Boerne city officials have made their stance very clear: they don’t want citizens to have more power over their own taxes.
Recently, Boerne officials sent an email to two state representatives expressing their disdain of the new statewide property tax reform. The proposed reform, entitled Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2, would give citizens more control over their property taxes.
The law is quite simple: If a local government (such as the city of Boerne) wanted to raise your taxes more than 2.5 percent in a year, they would just have to ask you first.
Boerne officials, including the mayor, are vehemently against the idea.
In the email obtained by Texas Scorecard, city attorney Molly Solis said Boerne officials are “adamantly opposed” to asking citizens first for more of their money, and that having to do so will “significantly impact” the city’s ability to meet essential needs.
“[The city] will likely have to start increasing the tax rate every year to make sure the City can keep up with growth,” she said.
Mayor Mike Schultz added to her remarks.
“It will be extremely challenging to fund essential services, such as public safety, if HB 2 and SB 2 are passed,” he said.
According to the two officials, if the city had to ask citizens first before taking more of their money, then the city would be in danger of not functioning nor having adequate public safety.
It’s as backwards as it sounds.
Saying the city won’t have enough money for public safety is incredibly disingenuous. Growing cities such as Boerne already collect more tax money each year from economic growth.
Again, even if the law passes, Schultz and the city can still raise taxes on existing residents as much as they want to—they would just have to ask first.
But that’s exactly the part they are “adamantly” against.
Unfortunately, Boerne officials aren’t the only ones trying to keep control away from citizens. Scores of local government officials across Texas have taken the same stance to oppose the citizen-empowering reform.
However, citizens who want more control over their soaring property taxes can make their voices heard by signing a petition below:
