appealed, and the matter now sits before a TCEQ board composed of three commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry – who just this past Tuesday announced that if elected president, he would slash both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education.