Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog 8/13/2022
If your taxes are high and your town government sucks, what solutions are open to you? Reno, Texas has come up with one solution: disincorporation.
Voters in Reno, a Parker County town west of Fort worth, will consider a ballot proposition next year that would disincorporate their city and abolish the charter.
The group organizing the petition turned in 496 signatures, securing its place on the ballot.
Texas code allows such questions to be put before voters provided the group meets a threshold of 400 signatures, a mark reached earlier this summer in Reno.
Now the prospect will go to the voters.
If a vote to disincorporate passes, the city’s responsibilities will fall to the larger Parker County jurisdiction.
According to those pushing this initiative, the goal of disincorporation comes on the heels of years of lackluster city services, including issues with their police department and city maintenance departments. These issues include sudden officer resignations and unmaintained city roads.
Proponents for disincorporation also claim their city tax rates are “unreasonably high” and that those funds are misappropriated. From 2016 to 2020, Reno property tax revenue increased by more than $150,000. Since 2017, the property tax rate has been kept constant, but rising property values result in higher tax bills. When adopting the tax rate, city officials have the appraisal information in front of them.
More:
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=52258
