By Lee Winston, partner at Gray, Winston & Hart PLLC No income tax in Texas. The Texas Constitution prohibits it, so local funding depends primarily on property taxes. But to many Texas businesses, this “necessary evil” has become just plain evil. Over the last several years, property taxes in Texas have exploded. State politicians have taken notice and are ramping up demands to reduce or eliminate property taxes, but the alternatives are more than unpopular. For instance, nobody wants to pay — and no politician wants to stand for election on — instituting a near 20 percent sales tax. And everyone knows this. To avoid this reality, lawmakers have pivoted to find a villain, and the appraisal districts that place the taxable value on property are a ready target. The popular solutions to rein in this villain are appraisal caps, increased exemptions and value limitations, all of which offer relief to residential property owners but do little for commercial owners. And these “fixes” result in a system that is neither equal nor uniform, undermining the constitutional foundation of taxation in Texas. Our elected officials have yet to address the fundamental issue driving the over-valuation of most commercial properties, which is …
