Ballot Issues — November 3, 2009

I have posted on this over the past few weeks, but if you didn’t take advantage of the early voting period in Texas, then Tuesday is the day for you to vote and protect your interests.  Please make to time to vote YES for these important amendments to the Texas constitution:

Proposition 2:  If your property is zoned “mixed use,” or is annexed and rezoned for light industrial or mixed use, or something other than residential, current law allows appraisal districts to assess property taxes based on the “highest and best use” of the property.  If it’s your homestead, wouldn’t you like it appraised as a home rather than as the machine shop or retail store or something else of higher value?  This change would require a home to be appraised as a home.

Proposition 3:  If you move, or own property in several tax jurisdictions, wouldn’t you like to expect all appraisal districts to use the same guidelines?  This amendment would require it.

Proposition 5:  This provision would simply allow two adjacent appraisal districts to share staff for efficiency and consistency.  There are a lot of small and/or rural districts in Texas that would benefit.

Proposition 9:  Since 1959, Texas has had the Open Beaches Act – the best protection of public beach access in the United States.  This proposition would simply make that protection constitutional rather than statutory.

Proposition 11:  There have been news stories in recent years of local governments using their powers of eminent domain to seize entire residential neighborhoods so that they could be redeveloped as shopping centers or other commercial property, simply because the tax revenue would be higher.  This would make that behavior illegal in Texas.