There’s one word for leaders’ failure on property taxes

Texans, your state leaders are stuck on stupid.

We don’t use the term lightly, but what else describes their failure, yet again, to agree on property tax cuts? All the ingredients are there: a surplus big enough to accommodate around $18 billion in reductions, broad agreement that it’s the right thing to do, ample room to compromise and the heat of legislative deadlines.

But not even with 140 days in the regular session and 30 days in a special session could Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, House Speaker Dade Phelan and 180 legislators pull it off. So, they’re back at it again — Abbott brought the Senate and House back immediately Tuesday.

If stupid strikes you as not quite the right word, how about the popular definition of insanity: doing the same thing and expecting different results?

That’s precisely what Abbott did Tuesday. He took the House’s side and tried to cleverly frame his proclamation calling another special session so that only his definition of property tax relief could be enacted. As if the Senate will just go along–all 31 senators, including all the Democrats, stand behind their chamber’s plan.

Abbott further muddied the waters by directing lawmakers to consider farfetched plans to eliminate school property taxes by having the state provide all funding, a goal of some conservative policy wonks.

So, come to think of it, we’re back to stupid.

It’s also foolish that, with money to burn, Republican leaders can’t find a compromise that lets everyone leave town satisfied, if not exactly happy. It’s a question of how, not whether, to use state funds to replace local school districts’ property tax revenue. Senators want a big increase in the homestead exemption, shifting more of the benefit to homeowners. The House has insisted upon only “tax rate compression,” meaning sending money to districts and limiting their taxation power. Abbott has been on the House’s side but would surely sign any deal that got to his desk.

The Senate budged a little in the first special session, passing a compromise bill that does both. It even threw in a cut in the business franchise tax, helping alleviate concerns that expanding the homestead exemption does nothing for businesses.

We say: all of the above. Just get it done. Homeowners deserve relief, and school districts need to know the landscape for future budget planning.

The obsession with getting the state on track to eliminate local school taxes is misguided. As we’ve previously noted, it ignores the danger of an economic downturn that pinches the state really hammering school districts. It could only be achieved through significant increases in the state sales tax. And if Austin controls 100% of the money for schools, it controls 100% of the decisions, if it wants to.

Speaking of stupid: Do you want this crowd in charge of every move your district can make?

Patrick is playing his usual political games, too. He spent the entire session poking at Phelan, giving him petty nicknames, accusing the speaker of trying to shape the bill to benefit his real-estate interests, and holding up an important open-records measure through a procedural trick. Then, he turned put-upon victim when Phelan and the House passed their tax measure and went home, thereby telling the Senate: Take it or leave it.

There’s been entirely too much of that kind of maneuvering on all sides. Ever- increasing property taxes threaten the state’s robust housing market and overall prosperity.

With plenty of money to work with, failing to achieve a deal would be– say it with us–stupid.