With a number of tax structure modification alternatives are under consideration by policymakers in Texas, one alternative is to fund a property tax reduction with an increase in the sales tax. The size of the property tax reduction being discussed is about 50% of the current levy for school maintenance and operations, or $8.5 billion in 2005. The tax change is reviewed from the perspective of several recognized characteristics of good tax policy. This paper analyzes five alternative formulations (scenarios) of the tax shift according to various sales tax rate and sales tax base-broadening options.
Is the TASB Risk Fund an ‘Extortive’ Insurance System Rigged Against Texas Taxpayers?
“The risk pool situation in Texas, some would call it extortive,” according to prominent Texas attorney Marc Gravely, founder of Gravely PC and a specialist in high-stakes insurance recovery litigation. Gravely laid out serious legal concerns in a recent podcast surrounding the Texas Association of School Boards’ TASB Risk Fund that should alarm every taxpayer...