I think Bettencourt is trying to highlight the fact that Harris County is receiving windfall revenue without being held accountable for how it is being spent. If he approached it any more directly, Commissioners Court would penalize him by tightening up his budget and defend their overall budgetary actions by claiming that they have not increased the tax rate.

Limiting taxes are one of the few ways citizens have to control the actions of their government. And Bettencourt will get nowhere with his one-note horn unless citizens agree with him and instruct their representatives in government accordingly. As such, he just moves forward public discourse for his pet issue, something I see as a public service.

Roy Moore's trying something similar here. Weird how he's worried about homeowners but not about people paying income tax on a salary of $5000 a year.

Betterncourt is stating the obvious, but he's got a point. The net effect of this is higher overall tax rates paid by citizens.

Of course, it's inevitable when you rely on highly regressive property taxes to fund your government, rather than something more like the progressive income taxes that are common in other states.

Mac, there is no State income tax in Texas, Bettencourt is referring to a State issue only.

Whether you agree with the man politically or not, his numbers are accurate and have not been contested by those in the TAC (his main political opponents). Their argument is that they 'need the money'...

The "progressives" among you should jump on this as proof that a State income tax is needed to supplant what is a failing property tax system in Texas, but that would mean admitting the Devil is correct in his details.

Once again party politics stifles meaningful discussion in Texas....

Ah well.

S.

Of course Bettencourt is right in his statement, but misses a larger point. Texas is still a conservative, low-tax, small-government state - because we want it that way. True, the property tax penalizes homeowners whose assessed values have appreciated substantially, while incomes needed to pay those taxes have not. But we are very unlikely to actually come out and say that taxes are necessary, so the system just incrementally grows the revenues it needs.

The antecedent "he" in my statement was Roy Moore, not your guy.

Point taken, but Bettencourt is hardly "my" guy.

I just happen to agree with him on this one issue.

I'm too socially liberal for that crowd.

(and too fiscally conservative for the current crop of Dems.)

Go Figure.

S.

I'm not crazy about the KSEV crowd, but they have found a decent issue here. I cannot argue about your take on the current valuations of property as long as we have a property tax. The problem is that government revenues are skying upward, and I am paying more. We can argue politics all we want, but that fact does not change.

I do not favor an appraisal cap - it will only discourage real estate activity. Perhaps instead of local governments setting a tax rate they should set a revenue, and then they can back into the proper rate after the appraisals are complete. In such instance, property values can be properly used to divide the tax burden, but will not be used increase revenue.

Even better, I am one moderate Republican who would prefer a minimal state income tax instead of our current charade.