LTISD Info

The Texas Comptroller’s Office recently published the 2009 “Guide for Setting School District Tax Rates.”

There’s lot’s of information about property taxes and how the school district can and will extract more taxes from those of us who pay their property taxes.

Doesn’t this smack of “taxation without representation?” Wasn’t this one of the primary provocations which resulted in the founding of our nation?

“Taxation without representation:

A situation in which a government imposes taxes on a particular group of its citizens, despite the citizens not consenting or having an actual representative deliver their views when the taxation decision was made. This situation was one of the triggering events that triggered the original thirteen American colonies to revolt against the British Empire.”

Isn’t it about time that someone challenges the state on the concept that those who don’t pay taxes can vote and subject those of us who do pay their taxes to higher and higher rates?

Doesn’t seem very fair. Certainly an interesting topic to be discussed in the Texas court system don’t you think?

Even the Texas Governor believes that there is a problem with the broken property tax system in Texas:

“For too long Texas homeowners and employers have been the victim of an insidious, back door property tax hike that comes in the form of higher appraisals.  Instead of raising rates to generate more revenue, local governments are often dependent upon the local appraiser to generate additional money for them.  I am here today to say enough is enough: We must learn from past experience that it is not good enough to provide property tax relief, we must also provide appraisal relief.”

“Texans don’t like taxation without representation, and they are sick and tired of taxation by valuation,” Perry said. “Let’s stop this false pretense of taxpayer protection at ten percent.”

The Texas Comptroller affords us an opportunity to become better educated on the broken taxation system in a series of “Truth-in-Taxation Seminars for 2009″ to be held across the state.

A “Truth-in-Taxation Seminars for 2009″ seminar will be held in Austin on Friday, August 14. I would suggest that you attend if you want to learn more about the subject. I plan on attending the afternoon session.

You may obtain a seminar attendance registration form from the Comptroller’s web site.