What A Deal!
As I recently read over my 2008 tax appraisal, the following statement got my attention: “The Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your local taxes. Your property tax burden is decided by your locally elected officials and all inquiries concerning your taxes should be directed to those officials.”
To that statement I say a big Amen! There are six taxing authorities listed on our tax appraisals. Of those six, the City of Temple will collect approx 21% of the property taxes paid. The City Council has no control in what the other taxing authorities collect or how they spend it. While there is always room for improvement I believe that the City does a good job of managing our tax dollars. I also believe we get a good deal for what we pay. That 21% we pay to the City goes towards paying for our police and fire protection, parks and library, roads and animal control. It even goes towards the million dollars a year we spend on electricity for our traffic and street lights.
A few weeks ago I had to call 911 for my father who had become incapacitated in his apartment. Within a couple of minutes of making the call I could hear the sirens moving toward me. In around five minutes the firemen and paramedics were already administering aid. Shortly thereafter we were in the emergency room at Scott and White. He was discharged later in the day and is doing fine now. The professionalism of the responders as well as their fast response is very impressive to me. It also gives me great comfort to know that they are literally a heartbeat away and are ready, willing and able to provide assistance to my family at a moment’s notice. What a deal!
Tags: Taxes