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    The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off
    The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off
    The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off

    By Truman Godwin

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    About this ebook

    In 1937, only 30,194 Texas State residents , which was only 8.56% of eligible voters statewide, passed an amendment to the State Constitution which set the stage for a “plan” to encourage payment of ad valorem taxes which “opened the door” for future legislative control of property taxes. Over time this “foot in the door” legislation has been seized upon by State Government to modify and strengthen it by various legal and legislative maneuvers to increase the power of State Government. The consequence of this long history has been an erosion of property owners’ logical and reasonable rights to plan and participate in property ownership without dishonest and overbearing government interference in the matter of fair and honest taxation.(ad valorem means “according to value”).
    The “death knell” of honesty and fairness in the matter of property taxation was dealt by the Legislature when on January 1, 1982, 254 Appraisal Districts in Texas were created, one for each County. This gave these newly unelected groups the power to set property taxes, and disallowed the properly elected County Tax Assessors and Collectors from further duty in that respect. This not only opened the door for terrible abuses by free appraisers not beholden to an electorate, it also added a hugely increased burden to taxpayers who have to divvy up MORE tax money each year to support 254 appraisal offices (buildings, furniture, equipment, and staff) throughout the state.
    This book gives an accurate and unbiased analysis of the State’s continuing rip-off in property taxes. It is a State which could, just as easily, use good judgement in the matter and go to an “honest” method of property taxation. Such a straight-forward approach would promote stability in the real estate market, and relieve taxpayers of the undocumented and on-going abuses of 254 separate appraisal offices whose individual performances are not closely monitored. It would also restore some confidence in a legislature grown too cowardly to do the right thing for its constituents, and —overall—would be influential to a healthy economic mantra for the State.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMathis B Rogers
    Release dateJan 25, 2012
    ISBN9781466042650
    The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off
    Author

    Truman Godwin

    Truman D. GodwinAUGUST 17, 1931– DECEMBER 4, 2020Truman was born in Vernon, Texas in 1931. After graduating from Lubbock High School in 1948, he attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas where he majored in Electrical Engineering and Economics. He also studied British Literature and Business Law at the University of Texas. Truman was a Korean War veteran, and he was in the Telecommunications business for 52 years before retiring. He leaves behind his wife, Nancy, six children, and ten grandchildren. His favorite diversion was golf.His published works include: The Heritage of Luke, 666, and The End of the Row; a book of short stories, The Treasure of Chama Valley; a book of poetry, Beyond the Hedgerows; other miscellaneous magazine publications.He received the rights back to some of his books, and re-released them on his own and published them in Kindle and eBook editions also. Some of them he changed the names and covers.Find all of his books listed below.

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      Book preview

      The Big Texas Property Tax Rip-Off - Truman Godwin

      THE BIG TEXAS PROPERTY TAX RIP-OFF

      Truman Dayon Godwin

      Copyright © 2004-2018 by Truman Dayon Godwin

      Smashwords Edition 2012-2018

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Chapter 1: The Problem

      Chapter 2: The Bureaucratic Property Tax Network

      Chapter 3: The Appraisal Process

      Chapter 4: The Protest

      Chapter 5: The Courts

      Chapter 6: Summary

      Chapter 7: Dishonesty in Taxation

      Chapter 8: Honesty in Taxation

      Chapter 9: The Case of Multiple Dilemmas

      Chapter 10: Conclusion

      Reference Notes

      About the Author

      PREFACE

      In August 1937, Americans were reading about the fierce fighting between the Chinese army and the Japanese navy in what was called the Sino-Japanese war. The roar of artillery and the rattle of machine guns near Shanghai kept the citizens there continuously unnerved, and daily reports of casualties caused great concern to the families of more than 4,000 Americans living and working in China. Another big concern was the fear that America would somehow be sucked into the war, a course most Americans resisted.

      The terrible depression was not over. Unemployed hobos still roamed around and regularly hopped freight trains to get from town to town. Starvation was a factor that often ended in tragedy. The father of a family I knew was so despondent about not having a job and not being able to provide for his family that he poured gasoline on his two children, schoolmates of mine, and torched them. He ended his own life after killing his wife.

      Although many sad and bitter effects of the depression lingered to remind people that times were still tough, there were some signs of improvement. Franklin Roosevelt and Congress continued working hard to keep the economy moving in a positive direction by introducing new programs. However, one of the lingering effects was a high rate of delinquent taxes. During the really bad days of the depression, it was practical for governments to be lax in collecting taxes: it was an exercise in futility to press for tax money from people who were broke. By 1937 the delinquent tax roll had grown enormously. This fact, and a recognizable improvement in the economy, led Texas Gov. James V. Allred to press for collection of delinquent taxes. The outcome of the effort was an amendment to the constitution, Article 8, Section 20, which in effect was a legal bribe to encourage payment. This was reported in an article in the Avalanche-Journal newspaper in August, 1937. According to the article, Texas voters will have opportunity Aug. 23 to approve a proposed amendment to the state constitution authorizing a discount system for the prompt payment of ad valorem taxes . . . The purpose of this plan, applicable to taxes due the state government or its political subdivisions, would be to encourage payment before delinquency occurs. It is the latest out-cropping from long agitation over the amount of delinquent taxes outstanding which experts say is a staggering sum . . . Sponsors of the amendment hold its adoption would give taxpayers an attractive ‘business’ reason for paying before interest and penalty are incurred. They claim he could even afford to borrow money at a bank to pay taxes.

      This amendment, which is the basis for our present property tax system, was voted on by electors on August 23, 1937. It passed by a vote of 77,058 to 30,194 out of approximately 900,000 eligible voters statewide. The hard times of the depression was undoubtedly a factor in the low voter turnout. The total number voting was only 11.92% of eligible voters, and the amendment was passed by a mere 8.56% of eligible voters.

      From 1939 until 1982, property taxes were administered by a County Tax Assessor/Collector. Since 1982, when Appraisal Districts were implemented and the Tax Code changed, property owners have been victims of unreasonably high taxes that are arbitrarily escalated each year. It is a situation that gets worse as time goes by. People fuss about it, protest their high appraisals, and argue with Appraisal Review Boards, but nothing is ever done to permanently erase the abuses and corruption that are inherent to the system. Many people, including some government officials, see the system as an unfair, unworkable, and irreparable method, a system whose demise is long overdue. The time has come for the government to heed the cries of property owners and create an honesty in taxation approach.

      The purpose of this book is to provide information to property owners and other interested parties in order for them to have a broader understanding of the problem. Hopefully, this will aid them in dealing more effectively with the present system, while it exists, and give them courage and knowledge to work for and support honesty in taxation.

      CHAPTER 1

      THE PROBLEM

      The present version of the Texas Property Tax Code is approximately 700 pages in length. It is a complex document and contains the changes that became effective on January 1, 1982. This legislation established 254 county appraisal districts and the rules and procedures under which they must operate. The basis for these districts is Article 8, Section 18 of the Texas Constitution, which states, A single appraisal within each county of all property subject to ad valorem taxation and all other taxing units located therein shall be provided by general law.

      Creation of the districts was done to resolve inequities in the property taxing processes throughout the state. From this solution was born a costly and unnecessary bureaucratic network. The mind-boggling

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