It's Not Just A Houston Problem
Houston-area county sees explosive property tax increases (Jeff Ehling, KTRK-13)
You've probably seen the television ads from Governor Rick Perry announcing property tax relief. Well there is one community that is not seeing it.
In some cases those appraisals are up tens of thousands of dollars. It's happening in Wharton County where property tax values are going up, but appraisals have stayed the same for 20 years, until now.
"It's gone nuts, they've gone nuts," said Floyd Fisher of El Campo.
Floyd Fisher's property tax appraisal has him angry. The Wharton County resident says his small piece of land in el campo saw a huge increase this year.
"I had a piece of property that went from $17,000 to $235,000," Fisher said.
And he's not alone, the Wharton County Chief Appraiser says every acre of land and every residential home in the county has been reassessed at the current market value. That is something that had not been done in 20 years.
"I don't believe that property values were at market value," said Wharton County Chief Appraiser Tylene Gamble.
[snip]
People who live in Wharton County say they are not taking these increases lightly and they are even appealing to the governor for help.
"Governor Perry, you better care, because I'm going to tell you the voters, they've had it," Fisher said.
Governor Perry and allies may have ensured the governor's re-election this fall with their education/tax package, but the property-tax revolt is building, as this fine story by KTRK's consumer reporter Jeff Ehling illustrates.
I'm guessing there are quite a few Floyd Fishers across the state who are getting grumpier and grumpier with the crew in charge.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/07/06 11:17 | Texas | Technorati
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Comments
$17,000 to $235,000???
OH MY GOODNESS!
In that ridiculous new ad of his, Rick Perry says something about the new tax bill including "effective appraisal caps," which is completely bogus.
They think (hope?) we are either too dumb to see through what they are doing, or we aren't paying attention. One of these days they'll figure out they're wrong.
Posted by anne @ 11:45 on 06/07/06
I'm not so sure most people are paying attention, although when the average homeowner gets their gigantic $150 tax "relief," they're liable to start paying attention. Of course, by then, the elections will be over and the regular session of the legislature will be in session, where they'll be raising the incredibly regressive sales tax (already nearly the highest in the country) to cover the shortfall they just created. Either that, or cutting our already pathetic social services to put us on a par with a third world country.
In all fairness, the tax system is marginally fairer in that at least some businesses now pay more of the burden, although the businesses that are now paying are disproportionately small businesses and not the large corporations.
The Lone Star Project (OK, it's a fairly liberal outfit, I admit it) did a check on the Perry ad and discovered that it's largely distortions. You can check it out at http://www.lonestarproject.net
Their facts are backed up by the Legislative Budget Board, the nonpartisan arm of the legislature that does the math for the lege.
Posted by another precinct chair @ 15:31 on 06/07/06
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