Reminder: Dog and pony show today!
by David Benzion · 11/15/2006 9:25 amDon’t forget– today’s the day you get to bitch and moan about property taxes to the government’s face, and not just online or over the phone.
Governor Perry’s Appraisal Reform Commission will be meeting today from 2-5 p.m. in Jones Hall on the campus of the University of St. Thomas, 3910 Yoakum Blvd (here’s a map).
Paul Bettencourt and Dan Patrick are scheduled to speak right off the bat, so you’ll want to be there early to not miss that show.
If anyone wants to head down there with some wireless email capability, we’ll name you “LST’s Roving Correspondent” for the day and publish your updates. Let us know– lsteditors AT gmail.com.
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Is it funny that these meetings always occur during office hours of WORKING individuals? Is that by design?
I’d better get back to work so I can pay my bloated tax bill.
Keep my job by staying at work or lose my job but maybe get may taxes lowered by going to “the Show”…hmmm. What’s with the 2:00- 5:00 time? Only Katrina-ites and the un-employed can go at those hours, and they probably don’t care about a cap on property taxes since they don’t have property and probably don’t have to pay taxes.
#1 Zippy
Duh. I know you’re not getting it JUST now, are you? Since when would any government person/committe/entity/idiot want to willingly expose itself for review by a large number of voting taxpayers?
#3 tedtam
Nah.. I’ve gotten it for a LONG time. I was just stating the obvious.
Although it’s got me thinking. I should quit my job, move into government housing, get on food stamps, get on welfare so I can tell them how those evil rich people don’t pay enough taxes.
When I bought My home in 1987 My monthly payment including Principle, Intrest, Taxes, and Insurance was $571.00 per month.
Last year I paid the Government $320.03 per month to rent my house.
This Pauken character’s idea of property tax reform is to INCREASE the sales tax by .5%! WTF are these people thinking. Oh, I’m sorry, thinking isn’t part of the equation. This BS panel has apparently brought the class warfare card as ammunition also. Appraisal caps penalize the poor and unfairly benefit the “rich”. C’mon comrades, stick to the script, soon we’ll all be equal - equally poor. There’s a line in a song “Tax the rich, feed the poor - till there are no rich no more”(The Who - Lucky Man). Well folks, that’s where we are headin. See R. Casey’s article in today’s Comical.
# 5, I know what your going through, My principle and intrest are 303.00 a month, my taxes are 376.00 a month - 73.00 higher that my P&I
I figured out using current appraisal increases each year that by the time I retire in 15 years my tax bill alone will be 1180.00 a month and I will still have 5 years left of P & I, By 70 years old I will be paying over 1500.00 a month in taxes.
Social security sends an estimate of how much you would make upon retirement, Mine is about 2000.00 a month - so if I am paying 1500 out in property taxes alone. and my retirement from my company disapears like has happened for many people, I would lose my home to taxes.
And if I take off work to go to this dog and pony show which we know will NOT help ua at all, I can be assured I’ll have no corporate retirement pay.
We do not own our homes - the state of texas does and we just rent them.
If we rent an apartment they do the maintenence. My dishwasher quit, do you think the state of texas will replace it, also they need to come paint the house. If they own it they should maintaine it
#8 no our houses are not owned by the state of Texas but the state of Mexas.
#7
I know it is dog and pony show but I intend to at least show up. If for no other reason than to see Paul Bettencourt put the commision though their paces and shoot down all the reasons they are trying to manufacture to keep from having to recommend a 3 percent tax cap.
#6
The song is “I’d Love To Change The World” by Ten Years After, but you were close.
Lucky Man was by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
Regarding the dog & pony show, anyone can bitch and moan, they need ideas.
#11 GOPBob
What kind of “ideas”? Other sources of money? Other tax sources? More red light camera ideas? Speed cameras to raise revenue?
I’ve an idea. How about stop spending so much of my money on social services?! That’s a pretty good idea to start. Stop giving away money to businesses (hotels) who don’t pay it back. Stop building stadiums for billionaires. Stop funding day labour sites. Stop funding public health clinics for the illegal aliens. I’m full of useful ideas, but I don’t think it would go over so well since they would no longer get the reciprocal political favors.
#12
Good start! I’m just saying that going there to bitch & moan isn’t going to get it.
Just don’t start raising anything but the American flag.
#11 I guess I can’t name that tune in three notes or less. Thanks for correcting me. I do have an idea, however. How about honesty and integrity for a change. No more lies about property tax cuts that can’t be deposited in a bank account. Fair and honest dialogue with the taxpayers in a time of record surplus. Start with accurate quantification of the surplus and open admission of its very existence. The electorate is sick and tired of disingenous politicians parading around boasting about never having voted for a tax increase, all the while knowing the system in place has been paying off like a slot machine. How about elected appraisal board members and honesty in tax revenue collections. Make the taxing authorities disclose the revenue increases year to year and either 1) return the excess over rate of population growth and inflation or 2) require a vote annually to increase the revenues above that rate. Stop taxing property owners on unrecognized gains. Extend a cap to all real property, not just homesteads. How about consolidation of school districts, recognizing economies of scale and eliminating LOTS of administrative positions. What about choice? Why does the money not follow the student?(I guess because the unions say so) I could go on and on.
harris county gave a 500 million tax concession for the folks that bought the enron building to elimanate back taxes - if you buy a home at a tax auction the first thing you do is pay the taxes - what the hell happened here.
this is crap and we let it go!!!!
you politicians at wprk for who?
rename Texas to Mexas for the giveaways.
At least Metro has their meetings at 6:30pm. What is the point of having a meeting during working hours?
I can see it now, the Barnacle will report that a small group of ‘Senior Citizens’ appeared at the meeting to complain about property taxes….and never mention that it was held during working hours.
Did anyone catch that Casey guy in the comical, quoting Fred Hill? How can tax caps transfer the burdon from the rich to the poor? I have been out of school for a long time,but, a reduction to 5% from 10% seems to help everyone. Fred Hill sounds more socialist than Hillary what’s her name.
Did anyone agree to be LST’s roving-reporter-for-a-day? Is anyone at the meeting? I’m dying to know how Dan Patrick and Paul Bettencourt’s fireworks show went!
11
Good catch GOPBOB.
Showing your age. Hee hee.
Umm…I looked through my parents albums?
uhhh, hello? Anybody heard from today’s event?
Well, I went to the dog and pony show and that is an apt description. It was pretty well attended, not crowded like I thought it would be but well attended. I left at 4:15 and there wasn’t much to talk about. Dan is going to have major trouble in Austin. At one point, the chairman told him that his time was up and instead of politely explaining that he had more to say, he went ballistic and told the guy that he wasn’t sitting down, he had been trying to get this through peoples heads for 3 years. True enough but….he probably should’ve handled it better. I was sitting in front of Senator Tommy Williams, who whispered to the guy next to him, can you believe this guy? Like I said, he’s going to have trouble.
I listened to a council woman, Paul Bettencourt, Dan, some real estate guy Dan brought, Kyle Janek, Duane Bohak, Tommy Williams, Martha Wong, Cheryl Johnson, 2 different apartment guys, the mayor of Hunters Creek and some guy named Bob Lemur (wrote Prop 2). Same ol’ same ol’, I guarantee you these guys have their minds made up. The mayor of Hunters Creek was against appraisal caps, something to do with unlisted sales. Not sure what he meant.
Yawn.
#23, Were you taking pictures from the left side, audience view, of the podium?
Well.. Nothing much new to anyone who follows the news. Paul went through the numbers. Dan did not go ballistic in my opinion. He had an applause line and the chairman tried to tell him his time was up while the audience was clapping. They raised their voices a bit but I thought to be heard through the noise. Dan did say ‘with your permission’ and finished what he had to say about property tax caps and the treatment of that subject to date. The whole thing was cordial as politics go, no shouting, no fireworks.
Cheryl Johnson had the best presentation. 50% of the homes on Tiki Island are for sale because the owners cannot afford the taxes. She went on to list property tax hike numbers in Dickinson and Texas City. Her “No more taxpayer funded lobbying” drew a cheer. She presented real numbers to make the pain real to the commissar, ah committe, er whatever.
Where is “free school lunch eatin’, SJL huggin’, evacuee chasin’” Bramanti when you need him?
Thanks to y’all who went for your accounts.
Mattzilla is probably still smoozing!
I’m still waiting for more imput as well! Squawk, did ya go? Thanks for the jiggy Bigjolly and gtotracker!
Went had to leave early.
#24
Yeah, that was me. So dark in there, I didn’t bring a big flash, my bad. A few decent pics.
#25
I didn’t hear the “with your permission” line but I did hear “I will not sit down, we’ve pushed this for a long time and I’m going to be heard”. Complete with Dan’s red face expression when he loses it. Kinda funny when Williams said what he did.
late to post, but where do these loggerheads think the tax revenue will come from when we are all taxed out of our homes? Only home owners and small business’s pay taxes.
Perhaps they will then tax us on the home we once owned.
Just a thought!
rj
#30 “Perhaps they will then tax us on the home we once owned.”
Well, don’t give them any more bright ideas. With the business tax, as the owner of a service business, I will be taxed on the finance payments for the computers and equipment my business needs for providing the services we do.
I do not recall Dan going ballistic, He was enthusiastic, and he did go over his alloted time by a couple of minutes. I thought he did a good job.