Texas Needs a Permanent, Progressive State Income Tax (San Antonio, Austin: mortgage, property taxes)

[loves2read]

paying more taxes won't keep the legislature from acting irresponsibly or ensuring TX has governor concerned with being effective leader vs politician--and I don't think those two are equal or that Perry has ever been the first one
TX has history of electing local reps that are clueless more often than not and lack any real sense of perspective about what should be done to benefit the people and run the state in their best interests short and long term
most of the decisions the legislature has made since Ann Richards was governor have been to the detriment of its people -- our quality of life is worse--our education is tetering on a cliff--our roads are in the hands of toll authorities--Medicare is going in the toilets and health care of uninsured and poor families is pretty non-existant--
taxes are higher despite the government's pledge not to raise taxes--they just call them something else and ignore what they are doing
they have sold this state to the highest bidders and divert our attention with issues that are meaningless like voter fraud--there IS no voter fraud in this state--

I keep expecting that people will wake up and see how they are being abused--but people who get the most attention are those who seem to think government is actually trying to solve problems vs cause them...

[texdav]

Op needs to move to achieve his dream.

[John26]

You are free to move to another state if you want to pay an income tax.

Or even better you are free to mail a personal check to the state government if you feel you aren't paying enough taxes.

[RoundRockRandy]

Addional taxes=Fail.. Name one time in our history when the gooberment solved any problem by throwing money at it. The OP is free to relocate. The other Libs are free to move to states where there views are welcome, like say Illiteratnois, Crazifornia etc...

[PanTerra]

Originally Posted by Gree Mountain

How should we determine the marginal rates? Texas has a GSP comparable to Canada's GDP. The bottom provincial tax rate in Ontario is 5.05%. So, for conversation sake, let's make that the top marginal rate in Texas. This would ensure that the top earners in Texas are still paying less than the citizens of most other states. This revenue would help build and maintain public goods and services --schools (K-12 and higher education), healthcare for all, subsidized childcare, infrastructure, cultural institutions, civil servants -- that are commensurate with the state's population growth and potential while still keeping it a relatively low tax state for the majority of its citizens: the middle-class and working poor. Moreover, this would also allow Texas to keep corporate and business tax rates low in order to ensure that the state remains economically competitive.

Feel free to send in your money anyway, who needs to wait to be taxed?

[Westerntraveler]

I dont want a state income tax here in Texas, but I do wish our property taxes were lower.

[lepoisson]

Florida is able to have medium to low property tax rates and no income tax. I think Florida is ranked about in the middle. Why can't Texas do this? I think Florida gets most of their income from sales tax and fees for services (like license plates, titles, drivers licenses).

I've heard horror stories from people about county assessors here in Texas trying to raise taxes as high as they can.

I do not pay property tax in Texas, but I did in Missouri. Almost all of the property tax (about 80%) went to the school district, the other parts went to the fire station, police, and libraries. Very little, if any went to the state.

Where do property taxes in Texas go?

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by catman

If TX ever gets a state income tax (yikes!), I hope the property tax rates will be reduced. (Fat chance!) The state is going to get its money one way or the other.

This.

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

This.

If Texas added income tax and kept property tax at the same rates, it would go from being one of the most affordable states, to one of the most expensive.

Places like New York and California have lower property tax rates than Texas.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by lepoisson

Florida is able to have medium to low property tax rates and no income tax. I think Florida is ranked about in the middle. Why can't Texas do this? I think Florida gets most of their income from sales tax and fees for services (like license plates, titles, drivers licenses).

I've heard horror stories from people about county assessors here in Texas trying to raise taxes as high as they can.

I do not pay property tax in Texas, but I did in Missouri. Almost all of the property tax (about 80%) went to the school district, the other parts went to the fire station, police, and libraries. Very little, if any went to the state.

Where do property taxes in Texas go?

I think a lot of the property taxes in Texas go to the school districts.
-WT