Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Texans are going to polls in less than a month Paulin to consider 10 propositions amending the states constitution. The amendments cover everything from water debt to veterans property taxes.
You can find our complete listing of the amendments our take and recommendation by visiting our website. There you can also find a handy sample ballot noting our recommended positions.
The Bad
The worst of the amendments are Propositions 2 3 4 and 6.
Propositions 2 and 3 would set in place permanent debt allowing government agencies to issue bonds over and over without ever having to approach the citizens again for a vote. Thats an incredibly irresponsible way for government to treat debt.
Proposition 4 meanwhile would open the door to Texas counties taking private property for the same kind of economic development" reasons that has sparked so much outrage in cities across the country. We should be curtailing the ability of government to take private property not increasing it.
Meanwhile Proposition 7 would allow an El Paso County entity to start levying property taxes. We should be moving away from property taxes not getting more governments hooked on them.
Finally Proposition 6 would endanger the long-term viability of the states Permanent School Fund. It would allow a larger portion of the fund to be tapped for expenditure in the short-term meaning fewer dollars would be available to grow the corpus and keep the fund viable into the future.
Neutral
We are neutral on Propositions 8 9 and 10 but do offer a summary on our website of what supporters and opponents are saying about them.
The Good
Finally we are supporting Propositions 1 and 5.
Proposition 1 would recognize the sacrifice made by our 100 disabled veterans by granting a property tax exemption to them and their surviving spouses. The fine men and women who serve our nation by defending our liberties and then find themselves fully disabled as a result all too often find federal services difficult to access. Providing some property tax relief through Proposition 1 can at least allow Texas to step in where Uncle Sam too often has failed.
Proposition 5 will allow cities and counties to enter into cost-savings interlocal agreements of a year or longer without having to classify them as expenses if they are not. In the past such agreements had been counted as debt and have a portion of their tax revenues set aside to cover it. But for those agreements that result in cost-savings the old state of the law got in the way.
Hopefully Proposition 5 will result in more local government seeking sensible agreements that save money and improve services.
All of us at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility encourage you to utilize the resources of various organizations to study these propositions and their impact on the Lone Star State. And most importantly we encourage you to participate in the Nov. 8 constitutional amendment election.
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Texans are going to polls in less than a month Paulin to consider 10 propositions amending the states constitution. The amendments cover everything from water debt to veterans property taxes.
You can find our complete listing of the amendments our take and recommendation by visiting our website. There you can also find a handy sample ballot noting our recommended positions.
The Bad
The worst of the amendments are Propositions 2 3 4 and 6.
Propositions 2 and 3 would set in place permanent debt allowing government agencies to issue bonds over and over without ever having to approach the citizens again for a vote. Thats an incredibly irresponsible way for government to treat debt.
Proposition 4 meanwhile would open the door to Texas counties taking private property for the same kind of economic development" reasons that has sparked so much outrage in cities across the country. We should be curtailing the ability of government to take private property not increasing it.
Meanwhile Proposition 7 would allow an El Paso County entity to start levying property taxes. We should be moving away from property taxes not getting more governments hooked on them.
Finally Proposition 6 would endanger the long-term viability of the states Permanent School Fund. It would allow a larger portion of the fund to be tapped for expenditure in the short-term meaning fewer dollars would be available to grow the corpus and keep the fund viable into the future.
Neutral
We are neutral on Propositions 8 9 and 10 but do offer a summary on our website of what supporters and opponents are saying about them.
The Good
Finally we are supporting Propositions 1 and 5.
Proposition 1 would recognize the sacrifice made by our 100 disabled veterans by granting a property tax exemption to them and their surviving spouses. The fine men and women who serve our nation by defending our liberties and then find themselves fully disabled as a result all too often find federal services difficult to access. Providing some property tax relief through Proposition 1 can at least allow Texas to step in where Uncle Sam too often has failed.
Proposition 5 will allow cities and counties to enter into cost-savings interlocal agreements of a year or longer without having to classify them as expenses if they are not. In the past such agreements had been counted as debt and have a portion of their tax revenues set aside to cover it. But for those agreements that result in cost-savings the old state of the law got in the way.
Hopefully Proposition 5 will result in more local government seeking sensible agreements that save money and improve services.
All of us at Texans for Fiscal Responsibility encourage you to utilize the resources of various organizations to study these propositions and their impact on the Lone Star State. And most importantly we encourage you to participate in the Nov. 8 constitutional amendment election.
