Texas, Cutting Our Nose Off to Spite Our Face?

Right now the Texas Legislature is contemplating numerous bills to cut the budget.  The Legislature is considering drastic cuts to Higher Education, K through 12 Education, Medicaid and the Criminal Justice/Prison System, and not even considering raising taxes.  Well who wants to pay more taxes, we pay so much now, right?

Well, According to the Tax Foundation, Texas ranked 43rd with an 8.4% tax rate in State-Local tax burdens in 2008. The tax rate has gone up a whopping 0.3% since 1977. 

Now I'm not saying that I'm dying to pay more taxes, but I think we have to look at our budget problems in a balanced way.  There certainly are some cuts that need to be made to make education more efficient, but cutting Higher and K through 12 Education to the bone is not good for the Texas Economy, our STRONG POINT.  According to Joel Kotkin of New Geography

Migration patterns are also changing among college-educated workers. Between 2005 and 2007, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina already enjoy higher rates per capita of net migration of educated workers between the ages of 22 and 39 than California, New York or Massachusetts.

This advantage could expand as the upcoming states increase their educational offerings along with employment opportunities. Students may end up tempted to attend schools closer to where there is job growth. Unlike Austin and Raleigh-Durham, which have rapidly expanded tech employment, Silicon Valley has produced virtually no new net tech jobs for the past decade.

The second impact may  be more subtle, as declining revenues from businesses and individuals reduces the opportunity to boost education spending. As the country stumbles into this recovery, the greatest advantage will fall not only to states with the most natural resources, but those with the best-educated human resources. For a half century this is a game that states like California have played to perfection, but it is one in which other places are likely to catch up, and perhaps even pass. The long-term implications for the nation’s economic geography could prove profound.

Do we want to lose the advantages Texas has over other states by striping our Education system?  

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? Enviromental Policy--SA

A Recap of City of San Antonio revenues and spending. So $1,074.42 of your property taxes goes to the City of San Antonio.

The City of San Antonio receives revenues from several sources: Property taxes (25%), Charges and fees (20%), Revenues from Utilities (17%), Grants (usually federal) (15%), Sales Tax (14%), Hotel/Motel Tax (4%), Other Taxes (Short Term Rental Tax, Bingo Tax, etc) (2%), Fines (Library Fines, Traffic Tickets) (1%), Miscellaneous (1%), Intergovernment (0.6%), Permits/Licenses (0.4%)

The 2010 Budget for the City divides general fund expenditures in the following ways: Police (36%), Fire/EMS (26%), other services (Aviation, Community Initiatives, Historic Preservation, Solid Waste Management, Military Affairs, etc) (11%), Convention, Tourism and Culture (9%), Streets and Infrastructure (7%), Environmental (5%), Parks & Recreation (6%), Agencies (4%), Library (3%), Health (1%), Municipal Courts (1%), Neighborhood Services (1%), Economic Development (0.5%), Animal Care (0.5%). I will take you through each of these items in separate posts. If you feel that you have a better way to spend the money you can post your suggestions on the online Budget suggestion box for the 2011 budget.
(For links to all items in the CSA budget, see past posts.)

The Office of Environmental Policy which receives 5% of the city's budget is involved in several initiatives to make San Antonio a greener city:

• Casa Verde SA  is a partnership with CPS Energy to assist low income households with weatherizing their homes.  
• The Mission Verde sustainability plan, which sets several goals for the city to be part of the future green economy and to reduce carbon use by industry, transportation and city facilities.
• The Green Contractor Rebate program which provides incentives for builders to renovate homes through the Build San Antonio Green retrofit program.
• The Mission Verde Center, a multipurpose education, training and research center for renewable and energy efficient technologies.
• The Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan  that provides financial incentives and assistance to residential and commercial customers to install energy saving practices and fixtures to reduce the customer's energy use permanently. 
• Solar America Cities to promote and facilitate the use of solar energy in San Antonio.
• The Hike and Bike program

The city is also planning to change their fleet of cars over to electric vehicles, plug in and hybrid.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? Bexar County

A recap of the 2010 property tax bill of $5,029.23 for a $189,930 house.

$58.27 goes to Bexar County Road Maintenance and Flood Control
$30.30 goes to San Antonio River Authority
$258.03 goes to Alamo Community College District (NW Vista, SAC, St. Phillips, etc)
$505.66 goes to the University Health System (University Hospital)
$552.65 goes to Bexar County
$1,074.42 goes to the City of San Antonio
$2,540.31 goes to the School District you are in (In this case Northside ISD)

So $552.66 of your property taxes goes to Bexar County.  The property tax represents 52% of the county's revenue.  Other revenue sources are Grants and Contributions (25%), Charges for Service (14%), Motor Vehicle taxes (3%), Other taxes (a portion the sales tax, hotel & motel tax, bingo tax and short term rental taxes) (3%), Investment income (1%) and Miscellaneous income (2%).

Bexar County spends its revenue in the following ways:  Public Safety (36%), Judicial (16%), General Government (15%), Public Works(15%), Health and Public Welfare (6%), Community Venue (5%), Debt (4%),  Education and Recreation (2%), Commissary (1%).

Bexar County is the only government for people who live outside of cities but within the county.  It also provides services to anyone living within the county.  The county provides similar services to county residents that cities provide, but they cover a much wider territory with a lot less money.  Debt being paid by the county refers to bond issue debt and the commissary is in the Sheriff's office.

The county provides public safety through the Sheriff's office, the Bexar County Constables office and the Bexar County Jail.  The County also has a medical examiner and a forensics toxicology lab. It also provides fire and emergency services in the county.  The county is also responsible for a number of different types of courts, Justice of the Peace Courts, the County Court, District Courts and some Appellate Courts.  If you ever find yourself in Probate Court constesting a will, it will be a county court.

General government activities for Bexar County include, issuing marriage licenses, voter's registration, the appraissal district, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and issuing land deeds.

As I mentioned before, the county pays a portion of all public works projects (road and flood) throughout the county.  They are also responsible for bridges and storm water quality in the county.


The county's involvement in health and public welfare includes a $6 million donation to Haven for Hope, participation in the University Health System, and the Center for Health Care Services which helps people with mental and developmental disabilities and substance abuse challenges.

Community venues in the county include the River Walk, youth and amateur sports facilities, Freeman Colleseum and AT&T Sports Arena, and Cultural Arts centers like the Museo Alameda.  These venues are mostly covered by Hotel and Motel Taxes and Short Term Rental Taxes.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization educates neighborhoods on how to use their infrastructure to encourage walking and biking to area restaurants, schools, businesses and parks. It also offers bicycle safety classes and sets up Bike Rodeos.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? University Health System

A recap of the 2010 property tax bill of $5,029.23 for a $189,930 house.

$58.27 goes to Bexar County Road Maintenance and Flood Control
$30.30 goes to San Antonio River Authority
$258.03 goes to Alamo Community College District (NW Vista, SAC, St. Phillips, etc)
$505.66 goes to the University Health System (University Hospital)
$552.65 goes to Bexar County
$1,074.42 goes to the City of San Antonio
$2,540.31 goes to the School District you are in (In this case North Side ISD)

About 39% of the University Health System budget comes from property taxes. Other sources of revenue are Patient Payments (45%), Disproportionate Share Hospital program (paid by the state to cover costs not covered by Medicaid and for indigent patients) (12%), other revenue, such as Donations to the UHS foundation (3.9%) and money from the Tobacco Settlement (.1 %) 

The System uses your $505.66 to  offer the full range of medical services to anyone needing their services, including:  trauma care (the only other trauma facility is BAMC), health education, and CARELINK (a financial assistance program for people who do not qualify for Chip or Medicaid).

The State of Texas ranks the lowest in per capita state health spending, so we tax payers really aren't paying that much for indigent patients.  Also the vast majority of public employees in Texas are either teachers or hospital workers.

Where Do Your Property Taxes Go? Alamo Community College District

A recap of the 2010 property tax bill of $5,029.23 for a $189,930 house.

$58.27 goes to Bexar County Road Maintenance and Flood Control
$30.30 goes to San Antonio River Authority
$258.03 goes to Alamo Community College District (NW Vista, SAC, St. Phillips, etc)
$505.66 goes to the University Health System (University Hospital)
$552.65 goes to Bexar County
$1,074.42 goes to the City of San Antonio
$2,540.31 goes to the School District you are in (In this case North Side ISD)

The $258.03 that goes to the Alamo Community College District  is used to help support the Community Colleges in San Antonio:  Northeast Lakeview College, Northwest Vista College, San Antonio College, St. Phillips College and Palo Alto College.  The Alamo Community College District is a special government with taxing authority and the ability to issue bonds.  The bond issues are used to borrow money and are approved by the voters before they can be issued.  The district also has an elected board, and right now there is a heavilly contested race in District 7 between Blakely Latham Fernandez and David A. Whitley.

Your $258.03 helps to pay for college operations and to pay off bond issue debt.  Operating expenses include, instruction, public service, academic support, student services, institutional services, operation and maintenance of plant,  and scholarships and fellowships.  Now this is only a drop in the bucket to cover the college's expenses so the rest is covered by state allocations (sales tax revenue), tuition and fees paid by the students, federal (income tax revenue) and state grants and contracts and investments in that order with the majority of funds coming from the state, tuition and the federal government.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? San Antonio River Authority

A recap of the 2010 property tax bill of $5,029.23 for a $189,930 house.


$58.27 goes to Bexar County Road Maintenance and Flood Control
$30.30 goes to San Antonio River Authority
$258.03 goes to Alamo Community College District (NW Vista, SAC, St. Phillips, etc)
$505.66 goes to the University Health System (University Hospital)
$552.65 goes to Bexar County
$1,074.42 goes to the City of San Antonio
$2,540.31 goes to the School District you are in (In this case North Side ISD)


The San Antonio River Authority or SARA gets $30.30 of your tax bill.  So what is SARA?

SARA is a regional government entity that includes Bexar, Goliad and Karnes counties.  It has a publicly elected board of directors.  It's responsible for:

• Water Resources 
• Water Quality 
• Flood Control 
• Parks 
• Utilities (Water and Wastewater) 
• Economic Development 

along rivers and lakes in these three counties.  So in San Antonio that means it's responsible for the River Walk and all rivers and creek beds in Bexar, Goliad and Karnes counties.

Now luckily the property tax isn't the only place SARA gets money.  They also recieve some money from the federal government (income taxes), fund balances (from investments) and grants and donations.

The money from property taxes is used directly for flood control and water quality protection.  SARA gets $0.02 for every $100 that your house is valued at.  Now as I said before, Bexar County and the city of San Antonio also have some flood control responsibilities.  So the next time you have flooding on your property report it to all three of these entities.

So now when you see a SARA board member on your voting ballot, you'll know what that person does.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go?

Let's say that your house is valued at $189,930 which is pretty close to the average home price in San Antonio. Your total property tax bill for 2010 without any exemptions would be $5,029.23. So where does this money go?

Well, according to the Bexar Appraisal District this is the breakdown:

$58.27 goes to Bexar County Road Maintenance and Flood Control
$30.30 goes to San Antonio River Authority
$258.03 goes to Alamo Community College District (NW Vista, SAC, St. Phillips, etc)
$505.66 goes to the University Health System (University Hospital)
$552.65 goes to Bexar County
$1,074.42 goes to the City of San Antonio
$2,540.31 goes to the School District you are in (In this case North Side ISD)

This tax bill would vary depending on which school district you lived in because each school district has it's own taxing rate.

The first category, Bexar County Road and Flood Maintenance is pretty self explanatory. Bexar County pays a portion of every road and flood project done in the City of San Antonio, and every other town within the county. The city of San Antonio also pays a portion of road and flood maintenance, and the San Antonio River Authority pays a portion of the flood maintenance, which I will talk about in a future post. But if you live outside the city limits, the only money going for road maintenance would be $58.27 from your taxes. You would pay less taxes but it will probably take a lot longer to have any work done on problem areas near your home.

In my following posts I will give a break down of how each of these taxing districts uses your money.

Europe Emulating the US? It's time to pay the piper.

The debt crisis in Europe is having an odd effect. It looks like Europe may start to look more like us! In order to cut costs many countries in the European Union are looking to raise the retirement age, lower social security benefits, get rid of free money for having a baby, raise the cost college education (virtually free now) and require people on unemployment to actually look for a job.

The countries in the biggest trouble (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland) are mostly in southern Europe and generally offer their citizens the biggest perks for the least amount of taxes. Well, it's come time to pay the piper.

Northern Europe, mostly Scandinavia, is in a much better position. These countries have extremely high taxes, so their citizens are willing to pay for the benefits. They have also assuaged the unions by making it easier for an employer to fire an employee by offering job retraining along with unemployment benefits. Most countries in southern Europe are hog-tied by the unions and generally have a very difficult time dealing with negative employment issues. Cross country strikes can shut down a whole country for days.

The current economic crisis will be a true test of Europe's tolerance for immigrants and of it's citizens will to persevere. The constant strikes in Greece right now are not going to change the situation, Greece will have to make drastic spending cuts to survive in the union and possibly to even survive as a country.

People are always looking for someone to blame in a crisis situation. The blame game is a favorite with the US Congress. But does it get anything positive accomplished?? Not in the short term that's for sure. I think it's a much better policy to do as much as possible to solve a problem and to think positively and creatively about the future until the situation has improved. Then go back, not so much to point blame, as to look to see what caused the problems and do what is necessary to prevent them from happening again.