Except my proposal is specific to Texas. There is no income taxes and certainly no municipal levy of income taxes. Capping property taxes keeps municipalities from getting too greedy and bloated and will force them to cut budgets when the times are rough. All good things.
I'm advocating a number of things. 1) Targeted cuts to state departments and programs. A total of $15 billion is proposed to be cut to balance the budget. Take a page from Florida's Rick Scott and reevaluate State priorities and agency missions. Don't just do across the board cuts, but targeted cuts of whole programs. I for one would want to see the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission be zeroed out. Let the counties take on this responsibility if they want to waste their money on it. 2) Route the money cut from the State budget to municipalities and school boards with the condition that they decrease their property tax rates. I am of the belief it is the local level which provides the most value for government services. 3) I don't know how many times I see a massive high school campus or city hall or county court house. Municipalities were too greedy in the boom and are bloated. Limit their revenue though millage caps and homestead exemptions to force them to be modest and cut their budgets when times are bad.
#1 is key. Reevaluate what the state agencies do and cut their funding. Below is an incomplete list from wikipedia: Brazos River Authority Canadian River Compact Commissioner for Texas Edwards Aquifer Authority Employees Retirement System of Texas Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners of Texas Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority Lower Colorado River Authority Office of Rural Community Affairs Office of the Fire Fighters' Pension Commissioner of Texas Office of the Governor of Texas - Commission on Women Office of the Governor of Texas - Committee on People with Disabilities Office of the Governor of Texas Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas Office of the Public Utility Counsel of Texas Pecos River Compact Commissioner for Texas Red River Compact Commissioners for Texas Rio Grande Compact Commissioners for Texas Sabine River Authority Sabine River Compact Commissioners for Texas State Bar of Texas State Preservation Board of Texas Teacher Retirement System of Texas Texas Adjutant General's Department Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Texas Agricultural Extension Service Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Texas Animal Health Commission Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board Texas Attorney General Texas Board of Architectural Examiners Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners Texas Board of Dental Examiners Texas Board of Nurse Examiners Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Texas Board of Pharmacy Texas Board of Plumbing Examiners Texas Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners Texas Board of Polygraph Examiners Texas Board of Professional Engineers Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying Texas Board of Tax Professional Examiners Texas Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners Texas Bond Review Board Texas Building and Procurement Commission Texas Cancer Council Texas Commission of State Emergency Communications Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Texas Commission on Fire Protection Texas Commission on Jail Standards Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education Texas Commission on the Arts Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities Texas Council on Environmental Technology Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Texas Court Reporters Certification Board Texas Credit Union Department Texas Department of Agriculture Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services(DARS) Texas Department of Banking Texas Department of Criminal Justice Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Texas Department of Information Resources Texas Department of Insurance Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending Texas Department of State Health Services Texas Department of Transportation Texas Dept. of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) Texas Education Agency Texas Engineering Experiment Station Texas Engineering Extension Service Texas Ethics Commission Texas Film Commission Texas Finance Commission Texas Forest Service Texas Funeral Service Commission Texas General Land Office Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Funding Corporation Texas Health and Human Services Commission Texas Health and Human Services Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Texas Historical Commission Texas Juvenile Probation Commission Texas Law Library Texas Legislative Budget Board Texas Legislative Council Texas Legislative Reference Library Texas Lottery Commission Texas Medical Board Texas Military Facilities Commission Texas Music Office Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner Texas Office of Court Administration Texas Office of State-Federal Relations Texas Optometry Board Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Texas Pension Review Board Texas Public Finance Authority Texas Public Insurance Counsel Texas Public Utility Commission Texas Racing Commission Texas Railroad Commission Texas Real Estate Commission Texas Residential Construction Commission Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Texas School for the Deaf Texas Secretary of State Texas Securities Board Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board Texas State Auditor's Office Texas State Board for Educator Certification Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists Texas State Board of Public Accountancy Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners Texas State Library and Archives Commission Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings Texas State Office of Risk Management Texas Structural Pest Control Board Texas Sunset Advisory Commission Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board Texas Transportation Institute Texas Veterans Commission Texas Veteran's Land Board Texas Water Development Board Texas Workforce Commission Texas Workforce Investment Council Texas Youth Commission Trinity River Authority University of Houston System Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Wildlife Damage Management Service I bet half of these can be merged with other agencies or cut completely.
I agree, I am a financial conservative stuck in IL, they spend like crazy and retire people in 50s with life long pay. My state taxes are higher by 67% and my property Taxes went up by 8%. Thanks dems. Then I had lunch with my friend's friend and he worked for some state run organization (will not name) and he was retiring at 50 with like 2/3rd of his pay for the rest of his life, and that guy is planning to go on vacations and tour the world. Did I say thanks Dems. The roads are broken and there is rust all over the aging infrastructure. One more time, thanks liberals.
Sounds practical and prudent in theory. The kicker is cutting funding in education is "unconstitutional" ahahahahaha think I'm kidding around? Education cuts end up in court, the courts don't give a rats ass about "where's da money". NY just passed a tax cap. I think school districts will sell bonds, something they couldn't do before the cap and a host of other gimmicks to get around the limit to appease unions.
Retire at 50, with life long pay. Sounds like a deal to me! A state that *get's it* ... I'd rather live in that world than one where the "free market" makes us work until we're 80, then we get thrown under the bus because we are not as "productive" and "too expensive" as compared to the younger ones that come along, and shove you down the stairs. Keep cutting my taxes... but not until you fix that pot hole in front of my house. Cut more... then what was a good school district, lays off half its teachers... and your kids end up in jail, after a poor education. Home school them! ... yea, that'll work too. They'll be good at spelling. And nothing else.
You're excellent at missing the overlaying point here. Those who retire at 50 with full pay are paid for by the people who have to bust their ass until their 80 (your example). Duh! Scratch that, they're paid for by the bust-your-ass crowd AND by borrowing from the next generation of bust-your-ass workers.