In a year that has resulted in crushing property tax burdens for the majority of Texans, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has set its sights on giving as much transparency to the property tax process in Texas as possible. Most Texas taxpayers have already protested their appraisals, and the question we most often get is… Now what?
The no-new-revenue tax rate enables the public to evaluate the relationship between taxes for the prior year and for the current year, based on a tax rate that would produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed in both years.
To do this, several adjustments must be made. Those adjustments are found in Section 1 of the Comptroller’s tax rate calculation worksheets. The formula assumes that if values increase, the tax rate should decrease to create the same amount of revenue as it did the year before, or if values decrease, the tax rate will increase to produce the same amount of revenue.
The No New Revenue Rate is essentially the tax rate that would produce the same revenue as the prior year for a particular political subdivision. In a year with sky-high appraisals, this should result in a significantly lower rate to offset the increased revenue caused by inflated home appraisals.
Propose budget: Texas Education Code section 44.002 requires the superintendent to prepare or cause to be prepared a proposed budget by a date set by the State Board of Education:
• Districts with a July 1 fiscal year (July 1 districts): June 19.
• Districts with a September 1 fiscal year (September 1 districts): August 20.
Calculate tax rates: By July 25, the chief appraiser must prepare and certify to the district’s tax assessor the appraisal roll of the district’s taxable property value. If the appraisal review board has not approved the appraisal records by July 20, the chief appraiser must prepare and certify to the tax assessor an estimate of the district’s taxable property value by July 25. On receipt, the assessor determines the total appraised value, total assessed value, and total taxable value of property in the district, and submits the appraisal roll to the board by August 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable. After the assessor submits the appraisal roll to the board, an officer or employee designated by the board calculates the district’s no-new-revenue tax rate and voter-approval tax rate (VATR) using tax rate calculation forms prescribed by the comptroller.
Plan and publish notice of the budget and proposed tax rate meeting: When the budget has been prepared, the president calls a meeting of the board to adopt the budget. The president also provides for publication of the Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate. At least 10 but not more than 30 days before the date of the hearing, the district must publish the Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate.
Post a summary of the proposed budget: At the time the Notice of Public Meeting to Discuss Budget and Proposed Tax Rate is published, the district must post a summary of the proposed budget on the district’s website or at the central administrative office if the district has no website.
Post notice under the Texas Open Meetings Act (OMA): At least 72 hours before the public meeting, a district must post notice of the meeting in accordance with the OMA. If a board plans to adopt the budget and tax rate at the same meeting, the meeting notice must list separate agenda items for the budget and tax rate, in that order. The board may also
conduct any other business properly posted under the OMA at the meeting.
Hold the public meeting: After giving notice of the public meeting, the board holds the meeting to discuss the budget and proposed tax rate. Any taxpayer in the district may be
present and participate in the meeting. The board may hear public comments, discuss, and then vote to adopt the budget and tax rate in the same public meeting if properly posted
under the OMA. Although some boards hold separate meetings to take public comments (a “public hearing”) and then adopt the budget or tax rate, separate meetings are not required.
Adopt the budget: The board must adopt the budget before the tax rate. Thus, if the two are being adopted at the same meeting, the board must vote to adopt the budget, and then,
in a separate vote, adopt the tax rate.
File the budget with TEA: After adoption, the district must file the budget with TEA through PEIMS
Post the adopted budget: The final adopted budget must be posted on the district’s website. The website must prominently display the electronic link to the adopted budget. The district must maintain the adopted budget on the website for three years after adoption. The statute does not address posting requirements for amendments to the budget.
Adopt the tax rate: The board adopts a tax rate by order, ordinance, or resolution. The vote must be separate from the vote adopting the budget.30 [TASB Legal Services’ offers sample resolutions.] As stated previously, the board may adopt the budget and tax rate, in that order, at the same meeting.
This long confusing process is the way in which we get our school Maintenance & Operations (M&O) and Interest & Sinking (I&S) property tax rates (about 70-75% of your property tax bill). What taxpayers should focus on next is the important date of July 25th. This is the date on which the chief appraiser must submit the taxable value of the district, which determines what the No New Revenue Rate and the Voter Approval Rate (the rate which triggers voter approval) will be accordingly.
TFR urges taxpayers to familiarize themselves with the process and plan on attending the public meeting (section 6 above). It is at this meeting that taxpayers should implore their local elected officials to adopt the no new revenue rate. This is the first step in reigning in our out-of-control local government spending and is the best chance that taxpayers have to see their school property taxes come down from that monstrous amount you saw in your appraisals this Spring.
After rates are set we still have our work cut out for us going into the next legislative session set to begin in January of 2023. This is why TFR recently debuted its Texas Prosperity Plan, which focuses on banning the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, eliminating property taxes, and freezing our state budget growth.
We believe this plan would continue to put Texas’ fiscal future on a great footing and ensure prosperity for current and future generations of Texans.
How can you help? Go read the Texas Prosperity Plan for yourself and voice your support for REAL property tax relief by signing up to support the TPP. Sign up for The Fiscal Note to keep up to date on all fiscal issues that affect Texans, especially our broken property tax system. We CAN get real tax relief if we amplify our voices loud enough.
One Texan’s Exemption is Another Texan’s Increased Burden
A reprieve from taxes, however significant, is always welcome news for Texas taxpayers, well… at least for the ones that directly benefit from that reprieve.
At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) inquired about the statistics covering existing exemption amounts to a representative from the Texas Comptroller’s office. The handout in question was the Comptroller’s Tax Exemptions & Tax Incidence Report from December 2020 which indicates, that “the total estimated cost of local school district property tax exemptions or special appraisals is $14.1 billion in tax year 2021. This amount is projected to increase to $18.2 billion by 2026.”
Why is this significant? The tax burden will shift to other taxpayers who do not qualify for those exemptions, and with Texas taxpayers already reeling from ever-increasing property tax burdens, inflation, and higher costs of living, shifting tax burdens to taxpayers who do not qualify for exemptions is unpalatable.
A common misconception by many supporters of exemptions; generally those who qualify and take advantage of them, is that exemptions are beneficial. They are usually used as incentives to attract investment and development, whereby the argument then becomes that it is a net benefit to those in its wake.
At issue, however, is that typically an exemption leads to an increase in the tax burden on taxpayers that do not qualify, no matter how nominal that increase might be. The government very seldomly, if ever, voluntarily gives up a source of revenue, but merely finds it somewhere else.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) is an advocate for the elimination of the property tax altogether, as a part of our recently introduced Texas Prosperity Plan. The current practice of shifting the tax burden and “lowering” or “cutting” tax burdens for certain taxpayers is ultimately unsustainable and the government should never be in the business of picking winners over losers.
Texas does not currently have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
To be fair, ‘tax incidence’ or the measurement of the division of tax burden between those being taxed is extremely difficult to calculate objectively, given the subjective nature of selecting which economic and behavioral assumptions weigh into the overall calculation. That being said, it is a safe assumption the burden does ultimately get shifted, merely because government spending as a result of the taxes collected does not go down.
In the aforementioned report, the Comptroller does endeavor to calculate the ‘tax incidence’ as you can see here as well as other broken down charts:
What Are the Existing Exemptions?
Several exemptions exist. You can find a complete list here. The following are the most common:
Residence Homestead Exemption
Current law requires school districts to provide a $40,000 exemption on residence homesteads. In order to qualify for the exemption, the owner of the property “must have an ownership interest in the property and occupy the property as the owner’s principal residence.”
Age 65 or Disabled Persons Exemption
Current law also requires school districts to provide an additional $10,000 residence homestead exemption to Texas property taxpayers who are age 65 and older or disabled. In order to qualify for the exemption, the owner of the property must be age 65 or older and reside in the property.
Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses of Disabled Veterans Exemption
Current law allows for partial exemptions for any property owned by disabled veterans and surviving spouses and children of deceased disabled veterans. The amount of the exemption is dictated by the disability rating administered by the U.S. Veterans’ Administration or the individual branch of the U.S. Armed Forces by which the veteran served. Additionally, a disabled veteran can qualify for an exemption of $12,000 of the overall assessed value of the property if the veteran is also 65 or older with a disability rating of at least 10 percent.
Surviving Spouses of First Responders Killed in the Line of Duty Exemption
Current law allows for a total property tax exemption for the residence homestead of a surviving spouse of a first responder “killed or fatally injured in the line of duty if the surviving spouse has not remarried since the first responder’s death.”
What Can Be Done?
Instead of being satisfied with exemptions, taxpayers should demand their lawmakers eliminate the property tax altogether, benefitting all taxpayers.
Though TFR does not advocate for a specific replacement, believing one is not necessary at least in the near term, several alternatives that are fairer and more transparent exist as a means to fund the government.
How can you help? Go read the Texas Prosperity Plan for yourself and voice your support for REAL property tax relief by signing up to support the TPP. Sign up for The Fiscal Note to keep up to date on all fiscal issues that affect Texans, especially our broken property tax system. We CAN get real tax relief if we amplify our voices loud enough.
Texas GOP Announces Legislative Priorities for Next Two Years
Wednesday, the Republican Party of Texas announced the final list of 8 legislative priorities, approved by delegates to the state convention which took place last week.
This announcement is notable for several reasons, chief among them being that the state legislature and every statewide office are currently controlled by Republicans, and have been for nearly two decades, a reality that likely will not change going into the next legislative session.
The approved priorities in no particular order are:
Protect Our Elections
Ban Democrat Chairs
Abolish Abortion in Texas
Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids
Ban Gender Modification of Children
Secure the Border and Protect Texans
Parental Rights & Education Freedom
Defend Our Gun Rights
Eliminate the Property Tax Consideration
Unfortunately, the priority to support eliminating the property tax fell short of the final list, though it was one of the fifteen sent to the overall delegation for their consideration by the legislative priorities committee as a part of the overall convention process.
This final result is not necessarily surprising, given that it is calling for a huge policy change.
Texas has levied a property tax since its founding, but its consideration at all is perhaps the most notable outcome, showing a ground swell of Texas taxpayers’ support for addressing it.
The good news is that the Republican Party has continued to call for the elimination of the property tax in its draft platform sent to those same delegates, a collection of policy positions and principles, whereby elected Republican officials are expected to support.
The 2020 Republican Party of Texas Platform included a plank that read as follows:
Plank 178. Abolish Property Tax: We support replacing the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and requiring voter approval to increase the overall tax burden. We urge the Legislature to develop a transition plan that is a net tax cut (one of the solutions could be a consumption tax).
Similarly, the draft 2022 Republican Party of Texas Platform includes a plank that reads with the same language, barring a suggestive solution of a replacement:
Abolish Property Tax: We support replacing the property tax system with an alternative other than the income tax and requiring voter approval to increase the overall tax burden. We urge the Legislature to develop a transition plan that is a net tax cut
Moreover, the draft platform also includes a plank that combined an assortment of planks from the 2020 Platform reading as follows:
Property Tax Relief: We support these incremental steps toward the ultimate abolition of property tax:
Dedicate surpluses to buy down school district maintenance and operation property tax.
Replace the appraisal system with a system that values property at the purchase price.
We support requiring appraisal districts to publish the amount of property taxes and appraisals attributable to each rental unit.
Closer the loophole called the “Unused Increment Rate,” which allows taxing entities to bypass recently added limits to increases in property taxes.
In the 2018 Republican Primary Election, nearly 66% of Republican voters supported Proposition 1: Texas should replace the property tax system with an appropriate consumption tax equivalent.
Similarly, in the 2022 Republican Primary Election, nearly 76% of Republican voters supported Proposition 2: Texas should eliminate all property taxes within ten (10) years without implementing a state income tax.
What Does it All Mean?
Politics is not a zero-sum game. Elected officials come and go, and the political motivations and desires of the electorate change as well.
All of the 3 policy issues covered by our Texas Prosperity Plan (ban taxpayer-funded lobbying, eliminate the property tax, and freeze state spending) are included in the draft Texas GOP Platform, bolstering its support going into the 88th legislative session, set to begin in January of 2023, barring any significant changes once it is finalized here in the next few days.
The legislative priorities and platform for the party ultimately seek to work as a declaration of principles and preference by grassroots party activists to elected leaders within their own party. Whether those same elected leaders abide by them, is an entirely different matter.
Abbott Signals Property Tax Cuts, What About Elimination?
In an interview with The Texan, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar indicated that it is possible Texas will have an estimated $30 billion account balance when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January of 2023. In March, we reported that it was estimated to be near $25 billion.
In response to the interview, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took to Twitter, but instead of calling for the elimination of property taxes as he had done back in May, he indicated that Texas must use an unspecified amount of the budget surplus to cut them.
Texas Comptroller Estimates $30 Billion Account Balance by Next Legislative Session.
We must use a substantial portion of this money to cut property taxes in Texas. https://t.co/WItfGeZsQi
The problem? It is not enough to ‘cut’ them. The Texas legislature has previously tried the ‘slow-the-growth’ strategy, and yet the burden on Texas taxpayers continues to grow.
Abbott’s own political party just held its state convention last week where delegates were poised to adopt a legislative priority explicitly calling for the elimination of property taxes. The final results of the convention will not be available until this next week. Moreover, Republican primary election voters overwhelmingly supported eliminating the property tax back in March.
Using Surplus(es) to Put Texas on a Path to Property Tax Elimination
As a part of the Texas Prosperity Plan, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has called for the use of all of the budget surplus to be returned to the taxpayer in the form of actual tax relief, by initially using it to ‘buy down’ the maintenance and operations portion of the property tax (the largest portion, ~65%) and thereby putting Texas on a real path to the elimination of such taxes.
It is not enough to call for a property tax cut. Texas taxpayers need and demand true relief from an immoral tax, which has seen its burden only grow, despite paltry trinkets of purported relief from state lawmakers. Using the surplus monies to initially eliminate the largest portion of the total property tax will help deliver true relief, and enable additional efforts for full elimination.
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In May of this year, Abbott voiced support for the elimination of the school district M&O tax rate, but as interim hearings unfolded in both the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate, it appears some lawmakers might have varying opinions on how best to use surplus dollars, focused on continued ‘relief’ and other priorities as opposed to working toward its elimination.
The Senate’s interim charges, ultimately distributed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), do in fact call for the use or dedication of “state revenues in excess of the state spending limit to eliminate school district maintenance and operations property tax.” By comparison, the House of Representatives’ interim charges, distributed by House Speaker Dade Phelan (R), merely focus on appraisal reform and using previously earmarked funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by the U.S. Congress in 2021.
The Estimated $30 Billion Surplus
Where does the $30 billion figure come from?
Hegar estimates that the state treasury should have a balance of somewhere between $15 billion to $16 billion by the end of 2022, whereas the ‘Rainy Day Fund’ or the Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) is projected to have between a $13 billion and $14 billion balance by January of 2023.
According to the Comptroller’s website, total tax collections are up 35% from this same time last year. Notably, state Sales Tax collections are up over 21%, and Oil and Gas Taxes are up 195% from last year and 90% overall. It is important to take all of these numbers into context given the record inflation and higher costs of goods and services as a result.
There is a Better Way
TFR recently debuted its Texas Prosperity Plan, which focuses on banning the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, eliminating property taxes, and freezing our state budget growth.
We believe this plan would continue to put Texas’ fiscal future on a great footing and ensure prosperity for current and future generations of Texans.
How can you help? Go read the Texas Prosperity Plan for yourself and voice your support for REAL property tax relief by signing up to support the TPP. Sign up for The Fiscal Note to keep up to date on all fiscal issues that affect Texans, especially our broken property tax system. We CAN get real tax relief if we amplify our voices loud enough.
Texas GOP State Convention Concluded. Here Is What Happened.
Thousands of Republicans from across the state of Texas, descended into Houston last week to participate in crafting the platform for the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) among other party organizational items for the next two years.
Elected delegates to the convention began arriving last Monday to participate in committee hearings and get the process started. The entirety of the convention process is truly a sight to behold and is a labor of love for many patriotic Texans from across the state, who view it as their time to amplify their voices as they craft a platform seeking to inform lawmakers and other elected officials as to what policies they want to be implemented.
The first encouraging event was when former Taxpayer Champion Matt Rinaldi was reelected as the RPT chairman without having drawn a challenger.
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) was on-site as well, with our own exhibition booth advocating for sane fiscal policy in the Lone Star State.
Of our three issues, the one that garnered the most attention was undoubtedly our support for eliminating the property tax system.
TFR heard stories of Texans across the state who are overwhelmed with current tax burdens and are fearful they will be priced out of their homes if something is not done soon. TFR’s unapologetic call to “Axe The Tax” resulted in thousands of foam axes floating around the convention center all week. The axes served as a conversation piece at our booth as delegates came to inquire about the Texas Prosperity Plan and our Fiscal Responsibility Index.
By far the most common question we were asked from convention participants was, “What are you planning on replacing the property tax with?” To which we replied time and time again, “Nothing”.
As our subscribers know, TFR has been advocating for using the massive state budget surplus, estimated to be around $15 billion, to pay down compression rates on the school maintenance and operation portion of property tax bills (which is about 60-65%) for most Texans. This surplus is possible because of a spending limit passed by lawmakers this past legislative session which likely will also result in ongoing surpluses indefinitely. Most folks who spoke with us were not aware of the projected surplus, especially one this massive, and all agreed that the surplus should be returned to taxpayers in the form of property tax relief. Even U.S. Senator Ted Cruz got in on the action!
The response from delegates was overwhelming and the support of the TPP resulted in all three of our issues being added to the Republican platform rough draft. The plan to eliminate property tax and ban taxpayer-funded lobbying made it to the 15 finalists for consideration as legislative priorities (which will eventually be reduced to 8). Both the platform and the priorities received their final vote Saturday afternoon, but those votes will not be counted by the Republican party until later this week. We will find out which ones made it into the final 8 legislative priorities soon.
We view our booth and participation as a massive success this past week. We engaged so many passionate people, we talked fiscal policy, we threw axes, we created a sea of red with our TFR foam axes, and one lucky lady even went home with our raffle prize, a real Viking ax! We left encouraged by the participation of Texans across the state and we patiently wait for the results of the final vote for platform and priorities, we will keep our subscribers posted when we hear something.
How can you help? Go read the Texas Prosperity Plan for yourself and voice your support for REAL property tax relief by signing up to support the TPP. Sign up for The Fiscal Note to keep up to date on all fiscal issues that affect Texans, especially our broken property tax system. We CAN get real tax relief if we amplify our voices loud enough.
In Recent Senate Finance Hearing, Taxpayers Told To Wait For Relief
In a recent Texas Senate Finance Committee Hearing, the subject of high property tax appraisals came up during a discussion on what should be done about the interim charge they were to consider related to property tax relief. The committee members acknowledged that many Texas homeowners are lamenting the massive increase in appraisals, acknowledging that the increase is unsustainable for most. State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) said that it is a shame that homeowners are bearing such a large burden of taxes while billion-dollar corporations are receiving massive tax breaks on the backs of Texans.
Whitmire continued by speaking about the disparity between how corporations are handled in Texas versus actual homeowners and when he concluded State Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), and chairman of the committee, replied that she, “wanted to remind everyone, as we see these appraisals rising, that homeowners should see a decrease in the overall tax burden because of the “historic property tax relief” bills HB 3 and SB 2 which allows cities the option to lower rates to match the “No New Revenue Rate” in October when final bills actually come in.”
State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-N. Richland Hills) continued that thought by assuring other members that, “once the appraisal process is complete, the cities then have the ability to create their budget.” He then said, “My guess is we are going to see the majority of school districts lower their tax rates in August when those budgets are set. This is when you will know what the actual bill is going to be once they set the rate.” He then assured everyone that we just need to wait on the process.
Therein lies the problem for most homeowners who find themselves tired of waiting for our lawmakers to do something.
In response to Hancock, Huffman then said, “Although homeowners will probably see some growth (in property taxes), it shouldn’t be much.”
This comment reinforces what Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has been saying for nearly a year. Lawmakers are content with the slowing growth of budgets and taxes but have no real desire to actually lower anyone’s tax bills. They believe that you as a homeowner should be happy that your already out-of-control tax bill is only going to continue to grow a little bit.
Hancock replied to Huffman’s comments by saying, “because of inflation, yes, most homeowners will see a small increase in their tax bills. However, it is ‘feasible’ that if your home value did not go up, that you might see a small reduction.” This amazing result, Hancock explained, is because of the “Historic” HB3 and SB2 passed in 2019 that have not lowered anyone’s tax bills so far.
In this interaction between seemingly ‘tone-deaf’ lawmakers, their real feelings about tax relief were on full display. The “historic” tax relief that lawmakers continue to promote from 2019 will result in… your tax burdens continuing to rise! IF you are lucky and your home appraisal did not go up (whose house has stayed the same value in the last 2 years?) AND if your school district is kind enough to do the right thing and lower their rate (we won’t hold our breath) you MIGHT see a small amount of relief.
This entire interaction simply shows that our lawmakers are completely in their own bubble when it comes to discussing what real property tax relief is. They are completely disconnected from everyday Texans who are trying to figure out how to simultaneously pay for an average $4.50 gasoline, rising food costs, and historically high property tax burdens (which are currently 6th highest in the nation).
All of this is why TFR recently released our Texas Prosperity Plan. We believe that it is time to stop playing defense and allowing these politicians to gaslight us into thinking we have experienced some sort of relief. No one’s bill is going down, and I have bad news for everyone, it is very unlikely that is going to change anytime soon unless we do something about it.
How can you help? Go read the Texas Prosperity Plan for yourself and voice your support for REAL property tax relief by signing up to support the TPP. Sign up for The Fiscal Note to keep up to date on all fiscal issues that affect Texans, especially our broken property tax system. We CAN get real tax relief if we amplify our voices loud enough.
Texas Home Appraisals Are At All Time Highs
2022 has been an unprecedented year on a number of fronts. Texas, like the rest of the nation, has experienced record inflation, record gas prices, and sky-high home appraisals. Why have home prices been so high? Is it just a result of inflation or are there other factors at play? According to a recent Forbes article, “In Bexar County, where U.S. Global Investors is headquartered, home values have risen 23.2% from last year. Austin homeowners recently got notice that their residences skyrocketed a jaw-dropping 56% in value.”
What is happening in Texas is not different from what is happening nationwide, average home prices have appreciated at the fastest annual rate on record. The fastest previous increase in annual appreciation was 19% set back in 1973. This record was broken in December of 2021 when we saw a 23% increase in average home prices year over year. We can see that many areas of Texas have far exceeded this metric, especially in populated desirable areas like Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth.
The difference in Texas from that of the rest of the nation is our growing property tax burden. As Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR) has reported numerous times before, Texas has the 6th highest property tax burden in the nation. The Texas appraisal system had long been a subject of criticism prior to run-away inflation and it was very common for appraisals to go far above market value when local jurisdictions needed more capital. This system places the burden on the taxpayer to protest their appraisal and prove that their home value has been inflated by the state. Historically, in many cases, homeowners who protested were able to lower tax bills, but this might not be the case this year. Home values have legitimately risen due to a number of reasons which include general inflation and a very hot housing market.
What does this mean for homeowners? If you asked the Texas State Senators who participated in a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, things are going to be just fine. They believe that we need to give cities enough time to adopt the “No New Revenue Rate” which they will be able to do after the appraisal process is complete. These lawmakers want us to believe that all of our tax bills will go down because local governments are going to do “the right thing” and lower rates to make sure the amount of revenue is the same as last year.
Excuse us if we don’t hold our breath on that one.
So taxpayers’ hope according to the “historic reform” of 2019, is that local political subdivisions do the right thing and lower rates to help with tax burdens? This does not seem like “historic reform” at all. It seems like someone needs to tell these lawmakers that property taxes have continued to increase almost universally for Texans. This is why it is important that we focus on eliminating the corrupt system altogether. TFR recently unveiled our Texas Prosperity Plan that includes as one of the planks the Elimination of Property Taxes, specifically starting with the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) school property tax, which is the portion that is the easiest to ax.
TFR encourages taxpayers to protest their appraisals in hopes of lowering their bills, but we also encourage homeowners to not be content with what they have been given. We have been playing defense for too long on fiscal policy and it is time to go on offense. We encourage you to take a look at our Texas Prosperity Plan and show your support for the plan to help persuade lawmakers to begin the process of eliminating property taxes completely.
Introducing the Texas Prosperity Plan
At Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (TFR), we hear from Texans every day, impacted by the rising costs of living, rising property tax burdens, and general dismay towards a government that seems to represent their own interests less and less.
For too long, those who care about fiscal sanity and ensuring the prosperity of future generations of Texans have played defense and sat on the sidelines.
Enough is enough! It is time to go on the offense, and restore fiscal sanity and a sense of optimism in the hearts of Texas taxpayers!
To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
We could not agree more! In Texas, local governments, including jurisdictions like school districts, spend millions of your hard-earned tax dollars to hire corporate lobbyists, who then lobby lawmakers to take even more of your tax dollars.
It is a massive conflict of interest and it is beyond time we end this practice in Texas!
Eliminate the Property Tax
Currently, Texas ‘boasts’ the 6th highest property tax burden in the United States, and property taxes themselves have increased 181% in the last 20 years alone, despite promises from Republican lawmakers to address the issue.
The concept of property taxes is immoral and unsustainable for a free society. Not only are homeowners drowning while trying to keep up with increasing tax burdens but the taxes themselves will never stop, even after you completely own your home. It means you pay perpetual rent to the government for the right to live on your own property.
There is a better way to fund local governments and our schools WITHOUT CREATING ANY NEW TAXES.
This first requires that the Texas government live within its means.
Adopt a ‘No-Growth’ Budget
Ask yourself, is government too big?
Virtually every taxpayer consistently answers that question with a resounding YES!
If taxpayers feel as though the size and scope of government is too large, then why do we continue to allow our state budget to grow? We believe it is because we start from the wrong premise when it comes to state spending.
To fix a bloated government we must cut the size and scope of government down to a size that is both manageable and reasonable, as the founders originally intended.
We believe the best way to do this is by capping our budget where it currently sits and encouraging lawmakers to cut wasteful agencies and programs.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Texas’ state budget has increased almost 170% and is on track to triple in size in just a few years, despite Texas’ population having only increased 40% during that same period.
Call to Action
Join us in the fight!
Contact your state lawmaker and let them know you support the Texas Prosperity Plan and encourage them to do the same in the upcoming 88th legislative session by both offering and supporting legislation that bans the practice of taxpayer-funded lobbying, eliminates the property tax, and adopts a ‘no-growth’ budget.
Put your name down in support of the Texas Prosperity Planhere.
Encourage other Texas taxpayers to join our ranks here in the name of fiscal sanity and encouraging prosperity for future generations of Texans!
Follow us on social media and let us share the news far and wide!
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