Today,
I sent the following message to the Texas Association of Realtors Board
Officers, Trustees, Regional and Governmental Affairs Members (41). Next up,… make the same request to the Texas Business Association. No Relief. No Reform. #EliminatePropertyTax From: Russell Bennett <eliminatepropertytax@icloud.com>Subject: Meeting Request: Eliminate Property Tax in TexasDate: August 13, 2019 at 3:38:24 PM CDTTo: Board Members of Texas Association of Realtors [Salutation]What if we could eliminate property tax without raising sales tax or taxing property sales?What
would happen if every Texas property buyer had 50% more in their
budgets to spend? Would they buy a better home, more land or a bigger
commercial facility?That’s about what the average Texas property buyer will pay in property tax. Equivalent to about 50% of their mortgage payment.What
would happen if Texas became the first state without a property tax?
Would businesses relocate here like there was a gold rush? Would
millions of job seekers and homebuyers do the same?In
recent economic studies, the Texas Public Policy Foundation estimated
that the pro-growth, pro-family effects of eliminating property tax
would, in five years, create up to 312,700 new jobs in Texas.Instead, we keep trying to patch our perpetual property tax problems with “relief and reform” schemes.Ever
since the nationwide property tax revolts of the Great Depression,
legislators have tried to appease property owners using relief and
reform. It’s never worked. Property tax keeps rising.You know trying the
same thing over and over is futile. You know it will never produce a
different result.But here’s the most important reasons why we must eliminate property tax.– Because private property ownership is central to a free society.– Because property taxed is not owned at all.– Because no tax should have the power to leave you homeless.That’s
why in the spring 2018 primary, 68% of Texas voters passed Proposition
One to “replace the property tax system with an appropriate consumption
tax equivalent.”That’s why during the summer 2018 convention, 94% of 8,000 Texas Republican Party delegates voted to “abolish property tax.”That’s why, for the last 10 years, the Republican Party of Texas Platform resolved to “replace the property tax system….”So, why aren’t we talking about how we eliminate property tax?People
are angry everywhere across our country over outrageous increases in
property tax and the corruption it fosters. But more and more Texans are
starting to understand, the increasing theft and misuse of our money is
NOT the primary problem. It’s the civil tyranny and unconstitutional
violation of our natural right to own our personal property.And
that’s why, over two years ago, I founded the non-partisan Texas
activist group “Eliminate Property Tax” to advocate for a bill that will
finally emancipate Texas property owners.Eliminating
property tax is not a hallucination. There are entire nations that run
their governments without it. Texas can, too. But unlike the past
demands to do this, we’re not handing our Legislature the problem and
telling them, “Fix it!”We’re
presenting a solution. Our bill is the only comprehensive solution ever
proposed to our Legislature. And it’s a solution that secures both our
liberty and our property while still helping Texas prosper.In summary, here’s what it does.“Abolish 60+ taxes (including property, franchise and sales tax) and replace them all with a 7% consumption tax.”This
is not adding “another new tax” or increasing existing ones. Instead,
it enables the Texas tax system to use a simple, efficient,
consumption-based tax.On the simplest, macro-level, here’s how it works.We
need $80B to replace all revenue this bill would abolish. Texas GDP is
$1.6T. A tax rate of 7% on the whole economy would capture $112B.
Assuming we exempt 25%, the net is the $84B. That’s more than enough.Our
bill resulted from economist/attorney Rick Cunningham’s search for a
solution to replace property tax. But in his pursuit, Rick found nothing
“that looked in detail at every taxing jurisdiction of the state.” So,
he did his own study to find out “what does the picture look like if you
tried to tinker with sales tax?” He concluded that by using sales tax,
“there was no way… to do a wholesale replacement of the property tax.”That
led Rick to ask, “What would happen if instead of looking at what we
have and trying to figure out how we fix it, suppose we didn’t have
anything?”Using that approach, he started with three key objectives.1. Generate sufficient revenues to fund the government the electorate has chosen.2. Distribute taxes equitably so all taxpayers bear a reasonable, fair share.3. Create an efficient and transparent collection process.Rick
concluded that only a value-added tax best meets all the criteria (at
an acceptable rate to everyone). And unlike anything before, this
224-page bill was based on Rick’s in-depth, 159-page fiscal analysis.In
2013, our bill was sponsored in the House. It was the only such bill to
pass through the Ways & Means Committee, the Legislative Budget
Board and Legislative Counsel for review. Unfortunately, time ran out,
the 83rd session ended, and it was shelved with no one returning to
carry it forward.Before this last
session, we started re-introducing it to every member of the House and
the Senate. Rick and I met with several legislators, but as the session
began to get fully underway, we delayed further meetings.Out
of those contacts, we met with staff of one Democrat Senator and one
Republican Representative, both with long tenures, who were interested
in sponsorship. Now that the interim has begun, we’re following up to
discuss this with them in more depth. At the same time, we’ll invite our
other legislators to become co-sponsors.Texas
Realtors have a long history of advocating for personal property
rights. That’s why Rick and I would like to meet with you. We’d like to
listen to your thoughts on property tax, share more information about
his research and discuss our solution.Until then, feel free to contact me to make a meeting. I’ll be happy to help.Thx.
Russell J Bennett
Eliminate Property Tax
(713) 568-6266
EliminatePropertyTax@iCloud.comwww.EliminatePropertyTax.comP.S.
You know Texans want to eliminate property tax so they can actually
“own” what they’ve bought. But as long as we have property tax, that
never happens. Our Governor agrees.“Property
tax itself is unfair. Any amount. What it boils down to is, the
government owns it, not you. Period!!!!!… That’s why I’m trying to shift
from a property tax system to a consumption tax system, so you control
what you pay.” – Greg Abbott, 14 April 2019That’s
why I’m writing your Board Officers, Trustees, Regional and
Governmental Affairs Members. We have a comprehensive solution that does
exactly that. Let’s meet to discuss it.
