Property Tax Reform Committee Hearings Continue

The Senate’s Select Committee on Property Tax Reform and Relief will hold a committee hearing on Monday, March 21, in Lubbock. It’s the fourth in a series of hearings that are being held across the state. The lieutenant governor created this interim committee, chaired by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, in order to get public feedback on how to improve the property tax system.

County officials wishing to testify can sign up at the committee hearing and will be allowed to offer testimony during the public testimony portion of the hearing. If you are unable to attend the hearing in person, you may follow the proceeding’s live broadcast.

During the last committee hearing in Harlingen, Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal testified about many of the issues facing county government.

“I do want to say for the record that county government is the constitutional safety net government in Texas. And we get to do things that nobody else wants to do,” said Neal.

The growth of local government budgets and revenue caps have both been hot topics in recent committee hearings.

When asked what issues would slow the growth of county government Neal said county government budgets will stop growing when we quit getting unfunded mandates from the state, quit getting unfunded mandates from the federal government, don’t have to upgrade the county’s technology infrastructure, don’t have to take on greater jail costs, and don’t have increasing indigent defense costs and increasing indigent healthcare costs.

The committee also asked Neal why a revenue cap would be disastrous for county government.

“We are 60 days away from hurricane season. And if you are a coastal county in Texas in the hurricane zone… all we need is a major catastrophic event to challenge all of our revenue and all of our reserves. That’s why we do not want anything to hamper the ability to govern locally,” the judge replied.

Judge Neal’s testimony can be viewed in its entirety in the archived video of the hearing beginning at the 2 hours and 10 minutes (2:10) time mark.

For details on the Lubbock hearing, please view the committee hearing notice. Additional information about the select committee is available on the committee’s  website.

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