By Travis McGee Our taxes are too damn high. Every time there’s a problem in Houston’s government financially, the least creative option is always raising the taxes or taking it to the voters to raise their taxes, but everyone knowingly or unknowingly pays taxes, some just more than others. e homeowners, property owners, and business owners have always been overtaxed and underrepresented AKA taxation without representation. Our expectation of taxes will always be high and the reality of governmental service whether city, county, or HISD are far too low. I think audits are mandatory especially when you are dealing with taxpayer’s money. Drainage fees are a tax but we still flood. Chapter 42 of the Code of Ordinances is a tax on the poor because even though they can’t afford to stay in the multi-unit/multi-milliondollar properties built on one residential lot their taxes still go up. Even though we have school closures in HISD our taxes still go up. Even though the idea of a garbage fee keeps coming up, our garbage and illegal dumping isn’t being picked up in a timely fashion, if at all. Year after year HPD says crime is down and they are shorthanded, but the reality is crime is almost higher than our taxes and the expectation of police presence and response time is lower than minimum wages of the taxpayers, but We the People still have to pay taxes whether high or low. Taxes are steadily increasing however city services are steadily decreasing or no longer exist in some cases. The city has to prioritize spending just like the hardworking people of the City of Houston/ Harris County. Being overtaxed is just another form of price gouging. e quality, value, workmanship, and progress of city services doesn’t justify the dollar amount we pay in taxes. Any increase in taxes should mean a better quality of life, drivable streets, public safety, education, zoning, affordable housing that’s actually a ordable for the demographical area that it is built in, and city services versus just another BILL. Just as taxes are mandatory, so should superior […]
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