September 09, 2008 03:50 pm
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Editor’s note: Each Monday, the Daily Progress will publish a question-and-answer story featuring District 11 state representative hopefuls Chuck Hopson (Democrat incumbent) and Brian Walker (Republican challenger).
By Kelly Young
kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com
Do you believe property taxes should be raised or lowered? Why?
Hopson: Property taxes are currently too high. I have voted for legislation, which unfortunately did not pass, which would have lowered the average taxpayer’s burden by an additional $1,000. The state government does not receive any money from property taxes. In 1981, there was a constitutional amendment that prohibited a state property tax. However, counties, cities, school districts and other local districts have the right to collect a property tax. These local municipalities set the tax rate and voters in these local municipalities vote on any tax increase above 4 percent.
The legislature does not set the property tax nor does the state collect it, but we do have the power to regulate what the local officials can do. Rick Perry proposed to change this system. I voted against the bill, because I felt it placed too high of a burden on small businesses and did too little to actually lower property tax rates. I supported a different plan, which would have lowered taxes significantly by tripling the homestead exemption, from $15,000 to $45,000. Under the Perry bill, the average homeowner in this district would save $500, under the plan I supported the average homeowner would save $1,500.
Walker: I would love to abolish all property taxes and business taxes and rely solely on a consumption based sales tax, but until I’m able to build consensus on that, I will fight to lower property taxes dramatically. Simply said, our current tax system in Texas penalizes success. Right now we discourage success by disproportionately taxing the folks who’ve labored to build prosperous businesses, create jobs and have gained property ownership by doing so.
Not only do we need to revamp and roll back the expanded business tax passed and created during the tenure of my opponent, we’ve got to lower property taxes! It’s common sense that the higher our taxes are, the less income people have to buy the things they need, and the more likely businesses will fold and jobs will leave our area. The solution is not higher taxes but more efficient use of our tax dollars, something my opponent has prevented. Regardless of what he claims, Chuck Hopson has not supported measures that would lower our property taxes. My opponent supported the business tax and told us it would create property tax relief, but then he voted several times against lowering appraisal caps that would have kept local governments from raising your property taxes and stealing your relief. Furthermore, Hopson voted to expand state funded programs before providing property tax relief, and he voted against a bill that would require transparency from our public schools and show us how they are spending our money.
What can be done, at the state level, to ease the property tax burden felt by Texas homeowners?
Walker: There are a couple of things we can do when I’m in the Texas Legislature to have direct reduction of property taxes. We can start by lowering appraisal caps so that East Texas homeowners will not have their property tax relief stolen from them through higher appraisals. Then we can increase the homestead exemption for Texas homeowners, so that families can keep more of their own money.
In addition to changing taxation policy in general, counties and school districts should be required to show us how and where our money is being spent, so they can be held accountable to the voters. That’s why, unlike my opponent who voted against a similar measure, I’ll author legislation as state representative to require them to put all of their respective expenditures online for all citizens to see. If they are held accountable for their spending, then there will be better choices made about how to spend our tax dollars. Efficiency and productivity will increase and the door will be open to overall property tax reduction.
Hopson: In the last session of the legislature, we lowered school taxes by one-third. I have proposed that we increase the current property tax homestead exemption from $15,000 to $45,000, which would save the average taxpayer an additional $1,000 a year. In the last session of the legislature, we lowered the school property tax from $1.50 per $100.00 to $1.00 per $100.00 valuation. About 85 percent of all our schools had been at the $1.50 level. Lowering the tax rate caused a short-fall in school revenue of about $6 billion dollars which was made up on cigarettes and other “sin” taxes. A new cap was instated at $1.17 per $100.00 valuation. Schools can raise their rate to $1.04 per $100, but once over that, increases have to be approved by the local voters.
How do you feel about appraisal caps? What is the state's current cap and what do you believe it should be?
Hopson: Appraisal caps are in place to keep the local appraisal boards from raising appraisals unrealistically. Our current cap is 10%, which means the appraisal board can’t increase your valuation more than 10 percent in any given year. I have proposed lowering the amount they can raise your appraisal to 5 percent in a given year. There is a lot of pressure on our appraisal districts by the state comptroller’s office to have a standardized appraisal statewide. This would also cause appraisals to go up. No government entity, such as a city or county, should make money on appraisals. If the value of our property goes up, then the taxing entity should lower the tax rate to be revenue neutral.
Walker: Appraisal caps are a great way to keep local governments from overzealously taxing their citizenry. The current appraisal cap is 10 percent, and unlike my opponent, I believe we need to lower the appraisal caps to 5 percent. In 2007, Chuck Hopson voted against a bill that would have lowered appraisal caps to 5 percent per year. By opposing this legislation, Chuck Hopson kept the door open for local governments to raise appraisals on your property causing your overall property taxes to increase. This is not the kind of representation we need in Austin. As your state representative, I will fight to lower appraisal caps and will work hard to lower your overall tax burden.
How do you believe exemptions should be used?
Walker: Property tax exemptions are great taxpayer protection tools because they keep hard-earned dollars in citizen’s pockets. Thus, these mechanisms prevent the government from getting its hands on those dollars, and this, of course, enables the people to decide how best to spend that money.
Hopson: There is now an exemption on a person’s homestead set at $15,000. I believe this exemption should be raised to $45,000, thus relieving the tax burden on property owners. There are several exemptions in place now that I believe are working well. First, the exemption for agriculture helps rural Texas by taxing farms on production, not on land value. I think this should continue. The exemption for our seniors is also effective. Once a person reaches 65 years of age the taxes on their homestead should be frozen.
What would be your ideal property tax system?
Hopson: I believe before we raise any tax we should make sure we continue to cut out wasteful spending. We need to have a tax system that is fair and balanced so that no one section of our society such as property owners and small business owners are paying a disproportionate amount of taxes. No government entity, such as a city or county, should make money on appraisals. If the value of our property goes up, then the taxing entity should lower the tax rate to be revenue neutral. We need truth in taxation! We need to make the process more transparent and stop government from making money on appraisal creep.
Walker: As mentioned above, I would do away with the school property tax funding mechanism and fully fund our schools through a consumption based sales tax. This would greatly relieve the burden on our East Texas homeowners, abolish unnecessary bureaucracy and would simplify our tax structure. East Texas families should not be burdened with more taxes through higher appraisals, even after our state government voted to provide property tax relief. We must vote for a state representative who will not say one thing in the district, then do something else in Austin. The facts are the facts. Since my opponent has been in office, has your property taxes decreased? On the contrary, there has been a steady increase in property taxes and no relief as promised. This will no longer work for our local homeowners, and its something I'm running for state representative to change.
We need real action, not empty Austin rhetoric. We need conservative leadership that will reduce the tax burden for East Texas families and will fight for efficiency in our state and local governments. As your state representative, I will vote for appraisal caps and will support transparency in all government spending. To learn more about my positions on taxes, you can view my video series on taxation at www.voteforwalker.com.
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