The great state of Texas is in serious financial trouble. No, this is not solely a great recession problem; it’s a great fiscal responsibility problem. We do not have enough incoming revenue to cover our very basic expenses now, nor in the future.
The shortfall stems from court mandated school finance reform which led to severely flawed legislation. The asinine idea that tax cuts somehow pay for themselves and create revenue, has once again been proven fictitious. To make matters worse, legislators have been adamant about not "raising" taxes even when our constitution requires a balanced budget every biennium.
I'll be writing more about this subject in the future, as well as any updates related to the pending bills in the house and senate related to the franchise (also known as margin) tax. In the mean time, please read this article dated January 31, 2011, in the Austin Statesman. It underscores the serious nature of our current budget crisis, and the fact that we will continue to have this problem until our incoming revenue is increased.
It also never hurts to contact your state representative and tell them to fix our revenue stream by either raising taxes or "correcting" the under-performing margin tax.
Travis County: Mark Strama (512) 463-0821
Williamson County: Charles Schwertner (512) 463-0309
