Posted on 08/22/2006 10:34:20 AM PDT by sinkspur
Gov. Rick Perry made a stop in Dallas on Monday to announce the creation of a task force he said would attempt to put the brakes on runaway property value increases that are straining family budgets statewide.
He called the 15-member Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform the second phase of his plan to bring property tax relief to Texans that began with a cut in school property tax rates enacted this year.
"Now, we have to address the rest of that equation," he said. "This is the second piece of a very complex issue."
Former Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken of Dallas will lead the task force.
The issue is a favorite of the governor, who faces two independent challengers and a Democrat in his re-election effort. A bill to lower the maximum increase on property values from 10 percent a year to 5 percent failed to pass the Legislature last year. Mr. Perry has advocated a maximum increase of 3 percent.
On Monday, though, he did not repeat that proposal. Instead, he said it will be the task force's mission to solicit ideas from the public and ultimately recommend improvements to the tax appraisal process for the Legislature to consider in its next session, starting in January.
"It's fair to say our appraisal system in Texas is broken and in need of fixing," Mr. Pauken said.
The panel will accept proposals through Sept. 15 and then hold hearings on the issue across the state.
While homeowners – particularly those in fast-growing areas – might welcome a stricter cap on appraisal increases, tighter limits on appraisals will almost certainly face opposition from cities and counties that rely on property value increases to fund services without large tax-rate increases.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
I was wondering if the local governments are experiencing large increases in operating costs. I can't think of any other reason they could use to justify opposing capping property tax increases due to rising property values.
Of course, if costs aren't increasing, perhaps those politicians opposed to capping increases have already spent the "windfall" taxes in their heads.
San Antonio is said to be THE hottest housing market in the country right now. There's a lot of flack about the tax hike, but how can you argue with CA and their housing bubble?
Your culprit for opposition to appraisal caps is likely your very own Houston city council and Bill White.
Houston PING
Dan Patrick's been pushing for this for years.
Rick Perry must be worried about his polling.
I will believe Perry will do this when it is signed into law and not before. I do not trust the man. It is an election year after all.
Perry pushed for a cap in the last legislative session (2005), but a 2/3 vote is needed to put the measure on the ballot, and it only passed by a majority.
What's Patrick said about his little group's lawsuit against the legislature being laughed out of court last week?
...making a difference!
He won't sign anything. A constitutional amendment has to go before the voters to accomplish this.
Yeah, I heard a bit of Ed Hendee this morning - NOT happy because with Perry its too little too late and none on the task force involve those people in Houston who have been pushing this i.e. Paul Bettencourt, if I recall. Hendee was NOT happy...cant say I blame him.
If you read the polls about 60% of the state will not support a sitting republican governor. That just does not bode well for the man.
Rick Perry must be worried about his polling.
This is what gags me about politicians. They stop doing the right thing for the right reasons. Their number one focus becomes their political preservation.
Except he is going to be re-elected, and don't be surprised come election day that he is sitting close to 50%.
Tennessee has a law that property tax appraisals must be tax neutral. Therefore when they periodically reassess values, the tax rates automatically adjust downward so that the total taxes raised don't increase.
And then of course, the politicians immediately ask the public to approve a tax increase because they will "have to cut education instead of their pork" if we don't.
LOL!! Do you even know what an income tax is? How old are you?
It won't be Perry getting it on the ballot; it will be 2/3 of the legislature breaking free of the Texas Municipal League, which can make life hell for them if they do.
I will be amazed if he tops 40% of the vote.
The new payroll tax is a tax on the wages of people. It is a quasi income tax adn I would love to see someone challenge it in court against the TX constitutional amendment banning income taxes.
Perry has pulled the football away too many times.
Perry is another Republican who was a Democrat during the Reagan administration.
I'm considering voting straight ticket Republican with a substitution of Kinky for governor. And that was before this little stunt.
In the judicial and other races there may be Democrats worth voting for but the games played in the courts make it difficult to vote for any Dems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.