Update:
Former Austin City Councilmember Ellen Troxclair called out Austin City Council as her testified about property taxes to the state senate Wednesday (Feb 6th) afternoon.
Troxclair argued the tax increases by the city were unnecessary since city growth brought in new dollars as is.
“Last year [Austin] brought in $50 million dollars of new revenue before we turn to the tax payers for a single penny more in property taxes. And yet [Council] still did increase property taxes 8{401edce51c08da8a4f34aa2bdb823e6f996c3e5545f03f68e79ce9ad827c5901}, eight of the last twelve years.”
Troxclaire wants the state to pass a bill that would let residents have a vote on tax hikes, if local taxing districts want to increase property tax revenue by more than 2.5-percent.
There has been push back on this idea, Troxclair continued, because this doesn’t actually represent a tax break. But she reasoned over the next ten to twenty years, residents of Austin and other cities could save thousands of dollars under what they would owe under current law.
Original:
Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Ellen Troxclair and Vance Ginn, Ph.D., will provide invited testimony before the Senate Committee on Property Tax.
“Skyrocketing property taxes are forcing people out of their homes and businesses, and it is heartbreaking to see the stress and hardship that this has brought to our neighbors and our communities,” said Ellen Troxclair, former Austin City Councilmember and senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Local Governance. “Updating our state tax code to allow voters to weigh in on property taxes increases more than 2.5 percent each year not only makes good economic sense but also strengthens what is the ultimate local control- empowering citizens to play a stronger oversight role in the government elected to serve them.”
“Texas is the third most economically free state but skyrocketing local property taxes threaten the prosperity of Texans across this great state,” said Vance Ginn, Ph.D., senior economist and director of the Center for Economic Prosperity at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “During the last 20 years, this burden has increased across local tax jurisdictions faster than the average taxpayer’s ability to pay. Now is the time to rein in skyrocketing local property taxes.”
Live broadcast: https://senate.texas.gov/av-live.php?lang=en
