Is growth always good? It’s time we confronted that question in Texas. Take a quick look at our crowded highways, lack of water, shortage of mass transit, constantly escalating real estate prices, debilitating property taxes for the homeowner, largest prison population in the country, and the answer is clear: Unmanaged growth causes problems.
The problem is compounded by a lack of visionary leadership, which Texas has been missing for at least two decades. And in the midst of their failures, politicians are urging more people to move into the state. Texas to the World believes this is irresponsible until we have confronted our challenges with mass transit, properly funding schools, securing long term water supplies, and revising the state’s tax code to share the burden more equitably between corporations and homeowners.
How did we get into this mess? Pretty simple. The governor and legislature fail to do their jobs. State money for schools is cut and local districts are forced to increase property taxes and valuations to pay for your child’s education. And while your homeowner taxes race upward, corporations get huge tax breaks to move to Texas, which takes billions off of the tax rolls and increases the pressure on you. Instead of funding highways, lawmakers force overtaxed motorists to pay to travel on toll roads that enrich private businesses.
Meanwhile, every day about 1500 people move into Texas. The U.S. Census Bureau said between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013, 387,000 people had resettled in Texas.
Not a pretty picture, is it? Avoiding responsibility and making it worse by inviting more people to the party. Let’s all work together for intelligent decisions about the future of Texas. But until we agree on those ideas, Don’t Grow Texas.
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