Republican U.S. House hopeful Rob Curnock got a break between 2006 and 2009 through a homestead exemption on a property on Hillcrest Drive. But at the time, he was living in a less expensive property about 2 miles away.

Curnock said Tuesday the homestead exemption discrepancy was an honest mistake that he promptly corrected after he was asked about it last week.

A spokesman for Curnock’s primary runoff opponent, Bill Flores, had a different take.

Bill Flores (left) and Rob Curnock are competing to be the Republican opponent of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in the fall.

“Rob Curnock has admitted he cheated on his taxes, which raises serious questions about his integrity,” Matt Mackowiak said. “His actions have deprived the county of revenue for roads and schools.”

Mackowiak said Curnock’s campaign was the first to go negative. On Monday, Curnock staffers announced a radio ad blasting Flores for saying at a debate that he had voted for Curnock in 2008 when he hadn’t.

As for the homestead exemption, Curnock said in 2005 he had moved into the Hillcrest property and begun to renovate it. The property has been appraised at $150,000 dating back to that time.

He also switched his homestead exemption to the Hillcrest property, from a residency on Erath Avenue.

“I homesteaded it because the plan was to move over there and build a house,” Curnock said.

But Curnock said he got engaged around the same time, and plans changed.

Roughing it as a bachelor in the yet-to-be-renovated house on Hillcrest would have been one thing, but it wasn’t going to work for him and his wife, Curnock said, calling the place “a dump.”

Curnock said he still intends to fix up the Hillcrest property, but his 2008 and 2010 campaigns have pushed the project down the road.

“I absolutely, completely forgot it was homesteaded, but I’ve contacted the appraisal district, and they sent me the paperwork to put the exemption back on the Erath (Avenue) house, which has already been done,” Curnock said.

McLennan County chief appraiser Andrew Hahn confirmed that his office had gotten Curnock’s application to switch his homestead exemption.

Curnock said a county employee he spoke to about the exemption told him he’d have to pay, “at most, a couple of hundred dollars” on his next property tax bill to make up for the tax advantage he had received by placing his homestead exemption on the Hillcrest property.

The appraisal district Web site indicates Curnock saved $478 because of his exemption on the Hillcrest property in 2009.

However, that only paints half the picture, since Curnock also gave up a tax break on his Erath Avenue property, where he wasn’t taking the exemption.

Hahn said his office doesn’t typically challenge residents for claiming homestead exemptions on properties that aren’t their primary residences.

Curnock has said throughout the primary race that after scrapping with incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards in 2008, he was battle-tested.

But Mackowiak argued the homestead exemption issue disproved that argument.

“Curnock always says that he is the candidate who has been vetted,” Mackowiak said, “but this public information underscores that Mr. Curnock has some serious issues which need to be addressed.”

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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