Above: COS Regional Captain Michelle Davis (left) waits her turn to testify.
The Convention of States Texas team took another giant step towards building an engaged citizen army at the hearings of the Senate Committee on Property Tax on February 6.
The team knows that passing the Convention of States resolution is only the first step toward the mission of the movement:
Building an engaged army of self-governing grassroots activists.
This means being vigilant and engaged on issues involving government overreach and infringement of personal liberties. In Texas, the property tax battle is one of those.
and his brother Richard, also an RC,
both testified at the Senate hearing.
COS volunteers joined many others from like-minded organizations to insist that the time for property tax relief is now. Some watched the proceedings with buttons in evidence, while others offered oral testimony.
It was gratifying to see the sympathetic response shown by most of the members of the committee chaired by Sen. Paul Bettencourt. The hearing went long into the evening, with much of the time taken up with debates between the committee members and city officials, with many of the latter insisting that the current 8% tax hike trigger is necessary to allow them the flexibility they need to provide adequate services.
Chairman Bettencourt was having none of it. He seemed insistent that the current rate is too high and that substantial relief is needed. The bill under consideration (SB 2) would set a trigger at 2.5% with higher increases requiring explicit voter approval via a rollback election.
The bill was approved by the committee and goes to the Texas Senate for a vote this week.
Left: Kimberly Savage gives moving testimony of how out-of-control property taxes are threatening her family home. Right: Shelby Williams (who also testified), Brent Dunklau, and Peter Morales were among the standing-room-only crowd in the hearing chamber.
