Posted on 03/21/2020 7:36:10 AM PDT by The Houston Courant
Sky-high property taxes are perpetuating an affordability crisis, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pointed out. Abbott told the Rotary Club of San Antonio, “One thing that is driving up the cost of housing and the cost of living is skyrocketing property taxes—skyrocketing property taxes that are beginning to force people out of homes they’ve lived in for virtually their entire lives.”
And of course, he’s right. Texans everywhere are struggling to hold onto their homes because of soaring tax bills. That’s especially true in places like Travis County, where local officials are hitting homeowners hard.
In fiscal year 2015, the average Travis County homeowner paid property taxes totaling $5,471, most of which went into city and school district coffers. By fiscal year 2020, that same homeowner’s tax bill shot to $8,430, a whopping 54 percent increase.
Looking ahead, things don’t look much better either. In spite of new state-mandated reforms, local governments, like Travis County and the city of Austin, have maxed out property tax increases this year while also posturing as though voters will need to approve big hikes in the future too.
Such explosive tax growth, perpetuated in large part by liberal local officials, is untenable. It’s forced countless kitchen table conversations and led to a lot of heartache among young families and senior citizens alike.
Because Texas’ property tax problem is so bad, we need to find a solution equal in size and spirit. We must be bold.
Enter the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s plan to eliminate the school maintenance and operations (M&O) property tax. If faithfully implemented, this plan will slow government spending, saw property tax bills in half, and scrap Robin Hood, an ill-conceived scheme that redistributes money among school districts.
Here’s how it works:
To start, the plan requires the Texas Legislature to tap the brakes on state and local government spending. By putting reasonable limits on year-over-year spending growth, the state can generate surpluses which can then be directed at the M&O portion of your tax bill. Almost immediately, this progressive replacement strategy will ease the burden by lowering what is paid for school property taxes. Over a 12-year period, economists estimate that the M&O tax can be eliminated entirely, thus providing real tax relief while also increasing the state’s share of public education finding.
There’s a lot to like about this plan. It promises less government, lower taxes, and a long overdue end to the Robin Hood program. And it doesn’t trade smaller taxes in one area for bigger taxes elsewhere. Rather, it restrains the growth of government and pledges surplus money toward the elimination of an onerous tax.
The plan is ambitious in its scope. No doubt that will cause some to shrink back and say it can’t be done. But the naysayers are wrong. Texas’ property tax system needs exactly this kind of remodeling done. The stakes are too high.
Too many Texans have either been forced out or are on the verge of losing their homes. We cannot let the status quo continue. When the time comes, Texans need their state lawmakers to go big or go home—before skyrocketing property taxes make that impossible.
2/3rds of my property taxes go the fricken “schools”! Oh wait, more specifically, the fricken teacher raises and pensions!
2/3 of any city/county budget goes toward the public union salaries, benefits and pensions.
Especially benefits and pensions.
That is where to start.
I keep hearing how great states are that don’t have an income tax, but this is their dirty little secret. And the property tax extends to vehicles too.
Taxes for Democrat supporters.
It wasn’t this way 30 years ago— too many damn liberals have moved into Texas like locusts.
Limit the property tax increase and they just raise the value of your property...
They’re even higher in states with income taxes— look at Illinois, New York and New Jersey. The rapacity of local governments is bottomless.
And healthcare bennies.
And in my neck of the NYS woods, they ate platinum-plated healthcare bennies.
In NYS they do both.
Don’t forget the portion of teacher pay that is funneled through their paychecks right to the Democratic Party...
It is a brilliant funding scheme that preys on the masses; it puts commissars in every single place with public education, and is funded by those it impoverishes.
Property taxes are the foremost cause of NJ’s decline; people don’t realize companies pay them as well, and when they leave, they take the jobs with them that would pay people enough to pay those taxes.
The solution here is even worse; we traffic Third Worlders here to keep the public schools open, while many of the “clients” are in subsidizing housing or otherwise not contributing.
A land-value tax also eliminates blight and makes more efficient use of land.
When Romney talked about the 47% already lined up behind the Dem candidate, a large part of that is the gubmint workers and their dependents/families. That is why Republicans can rarely win in those three states mentioned - and they are immediately set upon by the teachers’ unions if they do win.
Good post. We all have stories of fixed income retirees who cannot afford their property taxes, some closing in on nearly $20,000/year on homes they’ve lived in for 30+ years; nothing real fancy, it’s just the growth around them.
They can lock in the taxation rate for those 65+, but they’ll screw you on the appraised value, which results in a formula that increases your property tax one way or the other.
But, but but,...it’s for the kids! /s
A certain high schooler went into the NFL in my town. Got a $17m deal with Nike to boot. He promised to build a new football field. Guess what, he never came thru. So, the pressure began. Since the kiddos expected a new field, and could not possible excell in the classroom without one, the public gleefully voted to have their property taxes raised to save the poor waifs. After it was built AND paid for, do you think the taxes went down?
You know the answer.
What do we get for our investment?
Our schools underperform and rank dead last in most categories, roads are horrible, homeless and illegal invaders everywhere.
We also have lots of retired state and county workers with 100K plus retirement benefits.
Those government employees also have free, gold plated, lifelong health care that allows them to collect those benefits well beyond the age of those that paid for it.
It isn’t the teachers who are the problem, it’s the schools with a superintendent, assistant superintendent, assistant assistant superintendent, principal. assistant principal, principal of discipline, principal of sports...and you could goon and on...the problem is every little town has an independent school district with all these high paid jobs.
We need one superintendent per county or two counties and principals who also teach. The teachers are not making the money...It’s the mandated counselors, special needs, sports...teachers are the least of our problems.
I've long thought that the city should be required to immediately purchase with cash on demand any home at the city-appraised value. There is no way I could sell my house at the city appraised value, but the cost to challenge is more than the difference (which they count on), so I don't bother.
Not in Texas it doesn't.
There is no property tax here on vehicles, boats, aircraft... only annual registration fees.
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