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Taxpayers' group wants new system
"People in Texas rent their property from the government," Sullivan said, adding sales taxes do not penalize the poor because consumers spend within their income ranges.
by Bob Campbell
Midland Reporter-Telegram
- Texans for Fiscal Responsibility calls for replacement of school property taxes with a higher sales tax.
By Bob Campbell
Staff Writer
The head of an Austin-based taxpayers' interest group said Thursday school taxes could be dispensed with by raising the state's 6.25 percent sales tax "by a penny or two" and applying it to a broader range of things like haircuts and newspapers.
Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Empower Texans and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, told 50 people at a Permian Basin Natural Gas Producers Association luncheon at the Petroleum Club that the change could compensate for lost school maintenance and operations tax revenues, which ran $20.3 billion in 2005 and $22 billion last year.
He said the Texas Legislature's 2007 lowering of the M&O ceiling from $1.50 to $1.33 and then $1 per $100 in valuation has been negated by ballooning values and the law's letting the ceiling lift back to $1.17.
"People in Texas rent their property from the government," Sullivan said, adding sales taxes do not penalize the poor because consumers spend within their income ranges.
Charging property levies have become "confiscatory," he said. Enrollments rose by 15 percent statewide from 1997-2007, while revenues went up by 41 percent and spending by 53 percent.
SAT college entrance exam scores stayed the same at an average of 993 points, he said.
"Our problem is our spending," said Sullivan, who came to Empower Texas from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "These numbers are unsustainable."
Quipping it was "nice to get out of the People's Republic of Austin," he said the energy industry's "biggest problem is ignorant politicians."
For example, he noted U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco recently said natural gas "is clean burning and a good alternative to fossil fuels."
He said the tax system perpetuates itself to the detriment of property owners because chief appraisers and appraisal review boards are beholden to taxing entities and organized to raise ever-increasing amounts of revenue. Sullivan also dislikes the expanded business tax approved last year.
He said Texans for Fiscal Responsibility have sent all 150 state representatives and 31 senators in Austin a postcard urging, "Eliminate school M&O property taxes."
They warn of the continued operation of the "Robin Hood" system of property rich school districts' sharing revenues with poor districts "even while the state remains under the constant threat of future school finance litigation.
"In order to restore property rights, create an equitable system of school finance and make home ownership more affordable, it is time constitutionally to eliminate the M&O tax, providing significant, permanent relief and funding schools completely through the existing fair state sales tax," the group says.
"All budget surplus dollars should be dedicated to this purpose until the M&O tax is eliminated. This will ensure consistent, reliable funding that doesn't force homeowners out of their homes and drive jobs out of the state."
The organization is at 919 Congress Ave., Suite 1135, Austin 78701. Its Web site is at empowertexans.com and its telephone is (512) 236-0201.
Bob Campbell can be reached at campbell@mrt.com.
By Bob Campbell
Staff Writer
The head of an Austin-based taxpayers' interest group said Thursday school taxes could be dispensed with by raising the state's 6.25 percent sales tax "by a penny or two" and applying it to a broader range of things like haircuts and newspapers.
Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Empower Texans and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, told 50 people at a Permian Basin Natural Gas Producers Association luncheon at the Petroleum Club that the change could compensate for lost school maintenance and operations tax revenues, which ran $20.3 billion in 2005 and $22 billion last year.
He said the Texas Legislature's 2007 lowering of the M&O ceiling from $1.50 to $1.33 and then $1 per $100 in valuation has been negated by ballooning values and the law's letting the ceiling lift back to $1.17.
"People in Texas rent their property from the government," Sullivan said, adding sales taxes do not penalize the poor because consumers spend within their income ranges.
Charging property levies have become "confiscatory," he said. Enrollments rose by 15 percent statewide from 1997-2007, while revenues went up by 41 percent and spending by 53 percent.
SAT college entrance exam scores stayed the same at an average of 993 points, he said.
"Our problem is our spending," said Sullivan, who came to Empower Texas from the Texas Public Policy Foundation. "These numbers are unsustainable."
Quipping it was "nice to get out of the People's Republic of Austin," he said the energy industry's "biggest problem is ignorant politicians."
For example, he noted U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco recently said natural gas "is clean burning and a good alternative to fossil fuels."
He said the tax system perpetuates itself to the detriment of property owners because chief appraisers and appraisal review boards are beholden to taxing entities and organized to raise ever-increasing amounts of revenue. Sullivan also dislikes the expanded business tax approved last year.
He said Texans for Fiscal Responsibility have sent all 150 state representatives and 31 senators in Austin a postcard urging, "Eliminate school M&O property taxes."
They warn of the continued operation of the "Robin Hood" system of property rich school districts' sharing revenues with poor districts "even while the state remains under the constant threat of future school finance litigation.
"In order to restore property rights, create an equitable system of school finance and make home ownership more affordable, it is time constitutionally to eliminate the M&O tax, providing significant, permanent relief and funding schools completely through the existing fair state sales tax," the group says.
"All budget surplus dollars should be dedicated to this purpose until the M&O tax is eliminated. This will ensure consistent, reliable funding that doesn't force homeowners out of their homes and drive jobs out of the state."
The organization is at 919 Congress Ave., Suite 1135, Austin 78701. Its Web site is at empowertexans.com and its telephone is (512) 236-0201.
Bob Campbell can be reached at campbell@mrt.com.
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