Testimony Before Texas House Ways & Means Committee on Eliminating Property Taxes (HB 285)

I appreciated the opportunity to testify before the Texas House Ways & Means Committee regarding eliminating property taxes in Texas and replacing them with a reformed sales tax that would have a sufficiently broad base for the lowest rate, along with making structural reforms to local spending. 

House Bill 285 would eliminate school district M&O property taxes and replace them with a 12 percent sales tax rate, which would leave other property taxes in place that have risen at a faster rate while not expanding the tax base to achieve a lower rate. Regardless, the Foundation is encouraged with the discussion about eliminating property taxes.

But there are ways to improve this bill and others discussed at the hearing that would take only a piecemeal approach in eliminating property taxes, which both property taxes and sales taxes should never be on property. The elimination of all property taxes should be combined with structural reforms to student-centered funding in public education and spending limits on local governments, which excessive spending is the true driver of higher tax burdens.

I provided in-depth research and data on these issues to hopefully move the ball toward eliminating burdensome property taxes on Texans once and for all. 

Check out the press release here: ​http://mailchi.mp/texaspolicy/today-tppfs-vance-ginn-to-testify-on-eliminating-property-taxes-in-texas.

Below is my written testimony with links to data and other research:

Testimony on HB 285
File Size:	136 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---