Waxahachie Republican says put voters in charge of tax hikes

WAXAHACHIE, Texas — For State Representative Brian Harrison, it’s the easiest option to resolve an enormous downside in Texas – no elevating property taxes with out voter approval.

“What I’m trying to do here is put the voters, put the taxpayers for the first time back, truly in charge of their property taxes and so that if you, a local government, if you want to raise somebody’s property taxes even more, you can’t do that unless you hold an election,” the Republican mentioned on Inside Texas Politics.

HB 2220 would just do that.

And his different invoice, HB 2221, would require a supermajority (60%) to cross any tax improve that does go to a vote.

The Waxahachie Republican says judging by the suggestions he’s acquired from his constituents and others he’s talked to, he feels there may be “overwhelming” assist for his measures.

And he says it wouldn’t essentially hurt a metropolis’s income.

“I represent a growing area, so I understand that local governments have to provide for growth,” the Republican informed us. “But adopting last year’s effective tax rate doesn’t mean that their revenues stay flat because of all the new people that come in. That increases their taxable base.”

As a member of the House Public Education Committee – and a father of 4 – Harrison additionally thinks that schooling financial savings accounts will get finished this legislative session.

It’s half of the Republican push for varsity alternative, and they might permit mother and father to choose out of public faculties and use taxpayer {dollars} to coach their youngsters in a special manner, often a non-public faculty.

But public faculty supporters and rural lawmakers have lengthy opposed the trouble arguing it diverts an excessive amount of cash away from public schooling.

Harrison, although, says rural Republican voters need schooling financial savings accounts maybe most of all.

“The 10 most rural counties in the state of Texas, the 10 most rural counties, when this was on a ballot proposition last year with Republican primary voters, every single one of those 10 most rural counties in Texas supported school choice and they supported it by overwhelming margins,” he informed us.