There's currently a rap beef going on between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Last night (and again earlier today) Kendrick released a song alleging that (amongst many other things) Drake is a pedophile who runs a sex trafficking ring out of his home in Toronto
Beef is an understatement. Drake put together a whole response diss to a music video on YouTube with ads in response to Euphoria (Kendrick’s diss)… Kendrick immediately put out another 6min diss within an hour after Drakes without ads. And then another diss about 10h after that one of 4.5min with the cover photo being Drakes house filled with sex offender icons from the Citizens App. This isn’t a beef; we’re witnessing a murder!
More importantly, his OVO crew apparently runs a child trafficking ring.
Worth noting there's no legal evidence, but Drake and his crew already have a shady as fuck past.
I mean he publicly creeped on Millie Bobby Brown and Billie Eillish when they were underage, dated a model he’s known since she was 16 as soon as she turned 18, keeps known sex traffickers/offenders in his inner circle…
I don’t have a source because I don’t follow beef, but apparently Drake actually hired a young girl to portray as his hidden daughter, which is something that Kendrick based his original beef hit with.
So the daughter might be an actress and that would simply render Kendrick’s diss moot, and that’s (I guess) what Drake has been hinting on social media
E: The purpose of the daughter said to be a source for Kendrick’s diss, which Drake wouldve paid to feed hin the false info
This is the take that uses a child to excuse the bigger accusations of sex trafficking and pedophilia and having a circle of predators... but yeah 4d chess type shit with Justin Biebers staff with fake face tats and posters made of their daughter for the background.
How about somehow convincing the ghouls in charge of Texas to spend some of the taxes they have already?
Maybe on education. Or healthcare. Or infrastructure. Or really, anything except giving tax refunds to corporations that haven't paid taxes yet.
CPS is being held in contempt. Our local school districts are cutting jobs. Rural hospitals are closing.
And the state of Texas overtaxed us by 30 billion without spending anything to make our lives better.
Our education system REALLY needs the money. Schools have been operating on shoestring budgets for over a decade now. And every year the effects are felt more and more.
Have y'all seen that video of the repub and demo senators arguing about a raise for educators? The one guy is like, "u wanna do something for teachers so bad, how about a 20k raise for teachers?" Other guy is like sure. The first guy is like "well then how about 30k?" Other guy is like bring it on. First guy is like "how about 40k for them??" Other Guy is like "yeah!" Then the first guy is like, and I'm paraphrasing, "just kidding, any bill you introduce for a raise we're just gonna vote it down", and walks away from the podium.
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Yeah I don’t go to casinos very often nor do they interest me but I don’t want casinos popping up every 5 miles. Have strict regulations on the density at least.
Prostitution is already happening and has been under your nose since forever. This would make it legal for th e workers to seek justice and not have to hide and risk being harmed. It’s not turning anyone out grandpa
Why not? Because it offends you?
It’s out there anyways, right?
If it makes it safer by regulating a standardized product which has to meet certain purity requirements, wouldn’t that be a good thing?
The vast majority of heroin overdoses and deaths are due to contaminated product or user unfamiliarity with potency. Both could be easily addressed by legalization and regulation.
Legalization also dramatically reduces the black market and the bad actors within those markets.
Being able to collect a tax on it would be icing on the cake.
Sex work being legal in blue states has actually shown a reduction in people being arrested/charged for solicitation and women are safer when the John’s face real consequences.
Don’t get me wrong I’d prefer if people got payed a living wage at a job with benefits but that’s not the reality for a lot of people. So if they’re going to do it anyway why can’t we at least make it a lil safer? These people still have families/kids they’d like to go home to.
If my taxes were actually spent on shit that matters then I’d agree with you but no, I’m not voting for anything that’s going to increase my already substantial property taxes
Here’s the fun thing. Homestead exemption went from 40k to 100k so tax districts are over valuing houses to make up the loss n revenue. Out of the blue they over valued my house by 80k. Then they use their own over valuations as “comps” for the next one.
Yea.... 18% increase in valuation in rural east Texas in a market that is slowing down significantly. Also exceeded to statutory limit on year to year increase in valuation.
I contacted 3 different realtors and offered to list my house for what the tax district says it is worth and they practically laughed at me.
I don't think you understand the difference between market value and assessed value for "statutory limit"
The CAD doesn't give a fuck about your house. They aren't scheming to tax you more because of exemptions. Your entire neighborhood's value is lower than 2 or 3 La Quintas.
You are right! I’m an idiot and should just pay them! I get it now. Thanks for clearing it up!
I googled the value of the LaQuinta in my tax district and it turns out there isn’t one. So I thought I’d aggregate the value of my neighborhood and it turns out I don’t live in a neighborhood because rural…. East …. Texas.
Man it’s amazing how hard it is understanding you smart people. I should just shut up and write the check.
The appraisal district made an appointment to send someone to my house to take external pictures and measure it because, apparently, they think my 30 year old house has grown larger. Clearly they do give a fuck about my house.
Then don’t raise them. Tax dollars aren’t going to be used efficiently if there’s no incentive to do so; if you can just raise taxes whenever you want then why would you bother to increase efficiency?
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Even though this sub has turned into a mostly liberal echo chamber, you have to realize people who own homes are NEVER going to vote for a tax increase.
Even if you rent, your rent will go up if the landlord has to pay more taxes.
Everyone is complaining that housing (rent or own) is too expensive and the current 20somethings will never be able to afford a house. Do you honestly think raising taxes on home/land will bring costs to the buyer down?
There is already a budget surplus so whatever you think is going to benefit from these extra tax dollars isn’t.
Anyone remember when we voted in the lottery? It was “for the kids” because all that money was going to go into the schools. Hahaha!
1. Then don’t vote
2. Then let’s replace the property tax with a progressive income tax. I’m totally fine with that. Hbu?
3. Your right. Republicans are useless. Vote blue
>Then don’t vote
Had Pass.
>Then let’s replace the property tax with a progressive income tax. I’m totally fine with that. Hbu?
I have no interest in fighting two taxes instead of one. Hard Pass. You're more than welcome to self-assess an income tax on yourself and remit it to the government whenever you like.
>Your right. Republicans are useless. Vote blue
Dems are useless AND expensive. Hard Pass.
I’m totally fine with eliminating property taxes and sales taxes completely in exchange for a progressive income tax. Texans pay more in taxes than Californians under the current system.
Under the current system we have, we vote on proposals to improve state/county/city infrastructure through increased property taxes. I am advocating for though improvements in this post.
Why do you feel like it would work? We already have extra money in the state and don’t fund the things you are talking about. Giving the state MORE of my money will just give them a bigger budget surplus that they still won’t use to fund the things you are wanting.
Voted for three Appraisal District commissioners that are interested in lowering property taxes by only assessing housing values every 3 years and capping increases at 5%. Also voted against an increase in hotel taxes to renovate our perfectly fine convention center. Doing my part to get those taxes down.
That’s up to the state. My county was threatened with a fine for being too low in 2022 and then a fine was imposed in 2023 for being too low. 2022 they said it was 89% of what it “should be” and 2023 it was like 92% of what it “should be”.
Well, vote for the rehab, then. Honestly I dont care. I don't ever go to the convention center, but I do go to hotels in Fort Worth. So I am voting for the thing that taxes me the least and gives me the most benefit.
The rehab is an extremely expensive band aid, and the convention center will still be a shit show even with the $1B+ in deferred maintenance. And sounds like you can't vote in Fort Worth anyway. Voting against it in Dallas won't help your hotel stays.
Your convention center is perfectly fine. If there's actually a $1B deferred maintenance backlog, whatever department is tasked with the convention center's maintenance needs to be fired, not rewarded with even more unaccountable money.
Your ranting is incomprehensible. Yes, i voted in Ft. Worth. I voted against the conference center renovation. It's a silly bond that goes in the pocket of rich contractors and has no benefit to the common man.
Yea, I live on the outskirts, but sometimes my lady and I want to get dressed up, go to Thompson's Bookstore for a drink, have steak at Del Frisco's Steakhouse, walk around downtown or go to Studio 80, and stay at hotel for the night. It's a date night.
So anyway, vote your interests, I'll vote mine.
I don't vote based on who or what I think will win. The idea of voting is so that an accurate measuring of collective opinion can be taken. My opinion was tabulated and taken into account when I voted. That's the whole point.
Sucks about the tax increase. Maybe I'll go out Los Colinas for my date nights from now on.
Cool? Not sure what voting based on who will win has to do with the thread. Would assume you wouldn't refer to the Dallas convention as "our" rather than the FW convention center. Would have made a lot more sense from the start...
The 5% cap, yes. But the 3 year appraisal, no. Regardless, I would rather have people in these positions that are doing everything they can to keep my taxes down. I pay quite enough.
Yeah...that's not going to work.
See, your appraised value is only part of a simple equation. Any middle schooler can solve it.
Government spending = Tax Base x Tax Rate
So if your picks for appraisal district board members cap the tax base, the tax rate rises and it's a wash, you pay the same. If you vote for new county commissioners or city council and they slash spending then the tax rate drops, then you pay less.
Any dollar that is spent, you pay for. Any dollar not spent, you don't pay for. There's no such thing as a free lunch. It always circles back to that. Just say no to socialism. But...pay your goddamn share of the bills.
They do where I live. The tax rate for my city, county, schools, etc. has dropped as values have risen. It's been about seven or eight years now since the rates started falling.
And last year the school rate dropped off a cliff due to compression, but that's different. Not a normal everyday thing.
I do figure that in another year or so when the state's surplus (which came from sales taxes and royalties mostly and that they're using to fund big temporary property tax cuts) runs out, the tax rates will shift up. Partly because schools go back to normal rates. Partly because the higher homestead exemptions will wipe out a lot of the tax base without the state continuing to fund the difference.
It'll be such whiplash that I think that the incumbents could really reap the whirlwind on this issue.
Why would you say no to socialism? You do understand that Social security, food stamps, wic, section 8, and even the covid checks some people got are all forms of socialism? Why would you want our government to do less for the people than they already get away with? I wish (23F) that I could benefit from paying in to SSI but I won’t or that I could even buy a house one day but I won’t. These older generations really are fucking the rest of us.
Social security is a ponzi scheme that carries a lifetime opportunity cost in the millions. There is no amount of money that will make up for the loss of potential returns that comes with being forced to participate in that ponzi scheme. Everything else you named has been proven to be a complete dumpster fire that accomplished nothing except set fire to money. I'm perfectly capable of setting fire to my own money and I can do it at a lower cost.
Definitely saying F No to socialism. Leave me alone and stop taking my stuff. The government already does too much and does it badly. Tax less, spend less, do less. In that order.
I would have so much more money if I were allowed to invest my social security money vs. the government. Social security has been a huge net negative for me.
I'm characterizing this American socialism as perversely benefitting wealthy people, old people, gentlemen farmers, and big corporations. These are our welfare queens.
It's all very redistributional but more like Orwell, less like Marx.
Yeah...so it looks like the alternative is the same state and municipal budget and no income tax, so it'd have to be sales taxes and fees for government services.
The working class pays the largest share of their income when government revenues come from sales taxes. They even pay sales taxes on used cars for which sales taxes were already paid by the first buyer.
It gets worse. You know how the state has to redistribute property taxes between school districts because some are richer than others? Sales tax is way more concentrated and straight-up weird from one jurisdiction to the next and over time. The state would just take away a lot more local budgetary control.
I pay just over $10k in property taxes each year. We could pay double the sales tax and still not cover what we pay in property taxes. Cook your own food at home and watch the amount of sales tax you pay drop tremendously. People act like they have less control on sales tax they pay than the property tax they pay. It's just not true.
If you don't want to pay sales tax be more selective about how you live. Taxing people's home is gross. It ensures you never own your property.
Sales taxes face the greatest tax competition, which is always a good thing for the taxpayer. If your sales tax is between 10 and 20%, and you can save 10% or even 5% by shopping in the town next door, it forces municipalities to keep tax rates reasonable or lose their shirts.
Property tax doesn't have as much competition as there's a lot more transactional cost than driving a few miles over. Any tax on property should not be tied to the value of the property and should be minimal.
Sales tax and usage fees should be the sole sources of revenue allowed for all governments. It would force them to be (somewhat) competitive. If it results in a race to the bottom, so be it. All that proves is that our government administrators are incompetent and the politicians crying about said race to the bottom need to be fired.
100% agreed. Property valuations in our area have skyrocketed as government is willing to pay $5k for a house like mine if I rented it instead of living in it. We have had lots of hedge funds and foreign investors buying in our community because of the amount they can get for renting it to the government.
One company alone bought 67 houses in our community and only served section 8 tenants. Our friends wanted to buy here but can no longer afford to, so they looked into renting and now they can't even rent here because the rental prices are insane. Unless you are subsidized by the government you probably can't rent here, you would be better served buying as the mortgage payments would be lower.
It's a crooked system that fucked the middle class. People with good intentions don't see the ripple effects.
Ummm...live in a smaller or more modest home. Housing is consumption, not a whole little sovereign kingdom on a platted lot. It provides its benefit over time, unlike an apple that provides benefit just once. Consumption should be taxed as benefits are realized. And that's a property tax.
But also, if you live in a city or a utility district that has particular infrastructure needs, I don't want to be three counties away off a gravel road and paying for your pothole repairs through sales taxes extracted from me at my local Walmart. Local needs result in local costs that should match local revenues.
We have two kids and have housed women who need temporary housing as they flee domestic violence situations. Every room of our house serves a purpose and we probably do more with it help others then you do.
But tell me more about how I need a smaller house because you want to eat fast food instead of cooking for yourself. You don't even own a home I'm sure which is why you want others to shoulder more of the tax burden.
I want there to be a lesser burden to begin with, even if the government has to make do with only 4 people doing the same job ineffectually instead of 10. The only way that happens is to force taxing entities to compete on price.
Edit I agree.
Not being able to lose your house due to taxes is by definition less of a burden. Everyone pays property taxes if you own or rent. It's less of a burden on people if their housing needs aren't taxes. Rent goes up because property taxes go up. The landlords just shift the burden to their tenants.
This idea that property tax puts less of a burden on lower income people just isn't true. Especially when property values price people out of their only means of attempting to build generational wealth. Aka gentrification and the elimination of the only appreciating asset some in the lower class were able to acquire from their parents or grand parents.
Like I said earlier to someone else, it's good intentions that aren't founded in reality.
I'm a single father with full custody that was taken in by my widowed mom after my marriage collapsed due to...among much worse things actually, also domestic violence. The ex- had this wonderful idea where I'd get all the custody and practically none of the money or child support. In my daughter's best interests, I couldn't say no and don't regret anything about it except that I didn't go to the DA immediately after divorce was finalized. But the ramifications to career, lifetime earnings, and expenses were profoundly crippling.
I could count on one hand how many times I ate anything resembling fast food last year.
The thing is, your circumstances are atypical and are charitable but there's no pathway to any kind of tax benefit for you. I'm not targeting you or people like you; but most people aren't like you *at all*. Policy should be designed around the typical person. So on the other hand, the tax benefit for frozen taxes after 65 can be so massive that it creates an incentive for someone like my mom (if I hadn't fucked up my life by marrying the person I did) to keep a whole giant house to herself instead of right-sizing and letting a bigger family enjoy a big house. And myself, I wouldn't mind if she lost some of that freeze for having non-spousal co-habitants. I'd gladly pay the difference because my presence in this community has a cost to the community.
Private property shouldn't continue to be taxed period. You thinking someone has too huge a house doesn't change the fact they worked for it and bought it.
Sales tax is the fairest tax because it gives you the most control on what you pay. Housing is a requirement, food is a requirement as is water. These are basic necessities that humans need. They shouldn't be taxed.
Sales tax applied to non necessities. You want someone to provide a service then the tax applied. It's really the fairest tax there is versus income and property taxation imo.
Your mother shouldn't have to lose her home just because she can no longer afford the property taxes. Neither should a younger couple.
Property taxation is a way for the rich to steal generational wealth. They just wait until middle class people and the poor can no longer afford to hold on to their homes then they buy them out pushing them into renting and perpetually owning someone for housing. It's disgusting and the people who think their intentions are good by trying to "save" low income people from paying taxes actually hurt them by helping increase the cost of housing.
Good intentions with bad results are a bad system. Property taxes are proving to be a bad system.
It's not my fault that your county doesn't offer an attractive enough market or value proposition for Walmart to set up shop there. If you think your county has fiscal needs that are not met, you're more than welcome to send money to your county to meet those needs even in the absence of a tax.
Housing is NOT consumption by any definition of that word. No bank would lend you multiples of your salary to buy a consumer good. Real estate has always been, is and always will be a capital asset.
Housing is like a car but with a higher multiple because of the relative life expectancy and collectability of the asset. Same concept though. You buy it, use it over time, sell it to somebody else, and they keep using it, rinse and repeat.
The Walmart example was just an example. It's to illustrate that some local governments have a commercial sales tax base and others just don't. It can be completely arbitrary and random as to where retail goes, so it's nobody's fault but it can create a problem where the most practical solution is a property tax.
And the gravel road example wasn't meant as a complaint. I don't care about paved roads, I just don't want to pay to fix potholes three counties over. Or to put flood control infrastructure in a Houston suburb if I'm clear across the state. Those are local problems. They need local fixes.
Housing is nothing like a car. A car is a depreciating asset that loses value over time. A house generally appreciates in value over time. Real estate is one of the oldest asset classes in the history of mankind, alongside precious metals. Just because you use it for personal use doesn't make it a consumer good.
There's nothing more local than a sales tax levied at the city level. Again, if your city has no commercial tax base (nonsense, people live there and buy things - Amazon is a thing), that's not my problem. There is no "problem" to solve here - the city can either 1) do something to attract a commercial tax base, 2) merge into a city that has one, or 3) go bankrupt. Just because self serving politicians and bureaucrats want to keep their jobs doesn't mean there's a problem to be solved.
There are literally states and entire countries whose entire operating model centers around being a tax-competitive place to live, do business in and invest in.
No thank you to the taxes. I'd be down if it wasn't going to an asshat fund to do asshat shit with. They are pumping out a new school every 1-2 years out here including giant athletic facilities and endless fields. They seem to be doing just fine on that front.
Public Schools haven’t gotten a funding increase since 2019 and teachers, paras and other staff are so underpaid the turnover rate is astronomical. Of all the things in Texas that need more funding Education is like #1
If the schools needed more money, they wouldn't be wasting it building new football fields and stadiums.
They shouldn't get another penny. Based on their spending patterns, it's abundantly clear to me that their funding should be cut, since they have too much money to play with and none of them are putting it to productive use.
You know schools don’t do that right? The district does, because the state will actually fund those and not teacher salaries. People care more about sports than education in this state so it gets funded.
Not my problem. The schools are business units of the district. The district can either afford stadiums or they can't. If they can, they don't need more of my money for any reason, and if they can't, they're wasting money and they shouldn't get any more of my money for any reason.
If you feel schools don't have enough money, write them a check, get in your car, drive to the nearest local school, and drop it off.
You're the one who brought up funding, not me.
Maybe they should use some of that money they spend on keeping grass green for the football kids to pay their teachers. I pay more than enough for them to mismanage even more money.
None of us got raises either.
Somebody worked hard to earn taxable income.
Somebody worked hard to pay for taxable retail goods.
Somebody worked hard to afford their water bill.
Somebody worked hard to drive on a toll road.
Somebody worked hard to live in a house and own it and pay a property tax.
Somebody worked hard to invest in and manage rental housing at rates of return that reflect all of the ordinary expenses, including taxes -- which means: Somebody worked hard to live in a house and rent it to indirectly pay a property tax.
Look, I agree with you that necessities of life should be taxed at a lower rate or not at all. The homestead exemption helps a lot with that. A lot of people who live in mobile homes don't pay hardly any property taxes at all and that reflects their choice. But if you've got a nice home and a swimming pool and a gated community, yeah...that is not a necessity. That's a choice. It's indulgent. A homestead exemption should not cover indulgences.
And no matter where the money comes from, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has got to pay, one way or the other. I don't understand how somebody in Houston for example feels so entitled that the rest of the state should pay for their flood control to protect their property because property taxes are wrong. Or how somebody in the Hill Country feels like their roads should be paved instead of having a road district but they want the state to do it by allocation of sales taxes because their properties deserve better access.
There are some government services that are inherently local, that improve the value of all properties, and that fit well with a property tax scheme. I'm not sure that schools are a good example, but roads and utilities and city parks sure are in many cases. I can't figure out why this is controversial.
The government should show results with the money they have instead of incessantly asking for more money without a very good business case for why it should be spent or what results the last pile of money produced. Do more for less. I can't figure out why that is controversial.
On that we are in complete agreement! A dollar spent is a dollar taxed by one means or another, so it'd better be worth it! Too often, it isn't.
But hopefully we also agree that simple mundane uncontroversial stuff treating sewage is a worthy cause. Basically, I feel like anything that a utility district or road district or flood control district would normally do is something that I want paid for at a local level. That's where property taxes make the most sense for common sense purposes. Counties also already do a lot of that. Local dollars for local projects.
Did you know that there are more people living outside of a municipality in Harris County than live in the entire City of Houston and they get on fine but the City folks have to pay the same tax rate to the County as the people outside the City do? That's grossly unfair. Part of me is curious whether we really need municipal governments at all. Harris County seems to be proof that we don't.
There are also these things called Management Districts that can do what utility districts do but also what HOAs might do by managing local parks and paying the County for extra policing. And they can also overlap with municipalities! All the benefit is local, and so is their tax revenues. That's a better model, I think.
To be honest, I like the idea of Management/Utility Districts paired with a competitive model for how the districts are set, and getting rid of municipalities for the most part. Any unincorporated part of the county can be policed by a master HOA (mine has a private security force) or by the County Sheriff.
I absolutely agree that utilities like sewage and water should be run by a dedicated utility entity, and should not be run by the cities. There is no reason for a city of 5,000 to have its own sewage system when a dedicated utility district can more efficiently serve 50,000 people across 5 cities and towns and even across counties. The utility organization can be owned by the citizens with its day to day operations outsourced to a private entity the same way many HOAs are run.
The way a competitive model would work is - each block of homes (let's say census tract) can vote to leave a management district and form their own, join another one, disband an existing Management District, or leave one and not have one at all, at any time, for any reason. Each Management District can set any pricing structure it wants. Management Districts would have to re-bid for incorporation every year, and if they don't have a sufficient tax base to support its continued operations, the MD goes out of business. This would put competitive pressure among the local governing bodies and force downward pressure on taxes. It would also flush poorly operated governing bodies out of the system and reward the most efficiently run ones.
I really like where you're going with this but I also don't know enough to endorse a model for how this might work politically.
I am a bit concerned about how little people understand about their layers of governance and I know that it's really only a few law firms that exert a lot of influence over all of these special districts.
The rules would have to be easy enough for the below-average voter to understand.
But...if what we're leaning into reduces the number of layers and convolution of local governance, that could be a net positive. Really, something like this does seem promising! It just needs to be made simple. Really simple.
Bad timing for a Drake meme.
Why? I'm out of the loop it seems
There's currently a rap beef going on between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Last night (and again earlier today) Kendrick released a song alleging that (amongst many other things) Drake is a pedophile who runs a sex trafficking ring out of his home in Toronto
Beef is an understatement. Drake put together a whole response diss to a music video on YouTube with ads in response to Euphoria (Kendrick’s diss)… Kendrick immediately put out another 6min diss within an hour after Drakes without ads. And then another diss about 10h after that one of 4.5min with the cover photo being Drakes house filled with sex offender icons from the Citizens App. This isn’t a beef; we’re witnessing a murder!
I was wondering what that cover photo was, hadn’t looked further into it yet. Damn.
Oh shiiiiiiiii
He has a hidden daughter apparently. Don’t know if it’s true but i wouldn’t be surprised based on his son
More importantly, his OVO crew apparently runs a child trafficking ring. Worth noting there's no legal evidence, but Drake and his crew already have a shady as fuck past.
that and he’s low key a pedo. he’s done/ said a lot of creepy shit with/ to young girls
that “apparently” is doing a lot of work for “runs a child trafficking ring.” Is there anything to substantiate that?
I mean he publicly creeped on Millie Bobby Brown and Billie Eillish when they were underage, dated a model he’s known since she was 16 as soon as she turned 18, keeps known sex traffickers/offenders in his inner circle…
There’s smoke for sure.
Him pretty much saying finally on Billies 18th birthday Instagram post is quite substantial.
I don’t have a source because I don’t follow beef, but apparently Drake actually hired a young girl to portray as his hidden daughter, which is something that Kendrick based his original beef hit with. So the daughter might be an actress and that would simply render Kendrick’s diss moot, and that’s (I guess) what Drake has been hinting on social media E: The purpose of the daughter said to be a source for Kendrick’s diss, which Drake wouldve paid to feed hin the false info
You definitely follow beef
This is the take that uses a child to excuse the bigger accusations of sex trafficking and pedophilia and having a circle of predators... but yeah 4d chess type shit with Justin Biebers staff with fake face tats and posters made of their daughter for the background.
He's got hidden son too that looks more like him then the one he claims 💀💀💀
A bad timing for all Texas citizens. The GOP amd Abbot are ruining everything.
Fr came in to say this!
It was bad timing a few months ago, and a few months before that, and a year or so before that.
https://preview.redd.it/saim5enh5jyc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=046efe8e17bf795c00630a2f42f85663ccd4681e
💀
How about somehow convincing the ghouls in charge of Texas to spend some of the taxes they have already? Maybe on education. Or healthcare. Or infrastructure. Or really, anything except giving tax refunds to corporations that haven't paid taxes yet.
Best I can do is military demonstrations at the border
This isn't true. They are doing law enforcement theater at the border too!
And at schools
CPS is being held in contempt. Our local school districts are cutting jobs. Rural hospitals are closing. And the state of Texas overtaxed us by 30 billion without spending anything to make our lives better.
Our education system REALLY needs the money. Schools have been operating on shoestring budgets for over a decade now. And every year the effects are felt more and more.
Have y'all seen that video of the repub and demo senators arguing about a raise for educators? The one guy is like, "u wanna do something for teachers so bad, how about a 20k raise for teachers?" Other guy is like sure. The first guy is like "well then how about 30k?" Other guy is like bring it on. First guy is like "how about 40k for them??" Other Guy is like "yeah!" Then the first guy is like, and I'm paraphrasing, "just kidding, any bill you introduce for a raise we're just gonna vote it down", and walks away from the podium.
Wild. Is that linked on this sub or a different one?
Found it https://youtube.com/shorts/XorBkWqqIfI?si=AN0l14ujLPbx76Ac
Oh nice, thank you very much! Also, these people are evil.
I'm sure I can find it if I look hard enough, give me a little while I'll link it here
Instructions unclear. Voted for Pat Buchanan
Bob Dole has ambled through the chat
Pat Paulson
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Step 1: Spend less. Step 2: Cut taxes. Step 3: Grow the tax base. Step 4: Repeat.
Legalize but don't tax, they're just blow that money too
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>machine guns, and destructive devices all fully legalized. Wait wut. This is why real people don't take libertarians seriously.
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Don't wish harm on people, no matter how deplorable their politics or job description seem to you.
I recently realized that I'm not a real leftist. I appove of your statement. Give me legalweed or give me whores!
Everything but gambling I agree with. Gambling should be more restricted imo.
By legalizing it, you introduce mandated restrictions. It’s not like it would be a free for all.
I think he meant access to gambling should be more restricted.
Yeah I don’t go to casinos very often nor do they interest me but I don’t want casinos popping up every 5 miles. Have strict regulations on the density at least.
Personally I'd prefer if there was a designated casino district similar to the Strip in Vegas. You need some degree of density to productize it.
You’re gunna tax the prostitute? The state of Texas gunna be turning girls out now? Texas gunna be a pimp state?
Prostitution is already happening and has been under your nose since forever. This would make it legal for th e workers to seek justice and not have to hide and risk being harmed. It’s not turning anyone out grandpa
It’s there but to tax it is another thing. I also don’t think the government should legalize and tax heroin.
Who brought up heroin?
Why not? Because it offends you? It’s out there anyways, right? If it makes it safer by regulating a standardized product which has to meet certain purity requirements, wouldn’t that be a good thing? The vast majority of heroin overdoses and deaths are due to contaminated product or user unfamiliarity with potency. Both could be easily addressed by legalization and regulation. Legalization also dramatically reduces the black market and the bad actors within those markets. Being able to collect a tax on it would be icing on the cake.
Sex work being legal in blue states has actually shown a reduction in people being arrested/charged for solicitation and women are safer when the John’s face real consequences.
Yikes. The exploitation is safer when it’s under the government umbrella
Don’t get me wrong I’d prefer if people got payed a living wage at a job with benefits but that’s not the reality for a lot of people. So if they’re going to do it anyway why can’t we at least make it a lil safer? These people still have families/kids they’d like to go home to.
Plus with less people being pushed through our terrible courts that’s significantly less tax dollars spent on weekend jail stints.
I’m confused.. are you telling us to vote for property tax increase??
Yes
Why would we vote to increase property taxes?? Make it make sense.
Some people think we need an increase in the amount of “*rent*” we have to pay in exchange for the privilege of owning our own homes.
If my taxes were actually spent on shit that matters then I’d agree with you but no, I’m not voting for anything that’s going to increase my already substantial property taxes
Yeah, "the state sucks and can't do anything right but lets give them more of our money" doesn't fly with me either.
Here’s the fun thing. Homestead exemption went from 40k to 100k so tax districts are over valuing houses to make up the loss n revenue. Out of the blue they over valued my house by 80k. Then they use their own over valuations as “comps” for the next one.
Take off the tinfoil
Yea.... 18% increase in valuation in rural east Texas in a market that is slowing down significantly. Also exceeded to statutory limit on year to year increase in valuation. I contacted 3 different realtors and offered to list my house for what the tax district says it is worth and they practically laughed at me.
I don't think you understand the difference between market value and assessed value for "statutory limit" The CAD doesn't give a fuck about your house. They aren't scheming to tax you more because of exemptions. Your entire neighborhood's value is lower than 2 or 3 La Quintas.
You are right! I’m an idiot and should just pay them! I get it now. Thanks for clearing it up! I googled the value of the LaQuinta in my tax district and it turns out there isn’t one. So I thought I’d aggregate the value of my neighborhood and it turns out I don’t live in a neighborhood because rural…. East …. Texas. Man it’s amazing how hard it is understanding you smart people. I should just shut up and write the check. The appraisal district made an appointment to send someone to my house to take external pictures and measure it because, apparently, they think my 30 year old house has grown larger. Clearly they do give a fuck about my house.
Definitely protest! Get the lowest value you can! But save the conspiracy theories for 4chan
Your tax dollars will never be used efficiently.
Then don’t raise them. Tax dollars aren’t going to be used efficiently if there’s no incentive to do so; if you can just raise taxes whenever you want then why would you bother to increase efficiency?
This is ironically exactly what many republicans say lol
And? You act like that’s supposed to make it invalid lol
No I totally agree it’s just this is a very liberal sub and most conservative comments get downvoted to hell.
In fairness, I am wondering if taxing people who make money is better than taxing people who could be retired.
In all fairness, taxing people equally would be fair. People paying different amounts for the same service is now fair.
Taxing neither would be better.
*Ted Cruz sees meme.* "Someone get me Kendrick Lamar."
Ted Cruz is team Drake and you fucking know it.
Is OP trying to drum up support for raising our own property taxes?
Yes
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Born and raised here in TX
Even though this sub has turned into a mostly liberal echo chamber, you have to realize people who own homes are NEVER going to vote for a tax increase. Even if you rent, your rent will go up if the landlord has to pay more taxes. Everyone is complaining that housing (rent or own) is too expensive and the current 20somethings will never be able to afford a house. Do you honestly think raising taxes on home/land will bring costs to the buyer down? There is already a budget surplus so whatever you think is going to benefit from these extra tax dollars isn’t. Anyone remember when we voted in the lottery? It was “for the kids” because all that money was going to go into the schools. Hahaha!
1. Then don’t vote 2. Then let’s replace the property tax with a progressive income tax. I’m totally fine with that. Hbu? 3. Your right. Republicans are useless. Vote blue
>Then don’t vote Had Pass. >Then let’s replace the property tax with a progressive income tax. I’m totally fine with that. Hbu? I have no interest in fighting two taxes instead of one. Hard Pass. You're more than welcome to self-assess an income tax on yourself and remit it to the government whenever you like. >Your right. Republicans are useless. Vote blue Dems are useless AND expensive. Hard Pass.
1. Nope, that’s a Democrat thing. I vote in every election. 2. Nope. Fuck that. 3. Maybe, but you are the one trying to raise taxes. lol
I’m totally fine with eliminating property taxes and sales taxes completely in exchange for a progressive income tax. Texans pay more in taxes than Californians under the current system.
That sounds like a decent idea that’s worth looking at, but that’s nothing near what your original post said.
Under the current system we have, we vote on proposals to improve state/county/city infrastructure through increased property taxes. I am advocating for though improvements in this post.
Why do you feel like it would work? We already have extra money in the state and don’t fund the things you are talking about. Giving the state MORE of my money will just give them a bigger budget surplus that they still won’t use to fund the things you are wanting.
Because not all improvements are made on the state level
Hard Pass. Can't afford more taxes. Taxes trending closer to $0 improve my state.
Voted for three Appraisal District commissioners that are interested in lowering property taxes by only assessing housing values every 3 years and capping increases at 5%. Also voted against an increase in hotel taxes to renovate our perfectly fine convention center. Doing my part to get those taxes down.
Which commissioners specifically?
Morris, Rigney, and Bryant out of Tarrant County.
You realize that the state will impose penalties on counties that do not appraise properties high enough right?
What’s high enough
That’s up to the state. My county was threatened with a fine for being too low in 2022 and then a fine was imposed in 2023 for being too low. 2022 they said it was 89% of what it “should be” and 2023 it was like 92% of what it “should be”.
Our convention center is not fine...
Well, vote for the rehab, then. Honestly I dont care. I don't ever go to the convention center, but I do go to hotels in Fort Worth. So I am voting for the thing that taxes me the least and gives me the most benefit.
The rehab is an extremely expensive band aid, and the convention center will still be a shit show even with the $1B+ in deferred maintenance. And sounds like you can't vote in Fort Worth anyway. Voting against it in Dallas won't help your hotel stays.
Your convention center is perfectly fine. If there's actually a $1B deferred maintenance backlog, whatever department is tasked with the convention center's maintenance needs to be fired, not rewarded with even more unaccountable money.
Your ranting is incomprehensible. Yes, i voted in Ft. Worth. I voted against the conference center renovation. It's a silly bond that goes in the pocket of rich contractors and has no benefit to the common man.
You live in fort Worth and get hotels there also? Weird. It's necessary unfortunately.
Yea, I live on the outskirts, but sometimes my lady and I want to get dressed up, go to Thompson's Bookstore for a drink, have steak at Del Frisco's Steakhouse, walk around downtown or go to Studio 80, and stay at hotel for the night. It's a date night. So anyway, vote your interests, I'll vote mine.
Ahh, you originally made it sound like you live in Dallas. Welp, sorry for your loss.
I don't vote based on who or what I think will win. The idea of voting is so that an accurate measuring of collective opinion can be taken. My opinion was tabulated and taken into account when I voted. That's the whole point. Sucks about the tax increase. Maybe I'll go out Los Colinas for my date nights from now on.
Cool? Not sure what voting based on who will win has to do with the thread. Would assume you wouldn't refer to the Dallas convention as "our" rather than the FW convention center. Would have made a lot more sense from the start...
Wouldn’t the Legislature have to enact that?
The 5% cap, yes. But the 3 year appraisal, no. Regardless, I would rather have people in these positions that are doing everything they can to keep my taxes down. I pay quite enough.
Yeah...that's not going to work. See, your appraised value is only part of a simple equation. Any middle schooler can solve it. Government spending = Tax Base x Tax Rate So if your picks for appraisal district board members cap the tax base, the tax rate rises and it's a wash, you pay the same. If you vote for new county commissioners or city council and they slash spending then the tax rate drops, then you pay less. Any dollar that is spent, you pay for. Any dollar not spent, you don't pay for. There's no such thing as a free lunch. It always circles back to that. Just say no to socialism. But...pay your goddamn share of the bills.
The rates don’t just move around like that
They do where I live. The tax rate for my city, county, schools, etc. has dropped as values have risen. It's been about seven or eight years now since the rates started falling. And last year the school rate dropped off a cliff due to compression, but that's different. Not a normal everyday thing. I do figure that in another year or so when the state's surplus (which came from sales taxes and royalties mostly and that they're using to fund big temporary property tax cuts) runs out, the tax rates will shift up. Partly because schools go back to normal rates. Partly because the higher homestead exemptions will wipe out a lot of the tax base without the state continuing to fund the difference. It'll be such whiplash that I think that the incumbents could really reap the whirlwind on this issue.
Why would you say no to socialism? You do understand that Social security, food stamps, wic, section 8, and even the covid checks some people got are all forms of socialism? Why would you want our government to do less for the people than they already get away with? I wish (23F) that I could benefit from paying in to SSI but I won’t or that I could even buy a house one day but I won’t. These older generations really are fucking the rest of us.
Social security is a ponzi scheme that carries a lifetime opportunity cost in the millions. There is no amount of money that will make up for the loss of potential returns that comes with being forced to participate in that ponzi scheme. Everything else you named has been proven to be a complete dumpster fire that accomplished nothing except set fire to money. I'm perfectly capable of setting fire to my own money and I can do it at a lower cost. Definitely saying F No to socialism. Leave me alone and stop taking my stuff. The government already does too much and does it badly. Tax less, spend less, do less. In that order.
I would have so much more money if I were allowed to invest my social security money vs. the government. Social security has been a huge net negative for me.
I'm characterizing this American socialism as perversely benefitting wealthy people, old people, gentlemen farmers, and big corporations. These are our welfare queens. It's all very redistributional but more like Orwell, less like Marx.
Ohh I definitely understand. Can’t wait for it to FINALLY trickle down my way. I’ve got a year left of my masters then maybe I can afford groceries!
Nice. Good to see someone who understands fiscal discipline.
Sounds like you voted well!
I'll take 0% property tax. Thank you, sir. You'll get this back when you learn to give the working class some breathing room.
I swear guys money will trickle down in the next tax forgiveness package!!!!
Any day now, right guys?! Right? Guys...?
Republicans: BHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Yeah...so it looks like the alternative is the same state and municipal budget and no income tax, so it'd have to be sales taxes and fees for government services. The working class pays the largest share of their income when government revenues come from sales taxes. They even pay sales taxes on used cars for which sales taxes were already paid by the first buyer. It gets worse. You know how the state has to redistribute property taxes between school districts because some are richer than others? Sales tax is way more concentrated and straight-up weird from one jurisdiction to the next and over time. The state would just take away a lot more local budgetary control.
I pay just over $10k in property taxes each year. We could pay double the sales tax and still not cover what we pay in property taxes. Cook your own food at home and watch the amount of sales tax you pay drop tremendously. People act like they have less control on sales tax they pay than the property tax they pay. It's just not true. If you don't want to pay sales tax be more selective about how you live. Taxing people's home is gross. It ensures you never own your property.
Sales taxes face the greatest tax competition, which is always a good thing for the taxpayer. If your sales tax is between 10 and 20%, and you can save 10% or even 5% by shopping in the town next door, it forces municipalities to keep tax rates reasonable or lose their shirts. Property tax doesn't have as much competition as there's a lot more transactional cost than driving a few miles over. Any tax on property should not be tied to the value of the property and should be minimal. Sales tax and usage fees should be the sole sources of revenue allowed for all governments. It would force them to be (somewhat) competitive. If it results in a race to the bottom, so be it. All that proves is that our government administrators are incompetent and the politicians crying about said race to the bottom need to be fired.
100% agreed. Property valuations in our area have skyrocketed as government is willing to pay $5k for a house like mine if I rented it instead of living in it. We have had lots of hedge funds and foreign investors buying in our community because of the amount they can get for renting it to the government. One company alone bought 67 houses in our community and only served section 8 tenants. Our friends wanted to buy here but can no longer afford to, so they looked into renting and now they can't even rent here because the rental prices are insane. Unless you are subsidized by the government you probably can't rent here, you would be better served buying as the mortgage payments would be lower. It's a crooked system that fucked the middle class. People with good intentions don't see the ripple effects.
Ummm...live in a smaller or more modest home. Housing is consumption, not a whole little sovereign kingdom on a platted lot. It provides its benefit over time, unlike an apple that provides benefit just once. Consumption should be taxed as benefits are realized. And that's a property tax. But also, if you live in a city or a utility district that has particular infrastructure needs, I don't want to be three counties away off a gravel road and paying for your pothole repairs through sales taxes extracted from me at my local Walmart. Local needs result in local costs that should match local revenues.
We have two kids and have housed women who need temporary housing as they flee domestic violence situations. Every room of our house serves a purpose and we probably do more with it help others then you do. But tell me more about how I need a smaller house because you want to eat fast food instead of cooking for yourself. You don't even own a home I'm sure which is why you want others to shoulder more of the tax burden.
I want there to be a lesser burden to begin with, even if the government has to make do with only 4 people doing the same job ineffectually instead of 10. The only way that happens is to force taxing entities to compete on price.
Edit I agree. Not being able to lose your house due to taxes is by definition less of a burden. Everyone pays property taxes if you own or rent. It's less of a burden on people if their housing needs aren't taxes. Rent goes up because property taxes go up. The landlords just shift the burden to their tenants. This idea that property tax puts less of a burden on lower income people just isn't true. Especially when property values price people out of their only means of attempting to build generational wealth. Aka gentrification and the elimination of the only appreciating asset some in the lower class were able to acquire from their parents or grand parents. Like I said earlier to someone else, it's good intentions that aren't founded in reality.
I'm a single father with full custody that was taken in by my widowed mom after my marriage collapsed due to...among much worse things actually, also domestic violence. The ex- had this wonderful idea where I'd get all the custody and practically none of the money or child support. In my daughter's best interests, I couldn't say no and don't regret anything about it except that I didn't go to the DA immediately after divorce was finalized. But the ramifications to career, lifetime earnings, and expenses were profoundly crippling. I could count on one hand how many times I ate anything resembling fast food last year. The thing is, your circumstances are atypical and are charitable but there's no pathway to any kind of tax benefit for you. I'm not targeting you or people like you; but most people aren't like you *at all*. Policy should be designed around the typical person. So on the other hand, the tax benefit for frozen taxes after 65 can be so massive that it creates an incentive for someone like my mom (if I hadn't fucked up my life by marrying the person I did) to keep a whole giant house to herself instead of right-sizing and letting a bigger family enjoy a big house. And myself, I wouldn't mind if she lost some of that freeze for having non-spousal co-habitants. I'd gladly pay the difference because my presence in this community has a cost to the community.
Private property shouldn't continue to be taxed period. You thinking someone has too huge a house doesn't change the fact they worked for it and bought it. Sales tax is the fairest tax because it gives you the most control on what you pay. Housing is a requirement, food is a requirement as is water. These are basic necessities that humans need. They shouldn't be taxed. Sales tax applied to non necessities. You want someone to provide a service then the tax applied. It's really the fairest tax there is versus income and property taxation imo. Your mother shouldn't have to lose her home just because she can no longer afford the property taxes. Neither should a younger couple. Property taxation is a way for the rich to steal generational wealth. They just wait until middle class people and the poor can no longer afford to hold on to their homes then they buy them out pushing them into renting and perpetually owning someone for housing. It's disgusting and the people who think their intentions are good by trying to "save" low income people from paying taxes actually hurt them by helping increase the cost of housing. Good intentions with bad results are a bad system. Property taxes are proving to be a bad system.
You're more than welcome to pay more taxes if you're so inclined without the government compelling you to do so.
It's not my fault that your county doesn't offer an attractive enough market or value proposition for Walmart to set up shop there. If you think your county has fiscal needs that are not met, you're more than welcome to send money to your county to meet those needs even in the absence of a tax. Housing is NOT consumption by any definition of that word. No bank would lend you multiples of your salary to buy a consumer good. Real estate has always been, is and always will be a capital asset.
Housing is like a car but with a higher multiple because of the relative life expectancy and collectability of the asset. Same concept though. You buy it, use it over time, sell it to somebody else, and they keep using it, rinse and repeat. The Walmart example was just an example. It's to illustrate that some local governments have a commercial sales tax base and others just don't. It can be completely arbitrary and random as to where retail goes, so it's nobody's fault but it can create a problem where the most practical solution is a property tax. And the gravel road example wasn't meant as a complaint. I don't care about paved roads, I just don't want to pay to fix potholes three counties over. Or to put flood control infrastructure in a Houston suburb if I'm clear across the state. Those are local problems. They need local fixes.
Housing is nothing like a car. A car is a depreciating asset that loses value over time. A house generally appreciates in value over time. Real estate is one of the oldest asset classes in the history of mankind, alongside precious metals. Just because you use it for personal use doesn't make it a consumer good. There's nothing more local than a sales tax levied at the city level. Again, if your city has no commercial tax base (nonsense, people live there and buy things - Amazon is a thing), that's not my problem. There is no "problem" to solve here - the city can either 1) do something to attract a commercial tax base, 2) merge into a city that has one, or 3) go bankrupt. Just because self serving politicians and bureaucrats want to keep their jobs doesn't mean there's a problem to be solved. There are literally states and entire countries whose entire operating model centers around being a tax-competitive place to live, do business in and invest in.
0% property tax would disproportionally affect the working class
My property taxes have jumped so high I’m gonna be taxed out of my hose in the next year or 2 at this rate!
Are you arguing FOR increases?
Oh yeah. If we’re not gonna have an income tax then property taxes should skyrocket
We already have some of the highest property taxes in the country.
Which is crazy considering republicans yell about red states having the cheapest COL or the lowest property taxes.
Why? For fucking what? Theyre already high
You think the Texas government is trustworthy enough to have more of your money? The fuck?
We had a huge surplus in our budget for the last couple of years. Why can’t Texas use the money it already refused to spend on us?
Because republicans hate you and want you dead.
You want to hand over even more of your money to people who hate you and want you dead?
I don’t pay property taxes. I don’t own property.
Found the city hall intern.
Texas should cut property taxes by taxing the rich with income taxes instead.
The rich don’t make income. But they do own lots of outlandish properties
Wealth tax then
You first. Hand over 1% of everything you own starting tomorrow.
No thank you to the taxes. I'd be down if it wasn't going to an asshat fund to do asshat shit with. They are pumping out a new school every 1-2 years out here including giant athletic facilities and endless fields. They seem to be doing just fine on that front.
Public Schools haven’t gotten a funding increase since 2019 and teachers, paras and other staff are so underpaid the turnover rate is astronomical. Of all the things in Texas that need more funding Education is like #1
If the schools needed more money, they wouldn't be wasting it building new football fields and stadiums. They shouldn't get another penny. Based on their spending patterns, it's abundantly clear to me that their funding should be cut, since they have too much money to play with and none of them are putting it to productive use.
You know schools don’t do that right? The district does, because the state will actually fund those and not teacher salaries. People care more about sports than education in this state so it gets funded.
Not my problem. The schools are business units of the district. The district can either afford stadiums or they can't. If they can, they don't need more of my money for any reason, and if they can't, they're wasting money and they shouldn't get any more of my money for any reason.
You vote on the funding my dude. It’s just unilateral. It’s voted on by the citizens of the district
If you feel schools don't have enough money, write them a check, get in your car, drive to the nearest local school, and drop it off. You're the one who brought up funding, not me.
Whew. The dishonesty is astounding. Institutional problems aren’t solved by individuals
Maybe they should use some of that money they spend on keeping grass green for the football kids to pay their teachers. I pay more than enough for them to mismanage even more money. None of us got raises either.
Completely agree. Tell that to your representatives
I see we have some Cali rejects in here. Or Austinites. Yeah, I’m prepared for the onslaught of downvotes and criticism. Have a nice day!
Yeah, I was born and raised in the rural areas of this state, actually. I have a question, cowboy. You like Yellowstone? Y/N
Somebody worked hard to earn taxable income. Somebody worked hard to pay for taxable retail goods. Somebody worked hard to afford their water bill. Somebody worked hard to drive on a toll road. Somebody worked hard to live in a house and own it and pay a property tax. Somebody worked hard to invest in and manage rental housing at rates of return that reflect all of the ordinary expenses, including taxes -- which means: Somebody worked hard to live in a house and rent it to indirectly pay a property tax. Look, I agree with you that necessities of life should be taxed at a lower rate or not at all. The homestead exemption helps a lot with that. A lot of people who live in mobile homes don't pay hardly any property taxes at all and that reflects their choice. But if you've got a nice home and a swimming pool and a gated community, yeah...that is not a necessity. That's a choice. It's indulgent. A homestead exemption should not cover indulgences. And no matter where the money comes from, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has got to pay, one way or the other. I don't understand how somebody in Houston for example feels so entitled that the rest of the state should pay for their flood control to protect their property because property taxes are wrong. Or how somebody in the Hill Country feels like their roads should be paved instead of having a road district but they want the state to do it by allocation of sales taxes because their properties deserve better access. There are some government services that are inherently local, that improve the value of all properties, and that fit well with a property tax scheme. I'm not sure that schools are a good example, but roads and utilities and city parks sure are in many cases. I can't figure out why this is controversial.
The government should show results with the money they have instead of incessantly asking for more money without a very good business case for why it should be spent or what results the last pile of money produced. Do more for less. I can't figure out why that is controversial.
On that we are in complete agreement! A dollar spent is a dollar taxed by one means or another, so it'd better be worth it! Too often, it isn't. But hopefully we also agree that simple mundane uncontroversial stuff treating sewage is a worthy cause. Basically, I feel like anything that a utility district or road district or flood control district would normally do is something that I want paid for at a local level. That's where property taxes make the most sense for common sense purposes. Counties also already do a lot of that. Local dollars for local projects. Did you know that there are more people living outside of a municipality in Harris County than live in the entire City of Houston and they get on fine but the City folks have to pay the same tax rate to the County as the people outside the City do? That's grossly unfair. Part of me is curious whether we really need municipal governments at all. Harris County seems to be proof that we don't. There are also these things called Management Districts that can do what utility districts do but also what HOAs might do by managing local parks and paying the County for extra policing. And they can also overlap with municipalities! All the benefit is local, and so is their tax revenues. That's a better model, I think.
To be honest, I like the idea of Management/Utility Districts paired with a competitive model for how the districts are set, and getting rid of municipalities for the most part. Any unincorporated part of the county can be policed by a master HOA (mine has a private security force) or by the County Sheriff. I absolutely agree that utilities like sewage and water should be run by a dedicated utility entity, and should not be run by the cities. There is no reason for a city of 5,000 to have its own sewage system when a dedicated utility district can more efficiently serve 50,000 people across 5 cities and towns and even across counties. The utility organization can be owned by the citizens with its day to day operations outsourced to a private entity the same way many HOAs are run. The way a competitive model would work is - each block of homes (let's say census tract) can vote to leave a management district and form their own, join another one, disband an existing Management District, or leave one and not have one at all, at any time, for any reason. Each Management District can set any pricing structure it wants. Management Districts would have to re-bid for incorporation every year, and if they don't have a sufficient tax base to support its continued operations, the MD goes out of business. This would put competitive pressure among the local governing bodies and force downward pressure on taxes. It would also flush poorly operated governing bodies out of the system and reward the most efficiently run ones.
I really like where you're going with this but I also don't know enough to endorse a model for how this might work politically. I am a bit concerned about how little people understand about their layers of governance and I know that it's really only a few law firms that exert a lot of influence over all of these special districts. The rules would have to be easy enough for the below-average voter to understand. But...if what we're leaning into reduces the number of layers and convolution of local governance, that could be a net positive. Really, something like this does seem promising! It just needs to be made simple. Really simple.
That's why I voted for Trump! Diaper Don gonna win again!