2007 Property Tax Bills

Betty Brown - Putting Austin First

Breach of Trust

Fall has officially arrived, which means you can look forward to opening your mailbox and pulling out this year's property tax bill. According to Betty Brown, that moment will be quite a treat, because she has significantly reduced what many consider to be an unnecessarily burdensome bill.

Betty's words:

". . . the largest property tax cut in Texas history . . . It cuts school property taxes by one-third . . .." (Legislative Update, June 2005)

". . . the largest property tax cut in Texas history." (Legislative Update, May 2006)

"HB 1 ensures that local school property taxes will always be at least 22% lower than today." (Legislative Update, May 2006)

". . . reducing school property tax for homeowners by one-third . . .." (The Monitor, August 2007)

"Property taxes were cut by one-third." (speech to Cedar Creek Lake Republican Club, September 2007)

You can count on one thing with Betty: when she tells a fish story, it's always a whopper. I have a school property tax bill I paid last year, and I just received this year's bill from the Eustace Independent School District for the same property.  It turns out Betty's treat has a bitter aftertaste. Below are the numbers:

2006 Tax amount: $289.57
2007 Tax amount: $241.97

Difference: -$47.60

Percentage decrease: 16.4%

I'm all for reducing taxes. The lower, the better. I am also for elected officials telling us the truth. When Betty repeatedly said our school property taxes would go down by one-third, we should have been able to expect the amount we pay to go down by one-third, meaning 33%.  Pretty simple concept. However, it doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that 16.4% is roughly half of Betty's promised tax cut.

Betty is giving speeches and sending out email messages heralding her one-third property tax cut (the implication, of course, is that she should be re-elected because she has delivered "the largest tax cut in Texas history"), but she's not quite as forthright when it comes to telling us about the fine print.  Anyone who has received one of those slick credit card offers enticing consumers with promises of a low interest rate, only to find out that 3 months later the rate gets hiked up to 10 times the original amount will know what I'm talking about. The company lures people in, hoping we won't flip their letter over and read the tiny qualifications that tell a different story.

Betty can talk until she is blue in the face about how she reduced property taxes by one-third, but if taxpayers do not pay one-third less than they did a year ago, her rhetoric is meaningless.  When she comes back from Austin saying she cut property taxes by 33%, but you end up with a bill that only cut taxes by 16%, all her excuses, explanations, exceptions, and back-peddling won't make your bill any lower.

The Real Deal

This is about more than cutting taxes. It's about whether or not we can believe the person elected to act as our voice in Austin. Our State Representative is the closest we get to state government: the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, etc. have to juggle the concerns of more than 20 million people--the entire populace of Texas. Betty represents two counties, less than 1% of Texas' population, and we send her to the Capitol to act on our behalf, to act with the citizens of Henderson and Kaufman counties foremost in her mind.

And when she returns, we depend upon her to tell us the truth--not a version of-part of-maybe-what could possibly be-some of the truth, as it benefits her. The whole truth--as it affects us, our families, our pocketbooks, and our jobs.  When she fails or refuses to honor the public's trust, we pay the price.

It is sad and deeply distressing that we cannot listen in good faith to our current State Representative and believe everything she says about the way her actions affect us. However, hope is not lost, because we can do something about it. The Republican Primary occurs on March 4 of 2008, a few, short months away. I can't trust Betty; therefore, I will vote against Betty. You can do the same.   That is the beauty of living in this wonderful country: when we see something we believe is wrong with our government, we have been given the opportunity to fix it, and all it takes is a simple vote for what we believe is right.

Cutting taxes: GOOD. Misleading the public about how much taxes will decrease: BAD. Voting out an incumbent who has the audacity to promise one thing while she delivers another: PRICELESS.

UPDATE

"It's not MY fault your taxes aren't going down as much as I promised! It's YOURS!"

For months, Betty went around bragging about "the largest property tax cut in Texas history." Now that voters are realizing they won't see a one-third reduction in property taxes, Betty is pointing fingers.

In Betty's "Austin Update" of November 2, 2007, she sent out an article entitled "Property Tax Relief Is Eroding." In it Betty said she "would like to set the record straight" and explain why property owners will not see the property tax relief they expected. She then discussed "three issues that are undermining the property tax rate relief that we [the Texas Legislature] provided":

Betty's Issue #1: "School districts are permitted to increase their property tax rates up to $1.17 if they receive voter approval."

This is true, and it's also true a number of school districts (92 districts across the state according to the Dallas Morning News 11/8/07) asked for and received permission from voters to increase tax rates. What Betty isn't telling us: Betty voted for the bill which allows school districts to put this rate increase before voters. Betty is criticizing school districts for doing exactly what she allowed them to do.

Betty's Issue #2: "Rising property appraisals contribute to the erosion of property tax relief."

Betty changed her mind on the appraisal issue and has decided to board the late train on this one. Last year, her tune was a lot different.

In response to voters' concerns in 2006 regarding rising property appraisals, Betty sent out an Austin Update (5/25/06) saying the following:

"I have received many emails and letters recently regarding the alarming increase in property evaluations from the county appraisal boards in Kaufman and Henderson Counties. I share your concern, but believe that this will not continue due to the legislation we passed during the 79th called special session on taxation and school finance. HB1 addresses the future of such increases and will take effect in 2007."

Constituents foresaw problems with appraisals in 2006, but Betty said, "Don't worry." In 2007, now that she is feeling the effects of her empty promise, Betty is complaining about the same issue.

Betty's Issue #3: "Bond issues presented to voters by school district officials can further erode property tax relief."

Of course they can. They always could. Bond issue elections are a vehicle for school districts to build new schools or improve existing facilities. It's called "local control," and it's not new. Local voters get to decide if they are willing to take a potential tax hit in order to improve or maintain their children's educational requirements. If Betty had a problem with schools asking voters to pass bond packages, then she should have addressed it in the bill that provided the "largest property tax cut in Texas history." But she didn't.

Betty's Blame Game

Betty is back-peddling yet again. Each of the points she mentions in her "Update" was true months ago when Betty was gloating about her role in tax relief. The only difference between then and now is that voters are receiving tax bills which don't reflect the one-third property tax cut Betty promised. Property owners are wondering where their "relief" went, and Betty is playing the blame game.

Two of the points she makes in her Update require voters' consent: that means you and me. If we vote against it, then the erosion doesn't occur. The other issue involves something voters brought to Betty's attention last year. Betty tried to allay those fears then, only to claim no responsibility for them now.

According to Betty, failure to deliver the promised one-third property tax cut cannot be Betty's fault. No, no, no. It must be the fault of the voters (you and me, folks) or the school districts (whose boards we elect), but it absolutely cannot be hers.

Betty voted for the legislation creating the current system of school finance--if she voted for it, but is unwilling to take responsibility for its results, what in the world does she think she was elected to do? Many people already know the answer: she was elected to lead; she was elected to tell the truth; she was elected to respond to our concerns. She was not elected to turn into a piece of jello and wiggle out of her role in matters affecting us all.