Government

The total Texas tax bill in 2005 was 65.2 billion dollars. Governor Perry will call a special session of the legislature beginning on Monday, April 17, at 2 p.m. to meet the Texas Supreme Court's June 1 deadline for tax reform. Chart credits - Texas Tax Reform Commission with data from the Texas Comptroller's Office.

Part 2 of Texas tax reform - Texas Tax Reform Commission is holding hearings across the state

March 18, 2006

AUSTIN – The Texas Tax Reform Commission met March 8 in Houston and March 13 in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area to gather recommendations on how to reform the state tax structure.

The hearings were part of a series of public hearings the commission has been holding across the state to gather input from Texans on how to modernize the tax structure and reduce property taxes. The public is invited to participate at each of these hearings.

The 24-member, bi-partisan commission was created by Gov. Rick Perry in September 2005. It is chaired by former Texas comptroller John Sharp. Since the commission’s creation, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled the state’s current school property tax structure unconstitutional and has given lawmakers until June 1 to devise a different tax system and lower school property taxes.

The governor has outlined five key principles to guide the commission’s deliberations on tax reforms. Perry said our new tax structure must be fair, broad-based, modern, understandable to taxpayers and competitive with other states “so that Texas can continue to attract jobs by maintaining the best business climate in America.”

Source: The Office of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas