Fort Bend ISD Proposes 3.5 cent Tax Increase

Coming on the heals of a Fort Bend Central Appraisal District policy of raising the appraised values of property in the county by an average of 10.8% at a time when property value – and home sales - are sharply lower due to the recession, now we hear that the Fort Bend ISD school board wants to raise their tax rate by 3.5 cents per $100 assessed value.

When will these tax and spend Democrats ever learn? When in a tough economic downturn, the last thing you want to do is raise taxes.

Oh, no . . . wait. Fort Bend County is still firmly in the hands of the Republican Party isn’t it. Republicans still dominate county government. A Republican majority still sits on the school board.

So much for making generalities based on party affiliation.

Because just as it happened at the federal level, where Republicans opened up the hen house doors and let the foxes have full run of the place – putting us all in a very uncomfortable spot, so has it happened at the local level.

At the local level county government has granted an obscene amount of property tax breaks to businesses so that they will move into the county. Trouble is, when you grow the county, county expenses go up. Roads need to be built and maintained. Infrastructure needs to support new growth. Where to get the funds for all of this if you can’t get it from the very entities responsible for the new costs? Get it from those who are already here.

But since Fort Bend County is run by the Republican Party, don’t make it look like you are raising taxes. Raise the assessed values.

Never mind the fact that home insurance companies will take these new values and raise their premiums as well.

Never mind that Fort Bend ISD will also take these new assessed values as the meter against which they assess their taxes.

Truthfully, the school board is between a rock and a hard place. They have to service a debt that was taken on during an unprecedented growth period (partly, courtesy of the county’s tax abatement policies), and have had to adopt a budget where more is being spent than coming in. Fort Bend ISD runs on a net deficit budget.

Given all of this, and given that the district is severely limited in the number of areas where it can make budget cuts, they don’t really have any choice here.

That won’t stop the tax-averse right wingers from coming out in force for this evening’s bi-weekly school board meeting. They will be there. These people who demand a first-rate education for their children, but simply don’t want to pay for it, will be there shaking their fingers at people who really don’t have much of a choice here.

Really, it is better to lay the blame where all of these problems originate. Place the blame for this mess where it truly needs to be placed. Place the blame at the feet of a pro-business, anti-homeowner county government.

And start thinking about getting these rascals booted out of office.

Fort Bend CAD Lacks a Sense of Timing

Acting in its own self-interest, the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District has voted to build itself some new fancy digs on 12 acres of land it hopes to acquire, then spend $6.4 million in taxpayer money to build the new building.

Coming on the heels of a looming deadline for taxpayers to file protests for the district’s recent property appraisals, this move coming at this time is not the smartest thing I have seen operating in county government.

See, the Republican-dominated county government plays a little game here in Fort Bend. They run for office on promises of lowering the property tax rates, and then they get elected.

And then they lower the tax rates.

But in Fort Bend, property tax revenue is up. How is that possible?

Well for one thing, the county’s open spaces are rapidly disappearing as more and more arable land gets built on. Farmland is taxed at one rate, but a personal residence is taxed at a whole new, and higher rate.

But that’s just the half of it. The other half is property value appraisal. Property is taxed at so much per $100 of assessed value. Increase the appraisal and you increase the taxes owed (while the tax rate stays low, as promised).

Now I wrote here not too long ago that the county was going to have to tighten its belt because property values are going down in Fort Bend. Down because sellers can’t sell because buyers can’t get loans.

Well the Fort Bend CAD begs to differ.

Here in Fort Bend County, they say, property values have gone up and up and up. This year a record number of taxpayers have filed protests over their appraisals.

Bringing us back to the Fort Bend CAD’s sparkly new building. What is wrong with the one that they are in? Why do they need to build a new larger facility? Well it all comes down to those darn whiney taxpayers.

From FortBendNow:

“The number of property tax protests has increased from about 9,800 per year 10 years ago to more than 54,000 per year, CAD Board Chairman Lee Duggan III said in a statement accompanying the resolution.”

“‘To accommodate the added workload, staff has increased 66%,” Duggan said. ‘Although the appraisal district has been able to effectively control costs, their ability to currently operate efficiently is negatively impacted by the lack of adequate office space. In addition, taxpayers are experiencing reduced levels of customer service due to inadequate meeting space and parking.’”

Get it? The Fort Bend CAD needs a new bigger facility because their appraisals are bringing them too much business.

Well this exemplary sense of timing is going to earn the CAD some stiff rebukes. There is already a resolution drafted in the commissioners court, courtesy of Precinct 1 commissioner Richard Morrison, a resolution that will be voted on tomorrow. Here is the business end of it:

“Whereas many businesses and landowners are suffering because of the economy in Fort Bend County and the nation, and whereas some appraisals have risen by as much as 2,300%, and whereas there exists overwhelming public opposition to the proposed New Facility, now therefore be it resolved that this court joins with the community in its strong opposition to the currently proposed New Facility and pledges to seek and pursue more reasonable alternatives.”

I can think of one reasonable alternative. Scale back on some of the more ridiculous appraisals that the CAD makes. Scale back on that and what results are fewer appraisal protests. When you raise the appraised value of property that can’t possibly sell, it speaks volumes for the nonsense that goes on in that office. Taxpayers know that simply living in Texas allows them to get away from having to pay state income taxes. They know that government needs capital to run itself. They know that death and taxes are both inevitable.

But I think they want their deaths postponed for awhile, and they want their taxes to be fair.