Posted on 02/19/2020 4:26:00 AM PST by The Houston Courant
It happens every odd-numbered year, legislators descend on Austin. We all come fresh from winning our respective elections. We are elected by our constituents - voters - and we come to town with their issues and concerns in mind.
This last legislative session, the Texas Legislature was ready to move on property tax reform. We were going to take action after hearing for years from Texans that, “Property taxes are too high. Property taxes are pricing out Texans of the homes they bought.”
Senate Bill 2, which the legislature passed, requires many local taxing units - cities and counties - to get voter approval if they want to increase their property tax revenue by more than 3.5 percent. A poll found that 72 percent of Texans “support requiring local governments to ask voters before raising property tax revenues more than set amount.”
With support from our constituents, why was this taxpayer-friendly legislation not passed years ago? One of the reasons is there is a group that gets paid to advocate against our constituents: taxpayer-funded lobbyists.
Taxpayer-funded lobbyists are professional lobbyists who are contracted by, and get their marching orders from, local officials. And it is a lucrative business - an estimated $41 million annually is spent by local governments to lobby state government. This $41 million is the same tax dollars local governments receive from the rising property taxes that our constituents are concerned about.
https://www.houstoncourant.com/houston-voices/2020/briscoe-cain-taxpayer-funded-lobbyists-rake-in-millions
(Excerpt) Read more at houstoncourant.com ...
What stopped you from posting the whole thing?
Yeah, I remember when W was governor. He lowered the property tax rates and then the assessors went around and raised everyone’s valuation; back up went the taxes...
EXCELLENT ARTICLE!!!
Many lobbyists are ex-elected officials. They see where the money pots are while in office and then leave to the lucrative positions they see others have and can still have their say in government.
The price per square foot of any construction of a state building is enormous compared to a private business since money is not a problem and taxpayers deserve the best, but get just average jobs.
County officials use their elected position to fund holiday parties from high priced vendors who donate.
As this man implies, we’d be shocked to know how much lobbyists cost us in utilities and everyday goods. Good for those who can get the cush job.
i had an argument with a zoning guy that this happens all the time and he adamantly denied it, til he said in nearly the same breath do to zero sum revenue... where they manipulate one or the other to keep the budget from taking a hit...
hello. that’s what i said and it is wrong...
“Many lobbyists are ex-elected officials.”
That is why Paul Ryan moved to DC according to reports.
It was amazing to me how the property tax board, who were once citizens, become unflinching commissars of the politburo and raise property taxes mostly at will and without respect of the citizens.
Property tax in texas is worse than having income tax. Lose your job in texas and lose your home. Lose your job in a state with income tax and you quit paying that tax.
I won’t even go into the discussion of why building more homes in an area does not automatically raise enough tax revenue to fund the schools and roads. It is a developer, local gubment partnership thing.
Not proud of oklahoma but glad to be out of texas.
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