SB 172 relates to capping increases in appraisals for property taxation and SJR 19 relates to proposing a Constitutional Amendment to the same effect.
The Republican Party of Texas has made clear that a Legislative Priority be put on not only property taxation reform, but the replacement of it completely without moving to an income tax, which would likely look more like a sales or consumption tax.
Yet, as the RLCTX was speaking to Senators and Representatives yesterday we were told many times our fight should be on local County Commissioners as this group, throughout Texas, has been working harder, daily, either in passing resolutions to the Legislature to NOT cap property taxation or calling Representatives on a regular basis.
Has your County Commissioner's Court been lobbying to keep you drowning in Property Tax debt? Have they pushed back against the very priority of the party platform they run on? Open Record Request you legislators. Find out. Many Texans may be surprised.
Property taxation, as many Texans fully understand, assure the very basic foundation of our form government and the right of property ownership to become basically null & void. When one perpetually, from purchase until death, pays rent to the government yearly under threat of losing all property bought and paid for, it violates the very basis of private property ownership. This is no more different than a yearly ransom being paid to King George or your property would be taken.
Texas often ranks within the top ten States in the nation with the highest property taxes.
RLCCD36 would like to make clear, this is an issue for the entire State of Texas, and not specific to our local officials, but our friends in surrounding counties may want to take a deeper look.
Additionally, Senator Koni Burton has SB 380 which relates to ending Civil Asset Forfeiture laws in Texas. In recent years a number of States have begun removing or reforming their Civil Asset Forfeiture policies.
Not to be confused with Criminal Forfeiture, where one's property is taken upon proof it was made from ill gotten gains, Civil Forfeiture, in Texas, allows for the taking of one's property upon suspicion of a crime. In fact, it doesn't even require a follow up criminal charge. If one is found innocent, or never charged, to receive property taken back, one must go to civil court and fight for this. Here, the burden of proof is less for the state to keep said property and often leads to court cases titled The State of Texas v $100.00. You, the owner, are not the defendant, your property is. How property can defend itself from prosecution is still a mystery to many.
Abuses of Civil Asset Forfeiture abuses are well known in Texas, and Texas is often listed as one of the worst States in these abuses.
One of the biggest lobby groups that fight such reform are Law Enforcement. Recently, At a listening session with county sheriffs from around the country, Trump invited the sheriffs seated in the White House’s Roosevelt Room to make a statement while reporters were present. Rockwall County, Texas, Sheriff Harold Eavenson spoke up first to discuss asset forfeiture, a practice by which law enforcement can seize the cash and property of individuals suspected of committing a crime without a guilty verdict.
“On asset forfeiture, we’ve got a state senator in Texas that was talking about introducing legislation to require conviction before we could receive that forfeiture money,” Eavenson said.
“Can you believe that?” Trump interjected.
“And I told him that the cartel would build a monument to him in Mexico if he could get that legislation passed,” the Texas sheriff continued.
“Who is the state senator? Do you want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” Trump replied, presumably suggesting that the lawmaker would suffer for holding a position contrary to the president’s.
One of the greatest threats to the liberty of Texans and their property is the practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture. The taking of one's property on mere suspicion alone without the need of criminal charge or warrant should be unthinkable in any free society and repulsive in The Great State of Texas. Support, testify, follow and assist Senator Koni Burton in this fight and support SB 380 and end Civil Asset Forfeiture in Texas!