For more than two decades, state officials have prided themselves on Texas being a low-tax, limited-government state. As a result, our state relies heavily on its sales and property taxes to fund key functions of state and local government. Combined with legislative changes that have tied the hands of local leaders, this fuels tensions and animosities that I believe are undermining Texas’ future, most critically its ability to educate its young people.
According to the Texas Comptroller, over the past two decades, the percentage of public education funding contributed by the state has fluctuated dramatically, ranging from a low of 30 percent to a high of 46 percent. Today, the number is at the lower end: about 36 percent. The last time the state share was this low was 13 years ago.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers have enacted a number of onerous restrictions on school boards’ capacity to collect money locally, including caps on tax increases, limits to when school districts can hold bond elections and a requirement that districts must seek voter approval for any rate above the threshold of $1.04 per $100 valuation.
