Effort Opposes Hospital Tax Rate Increase
Members of the Travis County Taxpayers Union have launched a campaign against property tax increases. Photo by Ben Philpott, KUT News.
A group called the Travis County Taxpayers Union has launched a campaign against raising the Travis County Hospital District’s property tax rate.
The effort, called “Stop the Bleeding,” lays out several arguments against the property tax increase that could help Austin get a new medical school. Austinite Roger Faulk was out at the group’s campaign launch today in South Austin. He says the area already pays plenty in property taxes and is also worried about the federal funding necessary to build the new medical school.
“There’s a claim out there that we’re going to get $2.50 or something for every dollar that we put in to the thing. Well, the problem is that money is coming from a bankrupt federal government. And we can’t count on those dollars. I promise you, cuts are coming. Where are we going to fill in that $1.50 gap? Where’s that money coming from?”
The Central Health proposition on the November ballot is asking voters to increase the district’s tax rate from almost 8 cents to almost 13 cents per 100 dollars of taxable home value. That would mean about a $100 tax increase on a $200,000 home.
