Speaker Tom Craddick’s decision to appoint Rep. John Otto and Rep. Ken Paxton as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform respectively was an important victory for homeowners and other property owners concerned about out-of-control property taxes in Texas.

Both Otto and Paxton are knowledgeable about the problems associated with our current system of property taxation in Texas and are committed to providing sensible solutions to what Speaker Craddick calls our “soaring (property) taxes” in Texas.

Even though Gov. Perry and the Texas Legislature pushed through a one-third cut in school property taxes two years ago, local taxing entities in too many instances are taking away those property tax cuts by increasing spending far in excess of inflation plus population growth. While the state of Texas has kept its spending below a 5 per cent growth level in recent years, that is not the case with many local jurisdictions which have increased their spending eight, nine ten percent or more annually. Those increases in spending at the local level are paid for by higher property taxes. If present trends continue, that  one-third school property tax engineered by Gov. Perry, John Sharp and the Texas legislature two years ago will soon be gone.

By creating this Select Committee, Speaker Craddick is showing his commitment to real reform of our property tax and appraisal system in the next session of the Texas legislature. The Speaker has picked an excellent group of House Republicans and Democrats to serve on that Committee. It is an encouraging indication that real progress may take place in the next session of the Texas Legislature to rein in our out-of-control property taxes here in Texas.

Tom Pauken served as Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Appraisal Reform.)

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