Kerr County Commissioners want to jack-up property taxes to the max rate of 8%
Exploit disaster declaration to bypass public vote!
Conservative media weighs in…
Article in Texas Scorecard today…
“Texas Counties Have Exploited a ‘Disaster Loophole’ to Hike Taxes“
On Monday, July 14, the Kerr County Commissioners met for their first regular meeting post-flood, and on agenda item 1.13 discussed voting to max rate property taxes all the way up to 8%, above the normal legal limit of 3.5% (exceeding that cap would normally trigger a public vote), and because it’s during a declared disaster, they can bypass a public vote.
Watch it yourself here: (at 1 hour and 21 minute mark):
So while over 100 people are still missing, before the debris can even be removed due to active recovery efforts still happening, while families are having to plan funerals, countless homes have been damaged or completely destroyed (with no actual damage estimates even determined yet), and our community is struggling to live daily life (with many parts of the county still under intermittent flood warnings and road closures), what does the Kerr County Commissioners prioritize?
Maxing out your property taxes!
The Democrat-dominated Harris County Commissioners did this to Houston after Hurricane Beryl, yet we have Republicans intending to do it here. They voted unanimously to take the first step to do so and directed the tax assessor to prepare the numbers for when they formally vote to adopt the final tax rate at a future meeting.
You don’t vote to advance something you fundamentally oppose.
This shouldn’t even be on the table — it’s an outrage and pours salt in the wounds of the residents still trying to find their missing loved ones and get their homes habitable or re-built again. Residents are in crisis, yet this is what our county rushes to do? Exploit a crisis to stick it to us financially on top of everything else? Their excuse was it took FEMA 3 years to pay it back last time (didn’t specify which event, we’re guessing the ice storm, which was under Biden — you can’t even compare that to Trump’s FEMA).
But there’s a new administration now, and FEMA has been lightning fast in response, along with Abbott and the state. Massive resources have been deployed and will continue to be. The President assured us all of that Friday. So there’s no excuse to max out property taxes and exploit the disaster declaration to avoid a public vote on it. The Texas legislature begins its special session this coming Monday, where several different items regarding flood relief will be on the agenda. Our local officials shouldn’t be racing to exploit a crisis to raise taxes before the state even has the opportunity to send resources our way. Kerr County residents are still struggling, hurting, and devastated by this unprecedented natural disaster. We will re-build in due time. But seriously, this looks so very bad. Raising taxes during a disaster not only hurts real people, but it also hurts the Republican brand and shouldn’t even be contemplated by those who run for office with an R after their name.
Given the fact most property values in this area have cratered overnight due to homes being wiped out, damaged, or unlivable, and the others diminished in general due to the perceived flood risk in Kerr County, now is THE WORST TIME to contemplate raising taxes, much less maxing out property taxes, much less doing it when they know they can get away with it because during a declared disaster they can bypass the public vote normally required by law (if they raise it above the usual cap of 3.5%, which is already bad enough).
ACTION ITEM
Contact the county commissioners and ask them NOT to raise property taxes, and certainly NOT to hike up to the max of 8%. If anything, they should lower the tax rate to offset the increased appraisals that went out before the flood.
NOTE: To apply for a temporary property tax exemption, go to this link and download the form to send to the Kerr Appraisal District: https://kerrcad.org/kerr-central-appraisal-district/ Anyone with at least 15% damage to your home or property can apply for this ’temporary exemption.’ Property owners have until October 18 to apply.