The Texas Legislature is hard at work during yet another special session to deal with the school funding problem. Naturally the first thing they have decided to focus their attention on is lowering property taxes … the very thing that supplies school funding, because obviously that’s what they think needed to be fixed.
The House has passed a few bills they seem pretty proud of but I see as completely stupid, at least in relation to getting anything done about school funding.
They want to create a Property Tax Relief Fund, and into that fund will go a portion of our budget surplus as well as the new tobacco tax they want to create, the new vehicle tax they want to create and the new business tax they want to create. So basically, all the things they said they were going to do to raise money to go toward school funding is now going to go to lowering property taxes, which makes one wonder where they think they are going to get money for schools. Yes, let’s lower the tax that pays for schools and let’s also take other new taxes that could go to schools and put them toward lowering the tax that used to pay for schools. Like I said, pretty stupid.
What’s really stupid is the provision of one bill that requires a letter be sent to Texans telling them how much property tax relief they might get should these bills pass … letters to be sent out in October, which is conveniently right before the November elections. Why letters? Because according to the House, if they don’t send out these letters paid for with our tax money, no one will know what their representatives are up to.
“Yeah, they may watch TV tonight, or see us right now, and say, ‘Hey, gee whiz we’re getting a tax cut.’ And they’ll know who voted for it and who didn’t. But I don’t think your average workingman is going to get all his info from TV.”
–Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa
Yeah, ’cause no one watches TV, reads newspapers, listens to the radio, uses the internet or knows anyone else who does who might talk about it at the office or grocery store. If it doesn’t arrive in our mailbox, we have NO idea what it going on with our state government. :rolleyes:
While I am all for lower property taxes in general, this smells like a scam … especially since they have been saying that school districts can then raise property taxes after this plan is in place to gain more funding for their schools. So in the end, I guarantee you, we will end up paying the same or possibly even more in taxes than we are now. Mark my words, in no way is any of this going to end up benefiting anyone (except possibly the wealthiest home owners), and it’s certainly not going to solve the school funding problem.
I can’t wait to see what the next issue comes to the table that they think is somehow important to the school funding problem and what sort of tax-payer funding letter I’ll receive on it telling me how IF it passes how very much it’s going to benefit me (or the schools).
They can send out all the letters they want to promising great things if bills pass, but I think it’s a little too late for many of our elected officials. People around here at least are REALLY getting fed up with the stupidity. I’m not so sure a 10% (temporary) cut in property taxes is going to buy all the voters off in November.