According to Pflugerville City Council, they shouldn’t have to ask citizens for permission to take more of their money. Doing so really “ties their hands.”

City council has been adamantly opposed to the new statewide property tax reform proposal currently being considered at the Texas Capitol, which would give citizens more control over their own taxes.

Here’s how the law would work: If a local government, such as the City of Pflugerville, wanted to raise your taxes more than 2.5 percent in a year, they’d simply have to ask you first.

The city council doesn’t like that idea. Last month, they unanimously passed a declaration against the reform.

“Why is Council concerned about the proposed bill?” said a city document. “There may be years where the City needs to exceed a 2.5% rate to provide the services that residents desire.”

That’s fine. But why not just ask first?

Even if the law passes, Pflugerville City Council can still raise your taxes as much as they want—again, they would just have to ask you first.

But that’s exactly the part they are against.

“[The reform] ties our hands and limits City Council’s ability to provide citizens the services they desire. We cannot absorb or discount the impact of the vital loss of City services as a result of SB/HB 2.”

Again, all SB 2 does is prevent the city council from taking as much as they want without asking. According to them, that’s a bad thing that really “ties our hands.”

On top of that, the city isn’t losing anything. In fact, city councils in growing areas like Pflugerville actually collect substantially more in tax revenue each year because of new businesses and homes in the city.

City council’s threats of cutting vital city services, like police and firefighters, if they had to ask you for more of your money are incredibly fallacious and disingenuous.

But that’s not stopping Pflugerville officials from trying to distract citizens from what this reform really does.

“Something like this would endanger the growth and prosperity the city has,” said council member Rudy Metayer.

“Job creation may suffer as cities can’t afford infrastructure, services, and the level of public safety that new businesses, headquarters, and employees are seeking,” said a city document.

“We’re concerned because of the future and welfare of the city of Pflugerville and the citizens that live in it,” said Mayor Victor Gonzales. “And I think it’s important for us to double down on this issue.”

If the mayor and city council are so concerned about the welfare of Pflugerville citizens, why are they so opposed to asking them if they can take more of their hard-earned money?

Pflugerville citizens should contact their officials to find out, and they can make their voice heard by signing a petition to state lawmakers below.

 

Jacob Asmussen

Jacob Asmussen is a Senior Journalist for Texas Scorecard. He attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and in 2017 earned a double major in public relations and piano performance.

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