Property tax relief
Regarding “Tomlinson: Proposed property tax relief does not go far enough,” (Sept. 24): I moved to Texas from California and expected to see my tax burden decline. Now that we’ve purchased a home, I believe my tax burden has actually risen when I tally up the sum of income tax and property tax I previously paid versus my property tax bill alone in Texas.
As my wife and I approach retirement, I can see the very real possibility of being forced out of our home due to rising property taxes. Texans love to bash California, but at least California took action to try to prevent seniors from being priced out of their homes due to property taxes. Chris Tomlinson has been a lone voice in the state calling for a reduction of property taxes combined with a new income tax to create a more balanced approach to raising revenue. I’d add a system to limit property tax increases after they’ve been slashed to solve the problem of property taxes rising faster than income, particularly for seniors who often have fixed incomes.
Greg Groh, Houston
There’s a hundred ways to tweak property tax. But what personal finance principles should property tax obey?
We know the best way to buy a home is via savings or cash. Failing that, for most of us, the best option is a fixed-rate mortgage. It promotes long-term budgeting and family stability. So this fixed amount approach should be applied to ongoing property tax collection. You could collect a premium amount at the time of sale (a sales tax like the car tax) since it could be included in the initial
loan. The value of the annual tax would be computed using objective static criteria (square feet of improvement, square feet of land). The tax rate on the fixed basis would be constant and only changed via taxpayer vote.
Basically, get rid of non-objective “market” appraisals and ever-increasing tax increases levied by the unseen hand of the appraisal district, accountable to no one.
Walt Lind, Houston
Chris Tomlinson is dreaming if he thinks property taxes would be slashed if Texas imposed an income tax. Politicians (whether local or state) will not slash taxes — they will just add an income tax as another revenue stream. Giving politicians more money is not the answer.
Chris Greene, Houston