German Autohaus business has down turned over the last three years pursuing the fall of oil prices, but the taxes it has to pay were still at its alp. This happened because of the Texas property tax, not income as it’s located on Eldo street which is more valuable than ever.
As mentioned by Hans Richter “Property taxes are out of control when taxes grow faster than the economy, that’s not sustainable”.
Lawmakers have placed limits for senior citizens and homeowners in the rise of taxes, but not for businesses. As a result, the burden has shifted onto businesses, which have seen tax bills at its peak.
Property taxes paved way for small businesses to end up shuttering, not because they don’t make money, for taxes are climbing up too fast.
Property taxes are much worse than what it is in other states, the only effective way to control the amount of property taxes that people pay is to control the total levy.
Currently the limit for property tax is 8 percent, and several Republican-sponsored bills propose lowering it to between 4 percent and 6 percent. Allowing property taxes to keep growing is unacceptable.
The Republican proposal only limits property tax growth and the legislation addresses property taxes imposed by cities, counties and special purpose districts, which only account for 45 percent of the bill. School districts are counted by lawmakers to collect more tax revenue. Nothing is done to limit school district property taxes, which account for the other 55 percent of the tax bill.
What Texans really need is a property tax cut. Craymer said “The only reasonable way the state has of cutting property taxes is by tackling school finance and to substitute state dollars for local dollars”.
State Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Kerrville, proposal of HB 285 would eliminate the property tax levied by schools for maintenance and operations and pay for schools using the state sales tax, which is currently 6.25 percent.
This proposal would cut property taxes by half but raise the state sales tax to 12 percent. So Texans would have to pay a 14 percent sales tax, since local authorities adds on another 2 percent as of now. The highest state sales tax rate in the country is California’s at 7.25 percent.
Three taxes are wiser because they would balance the tax burden between those who make a lot, own a lot and spend a lot. Tax burden falls on people who make capital investments, and the average Texans who spend a larger portion of their income in stores than wealthy people. High earners should avoid real estate investments in Texas to avoid paying state taxes.
Most Texans believes that Texas is a low tax state despite paying crazy-high property taxes.
How much longer will Texans put up with the current property tax system, and how they might feel about paying a higher sales tax in exchange for a property tax cut?
We should introduce a smart income tax that would not raise revenues, but better balance the tax burden and spur economic development.
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