Posted on 02/04/2003 5:23:04 AM PST by Theodore R.
State income tax 'on the table' as Austin goes after Robin Hood Associated Press
AUSTIN (AP) — A state property tax and state income tax are among the many options lawmakers must consider to make good on promises to fix the ailing Robin Hood school finance system, House Education Chairman Kent Grusen dorf said Monday.
"We have to put everything on the table," said Grusendorf, R-Arlington.
The acknowledgment comes when politicians from Gov. Rick Perry to state lawmakers continue to make no new taxes pledges along with vows to improve the school finance system.
"We've got to talk about tax restructuring," Grusendorf said. "Most experts agree that a permanent solution cannot happen without having tax restructuring."
Tax restructuring is a term used by some politicians to describe changes to state tax laws, which prohibit a state property or state income tax.
Public schools in Texas are funded primarily with local property taxes and state and federal money. The school finance system takes money from property rich districts and gives it to poorer schools.
Schools in low-income areas have bought computers, books and new buildings with Robin Hood money — $600 million in the last two-year budget, a figure expected to ap proach $900 million by 2004.
Still, many poor schools say they lag behind and need more money to provide a basic education.
The state's 118 wealthier districts that have given up $1.5 billion are also pleading poverty. Many have raised local property-tax rates to the legal limit, making it hard to get more money. They say that Robin Hood is forcing them to cut programs and jobs.
Southern Methodist University professor of economics Kathy Hayes said Grusendorf has a good point, but one that may be politically tough to make.
"We need to do something. Eliminating Robin Hood is probably a good idea and in order to properly finance public education, we need to change our taxing system," Hayes said. "That would be a very difficult thing, I think, from a politican's point of view, to try to convince people."
Craig Foster of the Austin-based Equity Center, which represents hundreds of low-wealth school districts, said he hopes no-new-tax-pledging law makers are careful not to do away with Robin Hood without a better idea.
Otherwise, children in poor schools could be hurt, he said.
"If their goal was to maintain the same degree of equity by doing it with something other than Robin Hood then they would absolutely have to do something significant with regard to taxes," Foster said.
Grusendorf was reluctant to speculate about specific solutions to Robin Hood, saying he wants to first hear from all sides of the issue during the session. He'll get started Tuesday when the House Public Education Committee has scheduled its first meeting.
The committee plans to work on a bill filed by Grusendorf and Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, that would do away with Robin Hood in 2005. It mirrors legislation filed in December by Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, who said he wanted to force this Legislature to come up with a fix.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who has made school finance a top priority for the Senate, agreed Monday that education revenue needs to come from a source other than local property taxes.
However, he stressed, "I don't see that an income tax is...a possibility.'
Another GOP turncoat.
How much longer will the suckers believe that the GOP is the party of less government and lower taxes?
Sadly, you are probably correct. For years, many immigrants adopted (or were indoctrinated) with Texan culture, but there are so many immigrants now that they simply bring their own third-world culture here. Just like they did in California.
In 10 years, it's entirely likely that Texas will have an income tax, strict gun control, and be considered a democratic stronghold like Kalifornia or New York is today.
All thanks to the treasonous immigration policies advanced by our politicans.
Schools in low-income areas have bought computers, books and new buildings with Robin Hood money — $600 million in the last two-year budget, a figure expected to ap proach $900 million by 2004.
Still, many poor schools say they lag behind and need more money to provide a basic education.
THis says it all. School funding is spread over the whole region, yet some districts are "poor" becasue they are in low income areas, even though they have roughly the same funding, yet they need more money. Has anyone ever tried to link poor performance in schools to the teachers or the local culture that does not emphasize education? In this article, it sounds like schools in a wealtheir district should have less funding than schools in poor districts. Maybe someone from Texas can say if my take on this is accurate?
In some of the southern counties the welfare rates are 30-50% of the population. It's not just low income, it's that much of Texas is a welfare state. The problem is that is where the majority of the population growth lies.
Robin Hood DID NOT steal frem the rich! Robin Hood stole from a corrupt government that had taxed it's citizens into poverty!
Pretty high sales tax, too. A highend house in Austin on the Lakes, say $700K in market value, would also cost about $15K a year in taxes.
Now Texans are losing their homeowners' insurance due to abusing the system. Owning a house in Texas, though you can buy a lot of house for the money, costs you.
Things are very very broke in Texas, and rather than fixing the problems and installing some accountability amongst those who handle taxpayer money, they just want to pass the buck on to the taxpayer. There have been several times over the past few years of governments in Texas, from state down to local, wasting money on various projects that didn't pan out or were canceled. There is no "punishment" for those who do so, they simple continue to burn through taxpayer money and/or ask for more.
It's not helping the Republicans in Texas when Perry pulled his "we can't fix it" spiel a few weeks ago.
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.