Quote:
Originally Posted by mattja
The tax structure that resulted in high property taxes in Texas was part of the 1979 "Peveto bill," named after Democrat Rep. Wayne Peveto.
At the times his bill was passed, the Democrats were in full control of the Texas Legislature.
66th Texas Legislature (January 9, 1979 - May 28, 1979) --
Senate
Democratic Party 27
Republican Party 4
House
Democratic Party 127
Republican Party 23
And you blame Republicans? Republicans are undoing the high-tax structure put in by Democrats.
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You make the "Peveto Bill" sound like it was a bad thing. In fact, it was quite the opposite. That was the legislation that mandated the creation of central appraisal districts and mandated uniform appraisal methods with much more frequent property appraisals. Prior to the passage of the bill, some counties had not reappraised their property rolls in many decades. There were significant differences in how property was taxed across the state.
Another driver for the reform of property taxes was one of the perennial school funding cases, San Antonio ISD vs Rodriguez in 1973.
The State property tax was abolished in 1982, leaving the state to generate revenue mostly via the sales tax.
The are a couple of reasons for high property taxes. One is that the State doesn't fund education well at all. The basic allotment hasn't changed since 2019, despite higher costs and unfunded mandates from the State. The other is the lack of a state income tax. With an income tax, your tax costs vary with income, and after retirement, may drop to near zero. Property taxes have to be paid whether you can afford them or not.
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