Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

A muffled clamor for a state income tax may become more audible to state lawmakers as the legislature struggles with school finance.

The late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock heard the distant sound in 1993 when he proposed, and Texans passed, a constitutional amendment allowing an income tax. The Bullock Amendment requires that all revenues be dedicated to education with two-thirds going toward property tax relief.

Contrary to what many people may believe, lawmakers can enact the Bullock Amendment by a simple majority (not a super majority) to allow Texans to vote an income tax up or down in a state-wide referendum.

Furthermore, an income tax would be the only state tax that allows voters to control the rate. Any change in income tax must gain voter approval, according to the Bullock Amendment.

Lawmakers may find that nothing short of a state income tax will solve this state’s education funding woes.

After all, Texas lawmakers spent a special session in 2004 and most of the current legislative session talking about how to reform education — and more importantly how to pay for that reform.

It doesn’t take a lot of brainpower to conclude that our state leaders are up against a brick wall — trying to lower property taxes by a third and at the same time find other means of taxation to replace the loss in revenue. While lawmakers calculate, Texas student populations continue to grow about 70,000 each year, a district the size of a Fort Worth or Austin.

Several local residents of late have spoken publicly in favor of an income tax. Gary Nash spoke out at a March 31 public forum hosted by state Rep. Mark Homer, D-Paris.

“It’s all taxes,” Nash said. “Abolish all of them and fund education with an income tax.”

Homer replied that an income tax is still considered “political suicide and it’s off the table.”

It may be off the table for Texas lawmakers this year, but it is not “off the table” for many Texans, according to the results of an opinion poll state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, carried with him when he spoke to a United Methodist Women conference attended by Paris resident Rona Vickers earlier this year.

Conducted last year by Baselice and Associates, the poll indicated 55 percent of Texans favored an income tax; 38 percent opposed and 6 percent were unsure when asked, “Do you favor or oppose a statewide education flat tax on income dedicated to public education which is deductible from federal incomes taxes?” (The poll had 1,002 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.)

Vickers was in the office recently with a folder filled with information provided by Shapleigh. Interestingly enough, I could not find an income tax bill filed by Shapleigh. I guess he, too, knows it’s political suicide right now, and is just out there warming the electorate to the idea.

Information Vickers shared with me builds the case for a state income tax.

Most opponents claim such a tax would be bad for business although 43 states in the nation already have income taxes. Shapleigh’s information states that Michigan and Ohio won the Site Selection Magazine Governor’s Cup for the past five years and both have an income tax. Shapleigh’s information did not include that Texas (with no income tax) won the award for 2004 and has won the award more times than any other state.

Whether or not an income tax or lack thereof has a bearing on business start-ups may not be as consequential as Texas having the third highest sales tax rate in the nation at 6.25 percent. Lawmakers are wanting to tack on another penny, which would put us at the top of the list.

Texas also ranked 15th in the nation in per capita property taxes based on year 2000 information. A regressive tax, poorer Texans paid 5.2 percent of incomes less than $19,500 while those households with incomes of $90,000 paid about 1.7 percent of their incomes in property taxes.

Texas receives 42.7 percent of its revenue from property taxes and 57.3 percent from sales taxes. In comparison, Michigan receives 35 percent from property taxes; 36.5 from sales taxes and 28.5 from income taxes, a more equitable distribution with three sources of revenue.

Although the words “ state income tax” may leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many Texans, at the end of the day it may be the only medicine available to heal an ailing finance system.

Austin lawmakers may have no other choice but to put the issue before the voters and let Texans, not politicians, decide what is best for the Lone Star state.