Interactive: Close the Texas Budget Shortfall
Texas lawmakers have six weeks left in the regular session, and their struggle with the state's tight 2012-13 budget is expected to take up much of that time. It could even push them into a special session this summer if they can't reconcile differences between the House and Senate over these final weeks.
It's a hard job, and perhaps the best way to show you that is to hand you some of the numbers — the programs that might be cut, the taxes that might be raised — and let you make some choices as to how the $27 ...
Comments (30)
Donna Endres
Statewide there is a huge amount of untapped tax revenue hiding in undervalued appraisals of commercial and multifamily properties. The taxes, if these properties were appraised at market value today, would at most close the budget gap -- and at least, adequately fund education statewide.
Elise Hu
Nice job, boys! I love the quintupled byline.
Eusebio Diaz
I would have included in my cuts to cut all state elected and appointed salaries by 50% and cut all health benefits to these positions. Since we all have to tighten our belts and health insurance is a perceived priviledge not a right, why not? Savings would be nominal in dollars, but significant in principle.
Also, what, no state income tax option?
tthomas48
State Income Tax. Let's start taxing those who can actually afford it for a change. I could only come up with a few million dollars in spending that I could call "unnecessary". It's a structural deficit. There needs to be more funding. And I'm willing to pay.
Meg No
Love the graphic. When I used the NYT graphic, I hoped that a Texas one would come to fruition. However, I wish there was an option for a different taxation option than simply sales tax or even the soft drink sin tax. Raising sales taxes, or taxes on a good like soft drinks, makes taxation more regressive, placing a disproportionate tax burden on the poor. Raising property or income taxes makes them more progressive, placing more of the burden on the wealthy.
John Fulmer
The application allows us to choose only the options the Republican governor and the Republican-controlled legislature have identified. We are offered a "false dilemma" where we can only choose between bad options when in fact there are many other options available that are not being offered. Texas has already been dragged so low in the last couple of decades in terms of quality of education, social services, and a legal system that is an international embarrassment. The current budget choices offered will bomb Texas back into the Stone Age. Why can't we have a state income tax?????????
Mark Miller
Hi, Mark Miller here, editor of the Trib. We didn't include a state income tax because it isn't among the options being considered by state lawmakers. We wanted to give folks the choices before the Legislature — and a state income tax is not one of them. Thanks for checking out the app. We appreciate it.
Bill Smith
Spoiler: as far as I can tell, if you want to close the $27B gap but don't want to dip into the rainy day fund, you need to check every other box, including "Reduce public schools formula funding ($7.3B)".
V Marshall
I keep reading how taxes are so low in Texas, but we have the 3rd highest sales tax and the highest rate/$100 property tax in the US. I pay just a couple of hundred dollars more in property tax than my brother-in-law in San Jose, CA on a home valued $1 million less than his.
When property taxes were rising so rapidly in the first half of the decade, I knew people who were having to put their house on the market because 3 straight years of valuation increases combined with rate increases had priced them out of their own home. Of course there were so many houses on the market at the same time that they sold for much lower than their tax-assessed value. Obviously, in an already bad housing market, raising property taxes is risky. On the other hand, raising sales taxes is regressive so that doesn't seem like a good option either.
Texas could raise some revenues by raising alcohol and beer and wine taxes as those are very low, but that is not going to raise $25 billion. I don't see that they have any choice but to look at business taxes. Maybe it would be helpful to have the legislature stay in session more than 6 months given the enormity of our problems.
Donna Endres
This state government has been painstakingly crafted and maintained over many years to benefit the top income bracket to the detriment of the everyday citizen, along with education, health and social programs. This will not change as long as the powers that be have a firm grip on the lawmakers. Budget cuts will not solve the problem. Sweeping change in how the state government is operated and funded is the only solution. This will not be possible as long as a concentration of conservative power runs the state. There is great power in money, but individuals also have power, if they join together and work at it consistently.
Mike Hasty
I like the app idea, but you have one GLARING flaw in the app - there is no way to make across the board cuts to all or some programs, just eliminate the programs altogether.
Donna Endres
Response to VBMarshall: If you look into the property tax details you will find that while residential property owners pay hefty taxes, commercial and multifamily properties are grossly undervalued and pay very little by comparison. And so far the Lege has been able to block any bill that would require the sale prices of commercial and multifamily properties to be made public so that county appraisals could be reset to current market values the way they are when a house sells. This is the dirty little secret that makes taking away historic landmark tax abatements ludicrous. If the public only knew!
www james
The app does not have an option to deport Illegal Aliens, which would easily fix the "shortfall"
jpt51
According to the CPPP http://www.cppp.org/files/7/2011_03_24_WhoPaysTexasTaxes.pdf the bottom 20% of Texans pay 14% of their income in taxes. Those making over $126,000 a year pay 3%. That's not by accident. The wealtiiest Texans have a bargin and they don't want to change things. That's why Gov. Perry and Tea Party folks throw out wedge issues like boarder security, secession and abortion, diverting us from real issues. A progressive income tax for all is needed and until it happens expect crony special interests, like Bob Perry and Red McCombs to pull Rick Perry's strings.
Glen Hill
The shortfall could have been reduced or completely avoided if there were full-blown casinos in Texas. There are billions of dollars waiting to stay in Texas as well as billions that could be generated in as little two years. Lawmakers Ogden and Kleinschmidt voiced the need for "new revenue" and were joined by colleagues but none seem to have the grit needed to push the "full-blown" casino bill through so Texans can decide for themselves if there will be Texas Casinos or not.
Sophie Catt
This is ridiculous! These are my ONLY CHOICES?!? Either cut it entirely, or Don't Cut it at All?!? Really?? What about making some of these programs more viable, by cutting the fat and getting rid of contracts to special friends of people in high places? What about getting rid of incompetence (example: workers at the Texas Youth Commission), and replacing them with good people??
To just cut programs without considering any other solution is RIDICULOUS. If you got rid of some of the slovenly bureaucratic pigs who crowd out the others at the trough, you MIGHT get some efficiency and some competency in some of these programs. Get rid of some of the ridiculous salaries at the top of MOST of these organizations and you'll have yourselves a well-oiled machine who can fulfill its mission without being impeded at every step by POLITICS!!!!
Mike Johnson
Gaming, Bottle Bill, Bigger Fees where it makes sense.
Geary Garton
Sell hard liquor on Sundays as well as expand the hours from 8AM-12AM on Monday through Saturday.
Jeff Kaiser
Repeal the sales tax refund for foreign travelers! Many Mexican nationals own homes in Texas and live here most of the year, drive on our roadways, use our city/state infrastructure, yet we gladly give them a refund on sales tax, because they call Mexico their primary residence. Some dishonest persons have discovered the fact that there are no checks and balances on this process, going so far as to collect their tax back in cash form (Texas Tax Back) only to return the items a few days, weeks or months later and collect the additional sales tax. In these cases, the state is simply giving money away to these foreign travelers!!
Donald Moel
I have a great idea!! To balance the state budget, (1) deny any and all benefits to persons not here LEGALLY! (education, healthcare, food assistance, etc) (2) enact a 50% tax on all personal money transfers leaving Texas across any international border. (3) Pass a State law prohibiting illegal immigrants from residing within the state, and if found & caught, ALL posessions including cash & bank accounts are forfieted to the state treasury. Shouldn't take too long to clear $27 billion!!
tthomas48
If there were any savings in deporting or denying services to illegal immigrants, I'm quite sure this legislature would have found it.
Phillip Sanders
The solution to problem is obvious and it isn't on this app. Change the property tax back to where it was in 2006. That is why education funding is in the shape it's in now. Since school districts base their funding on property taxes their legs were cut out from underneath them in 2006 by Perry and the legislature. Of course Strayhorn warned everyone but no one listened.
Before V Marshall jumps back in here about his property taxes, he has to remember that his brother's property taxes are lower because they "DO" pay a state income tax in Cali.
And Donna, that is the dirty little secret that the legislature does not want everyone to know. Where else would they get their kickbacks from?
Ms. Cox
I agree with 98% of the cuts except the following items need to be added and subtracted.
Cut top salaries by 25%
$7.7 million
Cut maximum agency salaries by 15%
$1.8 million
Cap state salaries list on texastribune.org w/ layoffs for difference
$3.6 million
Vehicle Repair Shop License
Most states make all vehicle repair shops pay a licensing fee, but before the shop pays the fee they have to have insurance or a bond on file with the state and place a state issued sign outside their facility. This protects the consumer from faulty, fraudulent repairs and any damage done to their vehicles, while in the shop’s care. Currently, when a repair facility damages your vehicle they are not required to pay and most carry no insurance. Once the insurance or bond is exhausted they must get more coverage, go out of business or take their sign down so as not to deceive the customer.
I did not need to touch the rainy day fund and was absolutely shocked by the salaries listed on your site. This is taxpayer money, which many have ingratiated themselves and their friends at the expense of others.
The rainy day fund needs to be preserved for lawsuits and natural disasters. I'm with Perry - hands off.
NOTE TO PUBLIC – DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN GROW UP TO BE TEACHERS OR ENTER THE PROFESSION AFTER WORKING IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. I am against touching K-12 retirement and healthcare funding. These items were already changed to the detriment of many teachers back in the early 2000’s with the elimination of the GOP and WEP. Next they were hit with age plus years of service increasing from 70 to 80 years. Then starting last year without notice, teachers who had worked in private industry and entered late in the profession were notified that they are no longer covered by social security disability even though they were told at the time they were grandfather. This particular group of teachers, many of whom have been affected by the layoffs, now look forward to a retirement living in destitute conditions, while other teachers are living the high life. Whatever happened to equal work, equal and benefits for all the people occupying the same profession?
Donna addresses appraisals, which I agree with; however, what many people do not know is that the state has a vested interest in hiking the value of your estate above $106,000. It is at this magic number that the surviving spouse is liquidated for any and everything above this amount to pay back any Medicaid that might kick in due to coverage from an extended or catastrophic illness beyond what Medicare or private insurance pays. Those that never contribute or contributed very little have sucked the system dry, so if by chance you need Medicaid and have worked your whole life, the state will liquidate anything above $106K so the invaders win again.
For anyone that advocates a state payroll tax, think again. Government will only expand and pretty soon you are paying 49% of your income in taxes. Just take a look at New York and other states. Once you let them into your pocket, they never retreat and only dig deeper.
Ms. Cox
Just some comments on why I support these cuts and to make the public more aware.
Pre-K
Eliminate pre-kindergarten early start grants, because the state does not need to provide grants to education when this industry consumes most of the state budget. Additionally, I think parents need to become responsible and accountable for raising their children.
$223.3 million
Public school funding
Reduce public schools formula funding. The structures of school districts need to be challenged. They all have their own little kingdoms with duplicate staff and high administrative salaries for decades. Time to combine districts and sell off underutilized buildings. It should be one county, one district with one centralized administrative staff. Technically, as the baby boomers aged out of the system, school population should have gone down, but it went up due to a porous border. Ads for the teachers, no matter the subject, state "must speak Spanish". As a taxpayer, I will not fund such a blatant discriminatory practice. Throwing money at an education system that does nothing more than tweak the testing numbers to deceive the public into thinking the school systems have improved is just plain fraud. Try to change the system by speaking out and they hang you in effigy.
$7.8 billion
Ms. Cox
Cut acute care Medicaid
Medicaid usually requires five year residency in the US unless it is due to pregnancy, then both mother and child are covered immediately until the child is 21 years old. I know of parents both working and both collecting retirement and listed in the Tribunes top salaries that got their daughter on the program, because she was a first year college student, who claimed she was poor. If you are going to get pregnant, then you must be held accountable and responsible for the baby so that we stop the influx of pregnant women coming to the states. The company that just takes the calls for Medicaid and Chips and just fills in the forms earned a profit of $88 million in 2010. How can a company get so rich that is supposed to be serving the poor whereby the management of the company treats its own employees so poorly? Yet, throughout this country if you are single or a childless couple and fall on hard times, you are basically left out in the cold. The administrations of these programs have developed some pretty discriminatory practices, because last time I checked the constitution there should be no age or marital discrimination anywhere.
$489.9 million
Cut funding for children's programs
There is a direct correlation between the increase of illegal drugs flowing into this country and the increased cases of child development problems. If you put drugs in your body and then get pregnant or impregnate someone, the taxpayer should not have to bear the burden. So this program definitely has room for cuts. Since we keep bailing out everyone who is making bad choices, then we will keep going broke. It is time to eliminate these programs that provide safety nets for people unwilling to become responsible and accountable for their own actions.
$9.6 million
Ms. Cox
Don't keep pace with growth on health spending.
I live in the meth county capital of Texas and a state which is the corridor for much of the illegal drugs entering this country. These drug addicts are milking the system by using a revolving door at the state mental health facilities. Their initial diagnosis is schizoids-effective disorder for medical reimbursement. Second time the diagnosis is schizophrenia whereby now they can collect social security supplemental income and join a low cost medical program of less than $100 a month. All while they are collecting SSI, they are working somewhere off the books. I am not sure who I am more mad at; the doctors that play the system for reimbursement, the drug addicts that are milking the system, the parents that stand by and watch this happen so that they don't have to contribute to the well being of their adult child, or the people who employ them. But bottom line these people are just drug addicts that chose their behavior so they chose the consequences just like over-eaters, smokers, alcoholics and sex addicts. We don't bail out the latter, why are we bailing out the former?
$1.7 billion
Close a state prison
Sugarland is prime real estate so close, demolish and sell the property so it becomes income producing.
$31.1 million
Cut prison health care
The prisoners get excellent health and dental care, while I who have never broken the law get none. So why am I paying for a prisoner's healthcare when I can't even afford the $688 a month they want to charge me now.
Ms. Cox
Cut funding for alcohol enforcement.
Our local TABC officer walks around at public events handing out tickets to underage smokers. What a waste of taxpayer money.
$7.0 million
Cut community supervision of offenders
What good is accomplished by babysitting offenders on the outside with a weekly or monthly check in. If you cut the offender’s time, then cut them loose when you release them. If the treatment and transitional services worked like they are suppose to, the offender should not be a problem and need babysitting.
$109.6 million
Cut local criminal justice grants
The government should not even be in the grant business. They need to get out of all grant programs and stop taking and giving away taxpayer money.
$79.8 million
Ms. Cox
Reduce state workers' retirement contribution
State workers can collect a state pension, private pension and social security, whereby teachers cannot. So I am not sure why all state workers are not treated like teachers. Teacher retirement has already been cut by the GOP and WEP back in the early 2000's leaving teacher's new to the profession losing part of their social security and only attaining a very small teacher pension. Teachers who had worked in the real world also lost all social security disability eligibility without any prior notification; just a letter that shows up in the mail one day. The education system cuts these teachers first throwing them into a life of destitution when they reach retirement. Who did the math on these cuts? If it is good enough for them, then it is good enough for all state workers.
$73.3 million
Cut the Commission on the Arts
We have enough already and they all charge for parking and admission.
$7.6 million
Cut other grants
Again, government should not ever be in the grant business.
$41.0 million
Cut film and music marketing
They know Texas is here. Like this industry needs help and do we really want their liberal, corrupting influence in this state while they turn out mostly garbage these days. This industry has NOT listed any jobs in the Work in Texas database.
$56.5 million
Ms. Cox
Cut business/tourism promotion
Keep the business part only if the economic development corporation starts posting in the newspaper in each area what they have done. In our area it looks like someone is collecting a paycheck as businesses closes and we keep paying rent, utilities, insurance and salaries.
Taxpayers want real accountability that is transparent. If some company is going to take our money and incentives then it should be no secret.
On the tourism side, I like the parks/camping, but visitor centers in small towns is a waste of money and just a sweetheart deal for somebody's relative. We only know of what is going on after it happens; yet taxpayers pay rent, insurance, utilities and salaries for an organization that is anything but proactive.
$61.4 million
Cut the Texas Historical Commission
Our historical commission cuts out obituaries and has a staff of four. Once in awhile they put up a sign marker. Other than that, the inside of their building looks like a badly laid out garage sale.
Oh yeah, they complained to president of a bank that they didn't like the facade of a building, which had the same brick and windows as the court house.
$1.1 million
Charge state employees to park in state garages.
$3.9 million
Privatize janitorial services
As long as the janitorial services is a lot cheaper and the employees are fully vetted with background check and lie detector testing. All private contract employees must read, write and speak English. We need to get as many people as possible off of the states retirement system, because we cannot afford it nor can our children.
$1.7 million
Sell state property
List it for six months, then sell it at an open auction.
$15.0 million
Create amnesty for overdue taxes
$75.0 million
Accelerate business tax collections
As long as those that manage the funds do not give themselves bonuses.
$2.0 billion
Accelerate other tax collections
As long as those that manage the funds do not give themselves bonuses.
$849.6 million
Ms. Cox
Reduce funding for contract and private prisons
I am not sure how the prison system got the building designs so wrong. Guards should be on cat walks with tear gas gun and the ability to roll doors to cells, shower and day room without having to escort inmates. Only escort needed is when the prisoner leaves and returns to the cell block.
$50.9 million
Cut the Emerging Technology Fund
Since technology is no longer a mandated credit in high school for graduation, it appears the state doesn't really care about advancing technology. So if you cut at the lower level, it only makes since to cut at the state level.
$24.0 million