Property Tax Reform Views: Victor Leal

As the Texas Senate has recently passed Senate Bill 1, dubbed the "property tax reform bill," many Texans have been expressing different opinions. Proponents of the bill say it stops reckless municipal governments from continuing with skyrocketing tax rates and appraisals. Opponents of the bill say that the bill will, among other things, damage local control.

We at the Amarillo Pioneer want to bring you opinions from local community members on the bill and property tax reform. This is one of a series of views from local residents on the property tax reform bill:

Victor Leal

Essentially what I would like to say on SB 1 is this: The Founders of this great Republic understood we had inalienable rights, rights that derive from God and not the state. Those rights include Life, Liberty and Property...in that order. The state cannot take those rights away because they did not give them to us. The state must protect and defend them.

Property taxes which have soared because of appraisals are an egregious affront on our rights to own property.

I serve on Lt. Dan Patrick's advisory committee and we proposed legislation that would set a trigger, not a cap, to allow local people a say in the increase in their taxes. This is the epitome of local control and we should support it as it allows us a voice in the growth of government.