And if there is anyone that knows what is "short", it's Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. I don't think I have to tell you which one she is in the photo! :-)
Posted on 03/22/2005 10:04:54 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN (AP) -- A sweeping $10.8 billion House tax plan falls almost $4 billion short of promised property tax relief over the next two years, according to a letter from the state comptroller obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The bill, adopted by the House last week, was part of a package to restructure the way Texas pays for K-12 public education.
The proposal would offset a one-third slash in school property taxes with a reformed business tax and a variety of consumer taxes, including an increase in the sales tax and an additional 3 percent tax on snacks such as popcorn and cookies.
The shortfall is a result of the reformed business tax in which Texas employers are given a choice between the current franchise tax and a new tax on wages, the letter states.
"The bill does not provide for a minimum tax," Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn wrote to House Speaker Tom Craddick. "Taxpayers will simply plan around the tax as easily as they do the current tax."
In addition, Strayhorn said employers could plan around the tax by replacing existing staff with leased staff.
When will we finally learn that pumping more and more money into Government education doesn't work? Why is the answer to always spend more? ARGH!
And if there is anyone that knows what is "short", it's Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn. I don't think I have to tell you which one she is in the photo! :-)
Texas Taxes Ping
What part of cut spending do these morons not understand!!!!!
Thanks for the ping!
QuorumReport.com Buzz By Date
March 22, 2005 1:00 PM
SHOCKED HOUSE MEMBERS DECRY COMPTROLLER'S CHANGE OF MIND
As far as they are concerned, the bill was certified and stands
House Republicans, who continue to stand behind House Bill 3, expressed shock and disbelief that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has issued a letter that revenues in House Bill 3 fall billions short of providing the property tax relief promised in the bill.
Chair Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland), who sponsored the bill, told reporters at a hastily called news conference at noon that the Comptroller’s office was in the back room, along with the Legislative Budget Board, to certify that every amendment was revenue neutral during the debate of HB 3. Keffer said he had no plans to rework or amend the bill. The bill was "alive and well," Keffer told reporters who asked what his next step might be.
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