***This Stuff Drives Me Crazy***

Beaumont Enterprise ^ | February 16, 2002 | Jamie Reid

[palo verde]

I bet Joey's family reunion would have been in Silsbee
if they had known 'bout that neat tourist tax they have there

[lonestar]

Tell me again WHY a tourist would go to Silsbee?

Do you enjoy watching trees grow? lol

Seriously, I bet a "tourist" has never "gone to Silsbee."

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Small towns in Texas have to advertise to get people to come through..... the tax is used for promotion of the town. It sounds hilarious though, to consider his statement that the tax is what is luring tourists...lol

Of course, Silsbee COULD incorporate the land where the 96 Motel sits, thereby making them a part of the city tax as well as the tourist tax.....

[is_is]

Seriously, I bet a "tourist" has never "gone to Silsbee."

Dean (the mayor) told me that there are people from all over the region who come to Silsbee so they can visit the Big Thicket and bird watch.....as he told me this my head was about to explode from the fumes from the paper mill over in Evadale.....LOL

Silsbee is a nice little town....my business has a location there so i support economic developement initatives but......Silsbee will never be a tourist "mecca".....

[is_is]

Silsbee COULD incorporate the land where the 96 Motel sits

If you could see that sucker!!!! FLEA BAG run by ragheads!!!!! Years ago you could drive by at night and some of the porch lights in front of the rooms would be RED!!!!! The other thing is it's even closer to the paper mill.....ohhhhh the smell!!!!! LOL The land out that way woulod cost more to administrate than the taxes it would bring in!!!!!

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Ok, ok, calm down, dear, lol, I never had the pleasure of touring Silsbee.....but my town had a cotton gin, so I can sympathize with the smell....lol

My little west Texas town used the "incorporation" trick to continually add more and more property and people to the tax roles, and actually dropped our tax rate from over $1.00 to less the $ .50 in a ten year period...well, that and good management....

I doubt you will find that in many cities across the US...

Now, let's talk about you yelling at me in front of all these people, and us being newlyweds and all..... (lol)

[is_is]

I couldn't help it....i got carried away due to the fact that i have a business location there... LOL I know all of the people/locations in the article. Sad thing is the mayor really is a good guy!!!! and is trying hard to bring Silsbee out of the backwaters of the last century....

Tourisim though....is not the answer!!!

[lonestar]

Tourism is actually better north of Silsbee. Silsbee is too far from the lakes to benefit from the tourists who come to fish @ Rayburn and Toledo Bend.

I never associated Silsbee with the "Big Thicket." Kountz, yes; Silsbee, no.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

That's ok is..... I understand... I get the same way when it is personal.

I feel sorry for those little towns in Texas - they are losing their young people to more exciting places, no job opportunities to offer, and no real reason for anyone to come through and spend money..... and my experience with small town Mayors, is that they usually are very nice, and very concerned for their towns...

[CheneyChick]

LOL

[lonestar]

What is Dean's day job?

[is_is]

He is a State Farm insurance agent.....very successful...

[is_is]

it's bad enough that i get called down in public.....now your laughing about it!!! LOL might as well call all "the girls" over and have a big laugh!! :)

[lonestar]

Does Dean tack a tourism fee on each policy he sells within the Silsbee city limits? If not, why not? LOL!

[philman_36]

I know Silsbee very well, and believe me when I say it will never be a tourist mecca! Sorry, but that line gave me the best laugh I've had in a while.
I thought it was pretty funny too. It's a very nice town, and the folks are pretty friendly, but unless you're going to Silsbee proper everyone just passes right on by on 69. Usually no one stops unless they are actually going to town.
Very much like in I-10 and Hwy 90. The older towns just kind of withered away. They're just too far off the beaten path. How many really pass through, say, Fredericksburg anymore with the advent of the super highways?