In a new episode of The Arena with Texas Public Policy Foundation CEO Greg Sindelar, Senator Paul Bettencourt lambastes local taxing jurisdictions for constantly pushing to raise taxes on Texans, even as the state is attempting to provide tax relief.
“We’re in a situation now where taxing jurisdictions no longer have any shame. They just go and maximum smash their taxpayers,” Bettencourt said.
“I live here in Austin TX and Travis County. The locals eat up a lot of [the tax relief],” said Sindelar. “They take the any of the relief that state is sending and they eat into it so you don’t see as much relief as you should.”
“Yeah, Austin ISD should be ashamed of themselves,” Bettencourt responded. “They basically pitched the plan that was so horrible that the public didn’t understand…that the state was going to benefit on 73 percent of every dollar that was raised, and they were only getting 27 [percent]. It was a really bad public policy move and it really jacked up people’s ISD tax payments here now.”
“We had prepared for this for a long time,” Bettencourt continued, as he explained several bills passed by the legislature to limit how local jurisdictions could raise taxes. “We’ve got holes being plugged on all these issues that we observe because…as we continue to do more on property tax relief you have to stop people from effectively raiding taxpayers’ pocketbooks.”
To watch the full episode, click here.