TexasCHLforum.com

There is battle in the Texas House and Senate right now over HB2/SB2

Essentially, it says that no taxing entity can raise your real estate taxes more than 2,5 percent over last year WITHOUT A BALLOT ELECTION held on normal election day. There have been abuses, especially by ISDs by having things like "rolling polling" where they have elections at unique times and in unique places. The normally low voter turnout as a result of these often bizzare elections is extremely low and subject to a small minority turning out.

Nearly all of the municipalities and ISDs are pitted against the citizens over this. The cities don't want to have to defend their greater increases against all of their voters, in my opinion. There are some difficulties in fiscal year times versus the November election date. The cities are falsely attacking the bill as a 2.5 percent cap and leaving off the "without an election" part. My own town did exactly that in public and I called them out on it.

But we are having the wrong conversation. The conversation should be about the creation of a budget and raising taxes to meet it. Too many taxing entities are using the sky-rocketing property values and keeping their rates the same or even raising them and collecting a wind-fall in new revenue, deciding how they will spend it. Frisco, in my view, is one of the worst By the way, increased revenue because of growth - new businesses and new homes does NOT count in the 2.5%. It is only over the existing homes and businesses.

One of the worst parts of the current policy is "robin hood" which takes money for higher tax base school districts and gives it to poor ones. It is so filled with holes that a very poor school district just built a water park with the funds that they could get under robin hood. The whole mess is disgusting to me.