Testimony Before the Texas House Ways & Means Committee on HB 2

February 27, 2019

Vance Ginn, Ph.D.

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an accomplished economist finding free-market solutions that let people prosper. He is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting where he provides high-quality research and trusted insights on how to affect change at the federal, state, and local levels. Ginn’s experience includes time in public policy, government, and academia. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and a senior fellow at several think tanks, including at Americans for Tax Reform, Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), and Young Americans for Liberty.

The burden of skyrocketing local property taxes forces too many Texans out of their homes and businesses. HB 2 would make substantial reforms to help rein in this burden. This includes increasing transparency of the appraisal process, replacing complex jargon, and increasing information online. The biggest change that would structurally alter the property tax burden is lowering the rollback rate from 8 percent to 2.5 percent and changing it from a petition-driven election to an automatic one in November.

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