Property Taxes Continue to be an Issue in Texas

Property tax bills continue to increase at a rate far exceeding population plus inflation rates of increase.  Politicians, including those on the City Council, like to tout the fact that property tax rates are being held constant, but, because of inflated property values, tax bills continue to increase.

Some Texas legislators recognize the problems with the local taxing authorities building monuments to themselves with tax dollars instead of spending and taxing in the best interest of the property tax payer. Property Taxes Trigger Growing Social Crisis in Texas

It seems time for state legislators to consider some kind of cap on the annual increase in property tax bills, since it is apparent that local taxing authorities will not limit property tax revenues on their own.  The cap needs to be imposed on tax bills so that politicians cannot continue the game of holding down tax rates and blaming the tax assessor for the increase in tax bills.

A California Proposition 13 like cap would work quite well in Texas as it has in California.  California politicians continue to try and eliminate Prop. 13 even though property tax revenue has increased faster than inflation since 1978.  Since Prop 13 was a constitutional amendment passed by the people, the politicians have been unsuccessful in repealing or watering down the impact of the proposition.