quote:
If you want older people to stay in Texas its a necessity IMO. As the system stands now older folks are subsidizing your taxes, in that almost all states pay a state income tax. In Texas this tax is mostly made up via sky high property taxes.
So you dont pay a state income tax and older folks get a small break on their property taxes. It all comes out in the wash.
Older folks NEVER PAID A STATE INCOME TAX EITHER. What you are saying here is that it was OK for the current seniors to have their taxes "subsidized" (using your logic) by the previous generation (that generation has been called "The Greatest Generation"
but the current people becoming senior citizens sure as hell don't want to do the same.
For those that want to know the effects of limiting property taxes a great example is the state of California. In 1978 they put a limit on property tax (1% of the total value). This is known as prop 13. Iniitally everybody loved this idea as it held down taxes for EVERYBODY. The problem is that this also limited the income of the state. Consequently California has a state income tax, AND a sales Tax. The other taxes have gone up incredible amounts to account for the limited income from property taxes. This has put a huge burden on the state to come up with enough money to provide the necessary services in the state let alone the additional crap that they pay for in that state. The consequences of these actions were not felt immidiately. The effects take time to show up.
While this is an extreme example of limiting property taxes it shows what can happen. They limited property taxes in the state and had to find other sources of income. This was done by INCREASING OTHER TAXES TO MAKE UP FOR IT. The sales tax in Texas and California are almost the same (7.75% vs 8.0%) The california Sales tax is always increasing. The income tax in Caliifornia has gone up drastically. I paid $400 to register my truck when I moved back to California in 2003 when I was paying $60 here.
The point of this post is that the cost of services for the seniors IS NOT BEING FROZEN and will continue to rise. If a source of revenue for the government is reduced they will ALWAYS find a way to make up for it. In this case the source will be those people that are not seniors also known as EVERYBODY ELSE.
I just wonder why seniors have been able to pay their property taxes for all these years, but NOW it is necessary to have a senior tax freeze. My grandmother grew up during the depression (limiting her options for income) but has magically been able to save enough for her retirement and now she is 93 years old. The people that are pushing for this tax freeze never had to deal with an economy nearly as bad as she did but they supposedly can't pay their taxes. This is pure selfishness on their part.
/rant
