We support these incremental steps toward the ultimate abolition of property tax:
a) Amend the school finance formulas to reduce the Local Fund Assignment so that it is phased out completely in twelve (12) years, funding Tier I entirely from state revenue, and ending the Robin Hood system of school finance. (S, L)
b) Replace the appraisal system with a system that values property at the purchase price, thus negating the need for an appraisal district. (S, L)
c) Require appraisal districts to publish the amount of property taxes and appraisals attributable to each rental unit. (S, L)
d) Limit annual increase on Texas ISD property taxes that Texas ISD property tax revenues shall increase no more than the no-new-revenue rate of 2% per year. This increase shall include the addition of any and all school bond issuances, existing and future, within the school district. (S, L)
e) Close the loophole called the “Unused Increment Rate,” which allows taxing entities to bypass recently added limits to increases in property taxes. (S, L)
f) The Texas Legislature should require the Texas Comptroller and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide a report, as ordered by the courts, of the spending of funds earmarked for accountability, and to disclose any surplus. (S, L)
g) Account for New Minerals so that the New Minerals are treated in the same fashion as New Improvements (that are added to the tax base) when calculating the no-new-revenue tax rate for counties. (S, L)
h) No property taxes shall be collected on private properties, including homesteads, fees simple, and land patented lands, and excluding leases, licenses, and permits on publicly owned lands. (S, L)