Tag Archives: property taxes

The Senate’s opening budget

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Could be worse, I guess. Senate Finance Chairwoman Jane Nelson presented a $205.1 billion two-year base budget Tuesday morning, vowing to provide property tax cuts that Texans “actually feel” while keeping the state’s economy humming along. The Senate budget is … Continue reading →

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How the appraisal game is rigged

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer tells the tale of how we got to where we are with the appraisal process and how easy it is for the big boys to get their taxes drastically reduced. At the heart of Valero’s lawsuits in Moore … Continue reading →

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Still no consensus on how to deal with the criminal justice complex

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

And it’s back to the Mayor. Pushed by Mayor Annise Parker to decide whether Houston’s aging police and courts buildings should get patchwork repairs or be fully replaced, with both options carrying staggering price tags, City Council members instead opted … Continue reading →

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Aycock files school finance reform bill

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. A key House Republican said Texas lawmakers should not wait for the outcome of a sprawling school finance lawsuit to discuss changes to the state’s current public education funding system. “While we do not know the final outcome of … Continue reading →

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Hegar’s first revenue estimate is in

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it holds up. Amid concerns that tumbling oil prices could push the Texas economy into a recession, Comptroller Glenn Hegar offered a cautiously optimistic tone on the future of the Texas economy Monday, announcing that lawmakers will … Continue reading →

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Wake me up in June

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

As we prepare for the 84th Legislative session to begin, let’s pause for a moment and see what we can expect. Greg Abbott wants to make the world safe for plastic bags. Dan Patrick wants to cut his property taxes, … Continue reading →

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Three signs of possible trouble ahead

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

#1 – Watch out for falling oil prices. The bedrock supporting Houston’s economy will shift in 2015, and while these tremors will not bring disaster, they will bring changes that some will find painful. The collapse of oil prices in … Continue reading →

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Valero’s special deal

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sorry, I just can’t get behind this. Companies routinely relocate to the city or state that lures them with the best tax break, but Valero wants Houston City Council to give its eastside refinery the same treatment without having … Continue reading →

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Repair or replace?

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Consider this an object lesson in the cost of deferring maintenance. A new Houston police headquarters and courthouse complex, discussed for decades, could reach a key turning point this week as Mayor Annise Parker seeks to force City Council members … Continue reading →

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A better way to cut taxes

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Grits has a suggestion for the Legislature. Reduce local jail costs – which have been a big driver of tax increases in many Texas counties – by reducing penalty categories for low-level marijuana possession (currently a Class B misdemeanor for … Continue reading →

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What’s the Lege going to do with the revenue?

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not as much as it should, of course, because the Lege never comes close to doing as much as it should. It’s a question of whether they’ll try to address some real problems, or just engage in an orgy of … Continue reading →

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Appraisal caps back on the agenda

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The idea will never die, unfortunately. No matter what the effects are. Local officials in the Houston area say they are concerned that incoming state leaders will push for tax relief measures that could limit their ability to meet the … Continue reading →

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Council approves meaningless tax cut

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Such awful policy. The Houston City Council unanimously passed a nominal property tax cut Tuesday afternoon, the first rate reduction in five years, as the city for the first time runs into a revenue cap imposed by voters a decade … Continue reading →

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From the “Simple answers to simple questions” department

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman asks “Would Dan Patrick’s tax plan lower your taxes?” Efforts to shift toward sales tax in lieu of property and income taxes have in recent years gained momentum in Republican-led states — even as economists warn that this … Continue reading →

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HISD Board approves one cent tax rate increase

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Still a low tax rate, just slightly higher now. As architects prepare designs for dozens of new campuses, the Houston school board on Thursday approved a 1-cent tax rate increase to help pay down debt from the largest school district … Continue reading →

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The Lite Guv debate

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It was lively, and it was a good reminder of who Dan Patrick really is. In the only scheduled debate in their race for lieutenant governor, state Sens. Dan Patrick and Leticia Van de Putte faced off on Monday night … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick sightings

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I doubt that the Chron’s calling out of Dan Patrick had anything to do with him appearing in public, in the daylight, where there might be people that don’t vote Republican, but it was good timing anyway. Now that Patrick … Continue reading →

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The revenue cap has already hit

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lovely. Houstonians will see their first property tax rate cut in five years as the city runs up against a revenue cap imposed by voters a decade ago. The modest rollback works out to $12.27 a year for the owner … Continue reading →

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More on the Emmett Astrodome Park plan

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good to know that an architect thinks its feasible, but it will need more than that to become reality. Kinder Baumgardner, president of SWA Architects, the firm behind several public projects in Houston involving parks, said plenty of big-idea architectural … Continue reading →

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Repealing the revenue cap is only part of the answer

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Repealing the dumb revenue cap charter amendment from 2004 won’t solve the impending fiscal problems by itself. It’s still a good idea to repeal it. With an estimated $144 million budget shortfall looming next summer, the city’s finance director delivered … Continue reading →

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Harris County settles with HCAD

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not sure about this. Less than two months after formally challenging the way the local appraisal district calculates the value of vacant commercial land, Harris County has backed down. Commissioners Court on Tuesday OK’d the withdrawal of a petition filed … Continue reading →

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Collier hits the road

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Talking taxes, and our state’s screwed-up appraisal process. With about as many local candidates as voters in attendance, the Travis County Democratic Party hosted a “town hall” on property tax reform Friday morning, where everybody agreed with would-be County Commissioner … Continue reading →

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HISD passes its budget

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They restored a lot of funding, but it’s the changes to magnet school funding that everyone is talking about. Bouncing back from recent cash-strapped years, the Houston school board Thursday approved a bigger budget that gives raises to all employees, … Continue reading →

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HISD prepares its budget

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Teacher pay raises and magnet school funding changes are the main points of interest. Thanks to rising property values, all Houston ISD employees would receive raises and schools would get more money for supplies, field trips or tutors next year … Continue reading →

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On cops and the revenue cap

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker again calls attention to the city’s stupid revenue cap and the things it will prevent the city from doing if it is left in place. If Houston voters do not want police pulled from the streets next year, … Continue reading →

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County to challenge vacant lot appraisals

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a start. Harris County is challenging the local appraisal district’s valuation of vacant commercial land after a study it commissioned concluded the agency had undervalued those properties by more than 80 percent this year. The finding was based on … Continue reading →

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Bell op-ed for eliminating the revenue cap

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

More like this, please. A decade ago, Houston voters restricted city property tax revenues to the combined rates of inflation and population increases. Like most arbitrary rules that politicians apply to math, this revenue cap sounds like a great idea … Continue reading →

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Those uninvestigated criminal cases

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

To say the least, this is big news. The Houston Police Department, already reeling from a scandal involving shoddy work in its homicide unit, was dealt another blow Monday when a report revealed that some 20,000 burglary, theft, assault and … Continue reading →

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We’ve got some budget challenges coming

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Some chickens are coming home to roost. Beginning next summer with fiscal year 2016, Houston will face a projected $142 million gap between expected revenues and expenses in its general fund, which is fed chiefly by property and sales taxes … Continue reading →

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Some grassroots action on the unfairness of commercial property valuation

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Parents, homeowners, teachers, and community members from Houston gathered at the park in front of Nathaniel Q Henderson Elementary School to kick off local efforts in a statewide campaign called Real Values for Texas to fix the … Continue reading →

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Why revenue caps suck

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been expecting this. Despite a booming economy that is the envy of much of the nation, the city of Houston could face hundreds of layoffs and cuts in service next year as it runs headlong into a revenue cap … Continue reading →

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Another story on the huge inequities of our property tax system

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Houston Press returns to an old favorite. “I’ve been sued every year by [JW Marriott],” says Michael Amezquita, the fiery chief appraiser of the Bexar County Appraisal District, which is currently ­facing $10.3 billion in appraisal-reduction litigation compared to … Continue reading →

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Collier’s sales tax criticism of Hegar makes the news

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s how you do it. Democrat Mike Collier, a certified public accountant from Houston, will start airing television ads criticizing opponent Glenn Hegar, a Republican state senator from Katy, for his support to phase out property taxes and increase state … Continue reading →

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Collier hammers Hegar for property tax idiocy

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Good. During the recent Republican primary for state comptroller, state Sen. Glenn Hegar repeatedly endorsed eliminating local property taxes in Texas. Borrowing from GOP opponent Debra Medina’s 2010 playbook, Hegar urged a shift to sales taxes to make up the … Continue reading →

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