Which taxpayers are we protecting?
The fact that people will be convinced by Peggy Venable’s alarmist, cacophony of incoherent data present as a column in the Express News is why no one will blame Perry for higher taxes
Texas has by far the highest property taxes in the region, more than double any other neighboring state and second in the country only to Wisconsin. The reason for the trend toward escalating property taxes is clear: governments are spending at an unsustainable pace.
Yup, no doubt about it, our property taxes are higher than then surrounding states. But given that the other states have a personal income tax and Texas doesn’t, is that proof of spending at an “unsustainable pace?” More on the state comparisons in a minute.
Let’s skip to what Venable points to what is increasing the cost of government.
What is driving up the cost of government? One contributing factor is that 5.6 percent of the state’s population is on a government payroll. With many Texans in school, retired, or otherwise not working, that number is closer to 13.7 percent of the state’s work force.
Wow, where to begin? She had been talking about property taxes and all the spending by local government. Somehow I have a feeling when Venable refers to the government payroll, she’s talking about all levels of government including state and federal employees. But we don’t know since she conveniently fails to provide a source for her numbers.
Next she starts talking about other Texans who are not working. What percentage of your property taxes goes to retired or unemployed Texans? Granted, the vast majority of your property taxes goes to school districts but since she is talking about people not working, I assume she either means children in school or college students. Is she saying that we spend too much on education or that there are too many children to be educated. Her reasoning leaves much to be desired.
Given that Venable is willing to list sources for some stats but not others, I have to wonder how she came up with the following:
Most Texans don’t realize they work more than half the year to pay for the visible cost of federal, state, and local government spending as well as the hidden costs of debt and regulation.
According to the Tax Foundation, Texas’ Tax Freedom day falls in April. I guess the “hidden costs of debt and regulation” extends the date into June or July. How far do you think the date would extend when you consider the hidden costs of poor access to health care or a poorly educated workforce?
Then there are the costs of all those government lobbyists.
Local governments are increasingly adding to those costs as they hire lobbyists and fund association political machines. Two years ago, Texans taxpayers were forced to dish out more than $52 million for local governments to lobby the Legislature. The Tower Institute conducted a survey and found that 70 percent of Texas voters oppose the use of public funds to lobby. Yet taxpayer-funded lobbying continues to be a growth industry with an almost universally anti-taxpayer agenda.
Now I’m not necessarily for local government paying for lobbyists. However, if the state legislature is promoting business interests by restricting legitimate local government regulation as supported by the local residents, what should local politicians do?
The all-bark-but-no-bite taxpayer protections couldn’t deter thousands of lobbyists and special interest groups from parading through the Capitol to demand more government spending. Even as most Texas citizens were hard at work, earning a living and taking care of their families, the sad truth is that they were also forced to foot the bill for these lobbyists and the additional spending they advocate.Taxpayers are largely unaware of the growth in government spending, oblivious to the growth in local government debt and uninformed about the true cost of legislative and regulatory burdens. And supporters of big government want to keep taxpayers in the dark.
So Venable is basically arguing that government is out of control and subsequently, so are our taxes. She doesn’t seem too worried about comparing apples and oranges or documenting her facts and figures. I think the point of the column is to convince you that your taxes are outrageously higher than neighboring states and it’s because local governments hire lobbyists.
Since she raises the alarm by comparing us to other states, how about looking at some other comparisons?
Well, initially it looks like Venable may be on to something since our property taxes are still higher than the combined property and income taxes of the surrounding states. So maybe we should be up in arms but probably not about what Venable wants us to be upset about.
What am I talking about? It looks like that we pay less state and local taxes per capita than the surrounding states in 2005. In 2007, only Oklahoma paid less in income, sales, and property taxes than Texas. So if I were looking for any issues of unfairness in tax burdens I would say that our high sales tax rate might be an area for further research.
Also, since we reach our “Tax Freedom” day about the same time as the other states, and out total state taxes per capita is pretty low, I would have to think property and sales taxes account for a larger percentage of Texas’ taxes compared to other states. In other words, the local property tax payer is paying so much because others are paying so little.
And who might those be that are paying so little relative to other states? Hmmm, who doesn’t have to inform the tax appraisal office of the selling price of their property? Businesses? Do you think businesses pay their fair share of taxes compared to the local homeowner?
And what exactly was the city wasting money on paying those evil lobbyists to do in Austin? Push for Sales Price Disclosure of Real Property so that property can be taxed fairly? Rail relocation so that the next chemical spill from a railroad accident doesn’t happen downtown? Unfunded mandates from the state that causes the city to increase local property taxes? Do you think that business just might be against any of these issues because it would require them to assume a fair share of the tax burden?
Venable’s claim for “meaningful taxpayer safeguards” is appropriate for those bearing the tax burden in Texas. But that would mean businesses should pay their fair share and somehow, I don’t think those are the safeguards she is talking about. Ultimately, she is counting on stoking public outrage over high taxes so that businesses will benefit. Another example of the disconnect among voters between cause and effect. And it will probably work.
Technorati Tags: Peggy Venable, taxes, Texas, tax burden, Americans for Prosperity, cause and effect
Filed under: Americans for Prosperity, Peggy Venable, Taxes, cause and effect, tax burden, texas
The anti tax folks seem to forget that state employees to include teachers, pay 6% of their salary into the retirement system. These very folks seem to complain about the problems in receiving state services but regard state employees as lazy and good for nothing. I dare say most of the state employees work harder than many private sector employees and the reward is usually some high paid Director coming down to thank the peons for doing a good job at some christmas party that the peons are paying for. It is self fulling professy - pay state employees below market, under staff agencies, treat them like scum which creates high turnover, which in turn attracts less gualified employees which results in lower level of service so the right wing conservatives can justify their tirad about incompetent state government.
Bush and Perry are an abomination and are a perfect example of what is wrong with America. They have destroyed the American dream to enrich themselves and to promote their own narrow political agenda.
According to MSN Money staff, Texas is ranked second highest in the nation relative to owner income.
I have been on a state payroll and at another time on a federal payroll and realize government workers aren’t lazy.
Not sure what the individual commenting above is trying to say. Their comments are incoherant. (and it’s spelled Prophesy, not professy).