HEB Chamber Government Affairs Newsletter

A Taxing Issue

Local experts discuss the complexities of property tax relief


	Dr. Aaron Reich speaking.

Slowing the growth of property taxes proved to be a topic capable of bringing together about 120 business leaders and elected officials at the first-ever meeting of the Coalition of East Tarrant Chambers, held at the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce on Friday, August 3.

Four experts on property taxes presented their perspective and then responded to questions from Tarrant County Property Tax Assessor/Collector Ron Wright.

Vance Ginn, Chief Economist with the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, presented the Foundation's ideas on how to completely eliminate property tax for school maintenance and operations.

Dr. Aaron Reich, President of the Arlington ISD Board of Trustees, talked about the complications of the Texas property taxes and how the system seems to short-change some districts. He noted that the State uses taxes collected as school taxes for other expenses, like health care and transportation.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley represented the perspective of cities and counties, and made the point that without a state income tax -- which he does not favor -- Texas has a "two-legged stool" to obtain revenue. He took great exception to the idea that replacing property taxes with more sales taxes could be made to work.

State Representative Matt Krause brought the perspective of the legislature to the discussion. He shared about the State's overall shortage of funds and how growing Medicaid expenses are crowding other important items in the budget.

The forum was a lively and informative morning. If you'd like to know more, you can read a summary of the presentations here, and view a video of the entire meeting here.

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Making the Grade

HEB ISD earns top grade in new State ranking system

The Texas Education Agency released the first district-wide ratings using the new "A-F" accountability system. The HEB Independent School District earned an overall grade of A, with a Scaled Score of 90. The district also earned an A in the area of Student Achievement.

Elsewhere, the Dallas ISD earned a B, while the Arlington and Fort Worth districts each earned a grade of C. See details on local schools.

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Austin Bound

Visit to State Legislature is set for March 6-7

Mark your calendars for March 6-7, 2019, for our trip to Austin to visit with the 86th Texas Legislature. We'll leave DFW the morning of March 6, arriving in time for lunch at the DoubleTree at the Capitol, featuring a presentation by Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune.

That afternoon, we will join with the leadership classes from HEB, Colleyville, Grapevine, Northeast Tarrant and the Metroport Chambers of Commerce to hear presentations by legislators. That evening will be the Tarrant County Days reception, sponsored by the Fort Worth Chamber.

Thursday morning we will attend the Tarrant County Days breakfast, followed by more presentations by legislators and their key staff. We also will try to meet with statewide officeholders on Thursday. Our meetings will end around 2 p.m. so we can try to beat the I-35 traffic on our way home.

The details will come together once we get the November election results and the session dates in January. More to come.

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We're working for you

The Chamber's Board has five goal teams. One of these teams is Business Advocacy, and it is chaired by Howard Shotwell. The team's responsibilities include government relations, issues identification, identifying collaboration opportunities and ensuring Chamber members always have a "seat at the table." We welcome your support! If you would like to get involved in the Chamber's business advocacy work, contact Mary Frazior, 817-283-1521, [email protected].

We thank our business advocacy sponsors:

Sponsorship does not necessarily imply endorsement of the Chamber's policy positions.

The Chamber is 4-Star accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

[email protected] heb.org