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Will Dallas County Raise Property Taxes Again?
Will Dallas County Raise Property Taxes Again?

Despite the budget office revealing an over $18 million revenue shortfall from the coronavirus economic shutdown, the county appears prepared to tax and spend even more money.

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Newspaper: Never, Never, Never Cut Taxes

Newspaper: Never, Never, Never Cut Taxes

Josef Stalin and Vladimir Lenin would be proud of their ideological progeny at the San Antonio Express-News. The long-dead communists, whose utopian Soviet state collapsed in disrepute and bankruptcy after an 80-year experiment in tyranny,  focused on the collective good (as they defined it) outweighing any claim of individual liberty or economic prosperity.

Well, the San Antonio Express-News is opposed a proposed city “roll-back” of property taxes (even though it is less than 1 percent). They say that “individuals benefit from the collective good” (a line no doubt from their Karl Marx quote-of-the-day calendar), and the collective good is defined as growing government to consume every resource possible.

Austin Apparatchiks Have Waste and Nepotism in Store for Taxpayers

For those outside Austin, there have been a flurry of reports lately illustrating cityswhy Austin is known as the People's Republic of Travis County.  The City Council is considering banning plastic bags from stores and they gave a $750,000 forgivable loan to a politically connected Mexican restaurant, Las Manitas.  Now here's another big enchilada on the taxpayer dime – the latest report is that the City has been running a souvenier store in City Hall at a loss of $250,000 per year to taxpayers. 

Got Tax Relief? Not In Houston…

So you think you’re getting tax relief? If you live in Houston, chances are you are not. The school district there are doing everything they can to reach into your family’s pocket-book and exact every last dollar they can.

Property Tax Appraisals Skyrocket from Metroplex to Killeen

In Dallas County, total property values are up 16 percent, with about half of that attributable to increases on existing properties, according to a Dallas Morning News report.

appAlthough Collin County has not posted 2007 average home values yet, the Dallas Morning News reports that total appraisals are up 47 percent in Celina , 38.9 percent in Prosper, and 30.3 percent in Melissa, all of which are in the northern part of the county. Assuming half is due to new construction, that is still 15 to 24 percent increases in average home value.

Hitchcock and Galveston Engulfed by Rising Tide of Property Taxes

If you've ever been to Hitchcock, which is situated in the shadows of Texas hitchCity and its effusive refineries, despite the proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, you might be forgiven for not having thought you were in Palm Beach. Hitchcock may not seem like a ritzy resort rolling in money, but don't tell that to the Galveston County Tax Appraiser. It turns out that property values in Hitchcock are increasing by 27.41 percent this year, according to a Galveston Daily News report.

Dallas Shopping Centers Ring Up Lawsuit Against Apprisal District

According to a Dallshopas Business Journal article , the owners of several Dallas-area shopping centers, including Highland Park Village and Preston Trail Plaza, are suing the Dallas Central Appraisal District and the Dallas Appraisal Review Board, saying the method the entities use to calculate tax appraisals violates the Texas Constitution.

Too Much Dust, Not Enough Results

Too Much Dust, Not Enough Results

Besides just bad philosophy, one of the worst contributors to government growth is our misplaced emphasis on defining success by activity. When you stand on the plains and look to the horizon, a great cloud of dust can be either an army purposefully on the move, or a lone idiot riding his horse in circles. 

Too often, we are just interested in seeing a great cloud of dust, and not interested enough in the results. In every debate in Austin (and in Washington) the discussion centers too much on "how much we have/are/will spend" and not nearly enough on "what we have/are/will accomplish."

Texas Hotel Taxes Enough to Make You Lose Sleep

Fhotelound this revealing tidbit on the Austin American-Statesman's entertainment pages: 

Those hotel occupancy taxes in Texas’ big cities are so high they’ll give you a nosebleed. Example: My $279 stay at the lovely Granduca Hotel in Houston a few days ago carried $46.93 in occupancy tax: That’s 6 percent for the great State of Texas, 7 percent for the city, 2 percent for Harris County and another 2 percent for the Houston-Harris County Sports Authority, the entity that builds stadiums.