Oh, this is just so ridiculous.
The lawsuit, stemming from a petition the city filed in June to the Travis Central Appraisal District, contends that the appraised values of billions of dollars in commercial and vacant land do not match market prices, a violation of requirements in the state’s Constitution that all property be taxed “in proportion to its value” and in an “equal and uniform” manner.
“I think this is a historic day,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said. “There are a lot of people that are hoping that this process will give an airing to a lot of issues that revolve around the property tax system.”
I…have so much to say I don’t even know where to begin.
Dick Lavine, chairman of the board of directors of the Travis Central Appraisal District and a supporter of the lawsuit, compared the Austin suit to the school finance lawsuit headed to the Texas Supreme Court next month. Both suits have the goal of securing a court order that forces the Legislature to tackle what critics view as an inequity in the system.
“It’s really an attempt to have certain sections of the tax code declared unconstitutional,” said Lavine, who is also a senior fiscal analyst for the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
This is going to take a little bit to break down. But before I start this series of posts, I want you, dear reader, to ponder the following:
- The city of Austin is facing decisions on how to fix their broken budget. One solution they clearly want is freedom to hike taxes, and the easiest way to raise revenue is through increased appraisals (commercial property appraisal is not subject to tax rate caps, and elections are often necessary to raise rates. Here’s a breakdown of where the city of Austin gets its revenue. (important to know: the bulk of your property taxes in Texas go to your school district).
- Appraisals and process vary greatly by district, which is presumably part of why they are suing the state in addition to the appraisal district. Some of us have argued for years that a true fix to the system has to come from the top.
- Sales price disclosure has long been the chief solution sought by the Center for Public Policy Priorities (a leftist organization, in case you’re just catching up). It is not a silver bullet, and as stated by the Texas Association of Realtors in the article, because sales prices are already available through private resources.
- A rhetorical question for you: if the city is serious about wanting “fairness” in the system, should they continue offering property tax deals to attract businesses?
- Property taxes in Texas are among the highest in the nation – but we don’t have an income tax (which is flatly unconstitutional in our state) and we have a firm cap on sales tax. Between this lawsuit and the school funding suit currently before the Texas Supreme Court, taxpayers need to be paying attention.
