Category Archives: Texas Issues

Bad Numbers

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Connecting today’s news with the research and opinion you need from TPPF experts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to know: Misleading statistics continue to dominate the school finance debate. They’re wrong, and they’re not helping move Texas forward, as just the latest example shows.

“According to the state’s recent budget projections, public schools are expected to see $55.4 billion in funding for the 2019 fiscal year, up from $44 billion in 2010. However, Texas is spending less per student by about 6.3 percent,” the Denton Record-Chronicle reports.

“Property owners will also end up shelling out more for schools. The local share of school revenue — the part funded by property taxes — will go up to 55.5 percent, while the state’s share will drop to 35 percent. Federal money fills in the gaps.”

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

A $4 BILLION Dollar Electricity Tax May be Coming to You on December 7

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The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is holding an open meeting on Friday, December 7 at which the commissioners might make changes to a pricing rule that would impose an electricity “tax” on Texas consumers as high as $4 billion a year.

Electricity generators and wind industry representatives asked the PUC in October to adopt the electricity tax because they claim aren’t making enough money.

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

The Return of the $4 Billion Electricity Tax

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TPPF, By Bill Peacock|November 16, 2018
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Most people don’t like to compete.

Athletes sometimes doctor their equipment to gain an edge in winning their games. Politicians gerrymander their districts rather than compete with their opponents for votes.

In the case of businesses, many of them go to the government get more profits from taxpayers than they could by competing for consumers. This is happening in the Texas electricity market today.

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Posted in: National Issues, Texas Issues

ABOLISHING the “Robin Hood” School Property Tax

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TPPF, Updated August 2018 by Kara Belew Emily Sass Vance Ginn, Ph.D. Bill Peacock
2018-06-RR-Robin-Hood-School-Property-Tax-BelewSassPeacock-1_Page_01.jpg

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

Increasing Property Tax Transparency

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Center for Fiscal Policy, September 20, 2018
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Testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform by the Honorable Talmadge Heflin
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TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION
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Chairman Bettencourt and Members of the Committee:
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My name is Talmadge Heflin, and I am the director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan free market think tank based here in Austin. Thank you for inviting me to give testimony on increasing transparency of local property taxes.
Providing transparency of debt proposals. State law requires political subdivisions to provide only two items of information on the ballot for any given proposition: “the amount their local government entity proposes to borrow and a general description of
the purpose,” according to the Texas Comptroller.
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The former is inadequate because it does not properly convey the total cost of the bond issuance, while the latter often lacks specificity and is written in legalese that can be open to interpretation.

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Posted in: Texas Issues

School Districts: Stop Blaming Others for Property Tax Increases

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Empower Texans, September 25th, 2018, by Ashley Whittenberger

This is an outside commentary submitted and published with the author’s permission. If you wish to submit a commentary to Texas Scorecard, please submit your article to submission@empowertexans.com.

School Districts: Stop Blaming Others for Property Tax Increases

Many elected officials in Hays County have gotten into a very bad (and dishonest) habit of blaming others for property tax increases.

The most recent example of this is when I had a public Facebook conversation with a Dripping Springs ISD school board trustee about property taxes, and I brought up evidence for why I’m concerned about the local school board’s management of our money.

Currently, DSISD has more per-student debt than 98 percent of all school districts in the state, a staggering $76,000 per student. And in just the last year, the average homeowner in our district paid almost $500 more in school taxes.

In my social media conversation with the DSISD school board trustee, we discussed the skyrocketing taxes and alarming debt, but the trustee attempted to shift the focus onto the appraisal district and the state. In reality, the school board is the best opportunity we have to slow down these escalating school property taxes, because they have control over the budget, spending, and the tax rate. The tax rate is the controlling factor in the property tax equation. The property valuation isn’t.

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Posted in: Parker County Issues, Texas Issues

Renewable energy subsidies are wrong for Texas

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Texas Public Policy, Cutter González, 08/10/2018

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It’s 2018, and the days of warm, evening sun setting on scenic Texas plains are gone for some rural areas like Comanche County. Folks accustomed to unencumbered views will have to look elsewhere. Now, those views are pierced by the sharp teeth of a wind turbine. Summer breezes have transformed into the cyclical swooshing—and occasionally loud creaking—of nearby machinery.

Yet the summer heat remains, reminding us that Texas is facing a tight energy supply—with less reliable energy sources. Three coal plants shut down this year, pulling reserves below the desired target level to meet the energy demands of scorching August afternoons. Many things led to the closures, but the profitability of coal plants in the face of billions of dollars of subsidies for renewable energy—particularly wind—is certainly among the most powerful.

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Posted in: Texas Issues

PRESS RELEASE – Senator Craig Estes

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Estes Press Release Heading

Contact: Pete Winckler

512.463.0130

Estes & Colleagues Set to Review Free Speech, Taxes & Regulatory Barriers

Committees will examine Free Speech on College Campuses, tax transparency; identify red tape stymying business

Austin, January 31 – The Senate State Affair Committee which includes Senator Craig Estes meets today at Texas State University to hear invited and public testimony to determine whether there are any restrictions on Freedom of Speech rights that Texas students face in expressing their views on campus along with freedoms of the press, religion, and assembly. “We must protect First Amendment rights and enhance the free speech environment on campus including conservative speakers even if some disagree,” said Estes.

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Posted in: Texas Issues

Never allow UNESCO, or the World Heritage Organization to have influence on what Texans do with their Alamo

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Jerry Patterson
http://www.votepatterson.com 

Fellow Texan,
When it comes to the Alamo, the focus must be 1836.

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When asked, “Why not restore the Alamo to its 1836 appearance?”, George Skarmeas, Chief Planner of the General Land Office, always responded, “The events of 1836 were just 1 small chapter in 10,000 years of history.” How absurd.
The Alamo exists today solely because of what happened in 1836. Absent the siege, the iconic symbol of not just Texas liberty but also liberty everywhere would not exist.

We don’t need and shouldn’t seek advice or approval from any entity outside of Texas.

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Posted in: Texas Issues

Here’s how Gov. Abbott would limit property tax increases

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram, by Anna M. Tinsley, January 17, 2018 

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ARLINGTON – Gov. Greg Abbott has a plan to give Texans long-sought property tax relief.

The key, said Abbott, who is seeking a second term in office, is putting a 2.5 percent revenue growth cap on property tax dollars collected by local taxing entities – cities, school districts and counties – unless voters approve a larger amount.

click here for more –

Posted in: Texas Issues