Mayor Dubey Explains Taxes

Tax Bites with Poonam.

On November 19, 2024, Mayor Bob Dubey was interviewed by Poonam Sandhu, CPA, on her podcast "Tax Bites with Poonam." In the introduction, Mayor Dubey said, "I really don't consider myself a politician. I'd like to say I'm a statesman." A politician calling himself a statesman is like a used car salesman calling himself a "Transportation Solutions Consultant." But Poonam politely let Mayor Dubey's self-aggrandizement slide. Luckily for him, she wasn't in a fact-checking mood. I guess she left that to the listeners. I listened.

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Home Improvement Incentive Program

Here's how the City of Richardson explains how the "Home Improvement Incentive Program" works: "A one-time incentive equal to 10 times the amount of the increase in city taxes will be paid to the homeowner based on the property's pre-construction and post-construction appraised value."

Pretty simple. Watch how Mayor Dubey explains it. Places where he misspeaks are highlighted in yellow.

Mayor Dubey: We have one program, if you're going to buy residential, we have the Home Incentive Program...Basically what it means is you go in and you rehabilitate and you improve the value of that home. On the tax roll, that house went from, say, a $300,000 home to a $500,000 home. Okay, that's a pretty big hit, tax wise, if you own it, but we will give you a 20% incentive off that to lower your tax initial payment.

Source: Mayor Bob Dubey.

Not even close. Getting the program's name wrong might seem minor, but it's so basic it's inexcusable. As for his second mistake, when a mayor is bragging about a City program, getting so wrong how the program works is simply unforgiveable.

Homestead Exemption for Seniors, Disabled

The City of Richardson provides a homestead exemption for seniors over 65, which reduces the taxable value of a senior's primary residence, thereby lowering their property tax liability. The exemption does not freeze the tax rate or the total amount of taxes owed, which could still change based on property valuations and tax rate adjustments. On February 24, 2025, the City Council approved an increase in the senior property tax exemption from $145,000 to $160,000.

Again, watch how Mayor Dubey explains it. Places where he misspeaks are highlighted in yellow.

Mayor Dubey: If you're a senior citizen in Richardson, we have, of course, you have to be, you know, 60 and up ...

Poonam: 65

Mayor Dubey: ...or 65. You get your...what we do is we freeze your tax rate, so you're frozen at 65 and then in addition to that we give you a tax deduction. Right now we just raised it to $145,000 so if you're 65 or older, what that means is, if your house is valued at $400,000 you only have to pay taxes on 355...355,000.

Source: Mayor Bob Dubey.

Again, not even close (even excusing the fact that this interview happened before the exemption was raised from $145,000 to $160,000 in February of this year). His interviewer knew the facts better than he did, at one point correcting him. He got how the program works wrong, not just in a small way, but in a fundamental way. He also screwed up simple arithmetic. Pro-tip to Mayor Dubey: if math isn't your strong suit, avoid trying to do math live on the air. (Bad at math is a pattern for Mayor Dubey. See "Bob Dubey's numbers don't add up".)

"Spokesman" is not part of Mayor Dubey's job description (much less "Statesman"), but the Richardson City Charter does say the Mayor "shall represent the city on all ceremonial occasions and shall be known as the official head of the government." You'd think that with such responsibilities, he would have been better prepared to speak on the subject of city taxes before he agreed to appear on a podcast titled "Tax Bites with Poonam." You'd be wrong.

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"Mayor in the chair.
Podcast asks easy questions.
Dubey still stumbles."
—h/t ChatGPT