PAGE SEVEN
SENATE CANDIDATE BACKS VOTER
CONSENT TO HIKE PROPERTY TAX
June 5, 2010 - Mary Lou Serafine, Republican candidate for Senate in SD 14, says she plans to introduce
“one or more bills” forcing local taxing authorities to get voter approval for a property tax hike “beyond
what is justified by inflation plus population growth on a yearly basis.”
Property taxes, she said, are too high in many parts of the state but are higher in Travis County and Austin.
These high taxes, Serafine contends, hurt business resulting in low wages and lost jobs. High taxes can
prevent some people from purchasing a home because they know that even if they can afford to buy a
house now “they might not be able to afford the property taxes down the road,” she said.
Many Texans, she said, do not understand why property taxes seem to go up even when the market does
not. They feel they do not really own their home but merely rent it from the politicians. Even homesteaders
whose tax increase is limited to 10 per cent a year, see their tax double every seven years.
Texans, she said, need immediate property tax reform and it must involve more than just tinkering with the
appraisal process.
Serafine is an attorney practicing in Austin. She is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Kirk Watson. In
the March 2 primary, she and Watson were both unopposed. Watson had 27,456 votes, Serafine 25, 447.
CONSENT TO HIKE PROPERTY TAX
June 5, 2010 - Mary Lou Serafine, Republican candidate for Senate in SD 14, says she plans to introduce
“one or more bills” forcing local taxing authorities to get voter approval for a property tax hike “beyond
what is justified by inflation plus population growth on a yearly basis.”
Property taxes, she said, are too high in many parts of the state but are higher in Travis County and Austin.
These high taxes, Serafine contends, hurt business resulting in low wages and lost jobs. High taxes can
prevent some people from purchasing a home because they know that even if they can afford to buy a
house now “they might not be able to afford the property taxes down the road,” she said.
Many Texans, she said, do not understand why property taxes seem to go up even when the market does
not. They feel they do not really own their home but merely rent it from the politicians. Even homesteaders
whose tax increase is limited to 10 per cent a year, see their tax double every seven years.
Texans, she said, need immediate property tax reform and it must involve more than just tinkering with the
appraisal process.
Serafine is an attorney practicing in Austin. She is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Kirk Watson. In
the March 2 primary, she and Watson were both unopposed. Watson had 27,456 votes, Serafine 25, 447.