Texas’ revenue system needs updating. Our state taxes are regressive - households with the lowest incomes pay the highest percentage of their income in taxes; households with the highest incomes pay the lowest percentage of their income in taxes. In other words, those who can least afford it pay the most. The poorest 20% of Texans pay an average of over 12% of their income in state and local taxes while the top 1% pay an average of under 3%. Meanwhile the Legislature has cut the corporate franchise tax.
Texas state revenue comes from various taxing resources such as sales taxes, franchise taxes, natural gas and oil production taxes, and motor vehicle sales taxes. Property taxes, however, only go to school districts, cities, counties, and special purpose districts like water districts. Property tax bills have risen tremendously in recent years, and House District 45 has not been spared in this increase. The reason for this has a lot to do with the scaleback of state support for public schools. This has forced school districts to raise their tax rates to make up for that diminishing state support. Increasing the money that the state provides to local school districts will go a long way to lower Texan’s tax bills.
As your legislator, I will work to diversify Texas's revenue sources, to make our tax structure more progressive, and to reduce the burden on local property taxes.