Wrote this a while ago and realized I did not publish it.

An open letter to my State Senator and the Lt. Governor of Texas. Gentlemen, I am sad to say your attempt at property tax relief as far as I am concerned is an abject failure. According to your press release on taxes

HOUSTON – Today, Lt. Governor Patrick, along with Senator Paul Bettencourt, addressed the media regarding property tax reform accomplishments by the Texas Senate. The Texas Senate continues leading the charge for real property tax relief and reform by providing meaningful assistance to all property owners and Texas businesses, large and small. “As one of Texas taxpayers’ top priorities for this legislative session, I am proud of the successes achieved by the Texas Senate for monumental property tax reform and relief,” said Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. “While others said it couldn’t be done, Sen. Bettencourt, Sen. Creighton and Sen. Nelson went to work – and continue to work on this issue for the people of Texas.” “I couldn’t be more proud of them and of all the Senators for the hard work and additional transparency and accountability we’re providing for Texas taxpayers.” Among the bills already passed by the Texas Senate that will structurally reform the entire property tax system and provide billions of dollars in property tax relief for small businesses, are: 

• Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) by Nelson, et. al. – provides $2.15 billion in homestead property tax relief for Texas homeowners. 

• Senate Bill 545/SJR 30 by Taylor – includes a property tax exemption for real property leased to certain schools that are used exclusively by the school for educational purposes. 

• Senate Bill 683 by Hancock – ensures citizens, or their representatives if they so choose, automatically receive funds for which they qualify and have properly requested.  

• Senate Bill 762 and Senate Bill 849 by Bettencourt, et. al. – relate to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of income-producing tangible personal property having a value of less than a certain amount. 

• Senate Bill 1760 by Creighton – requires all local taxing districts that wish to exceed the effective tax rate to first have a vote of at least 60% of the governing body in support of the tax increase. 

• Senate Bill 1821/SJR 60 by Campbell – allows businesses that hire an honorably discharged veteran to receive an exemption of up to $15,000 on the ad valorem tax of the appraised value of the property.  

“SB 1760 levels the playing field for Texas taxpayers,” said Sen. Creighton. “Standing strong for taxpayer rights was a promise I made to the citizens of Senate District 4; and, I am thankful my Senate colleagues voted to pass this landmark legislation.” “This is a historic day – for the first time we have established a super majority requirement to help protect Texas taxpayers from rising property taxes,” said Sen. Bettencourt. “I want to applaud Sen. Creighton for supporting the amendment, as well as Lt. Governor Patrick for his leadership on these and all other property tax relief measures.”

Let me clear some things up for those that are not quite clear because of the political speak.

First regarding SB 1; increasing the homestead exemption is fine for some, but not as great as it seems. This only will help those that own homes, those that rent homes or live in apartments do not get any benefit from this. Second an increase in the exemption will do one of two things, first reduce the taxable value of the property for the homeowner and thus reduce the taxes due (what the bill is intended to do) second, because of other legislation this session and other restrictions on the taxing entities force these entities to eliminate the homestead exemption all together after 2024, thus increasing the tax bill on home owners.


Second on the hit parade is SB 1760; The bill restricts taxing districts from raising tax rates without a vote of their residents and requires a 60% super majority to pass.  This is all well and good but does ZERO when it comes to reducing the growth of property tax revenue.  That is because the real power of growth is in the hands of the appraisal district, not the taxing district.  Let me repeat that,  a taxing district can effectively sit on their collective hands and get up to a 10% increase in revenue without doing a single solitary thing.  No vote needs to be taken, nothing outside the public notice of setting their tax rate in the small local paper, no say by the residents. ZERO. 


The residents do have a voice but it is only through the painful and trying process of challenging the appraised value of their property.  


If our leaders had really wanted to provide meaningful property tax control and relief they would have done this one thing.


1) Reduce the maximum that your appraised property value can increase to 3% or the rate of inflation which ever is greater.  This reduction would allow more people to buy better homes in growing neighborhoods because they would not be under the pressure of seeing their taxes possibly double in less than 1/4 of their mortgage.  As it is right now with a 10% cap on property values the average home owner can see their taxable value double in just 8 years.  With the changes in SB 1 that may increase to  a few more years.  Attached is a google doc showing how little this changes the person's property taxes.


Link Here

Back in the Saddle

I had forgotten that I had this little corner of the internet which I could vent, and share my feelings and views.  It has been nearly 6 years since I posted anything and a lot has changed, both personally and professionally.  Most of it has been good, some bad, some as my youngest would say was "meh".  I hope to get back in here and start talking about things as I need an outlet for both my creative and entertainment mindset.

The next step

Life is a series of journeys. Most people do not realize that until they along in years. I realized that back when started to re-examine my faith and life. That being said, I currently have several different journeys that I am on. Some of which are going to be interesting because I do not know what is coming next, such as father of 2 daughters one of which is a pre-teen. Some of which I know where I am going and what I am doing for the next few years, these include my job and a couple of others. And finally there are 2 that I am on that continue to bring me greater enjoyment and enlightenment each and every day. Those are my journeys as both a student of martial arts (Tae Kwon Do) and as a teacher of the same.

Most of the time these journeys run their separate course however there are times when one or more will overlap and sometimes become interwoven with each other. This past weekend was one of those times. This weekend, I had a rank test as a TKD student, I judged testing of other students and both my daughters also had rank testings. So you see that I had a full and eventful weekend. As a student I had a very successful but challenging test, that I am happy to say I passed. As an Instructor I was able to see my students stand up and show what they have learned and I am happy to say that those testings went very well. Finally I was a father who had his 2 girls testing for rank. The oldest one was testing for her 3rd Degree Black belt and the younger one for her 1st Degree level 4. Both important for all the same reasons, however the older one was a major testing, not many students make it all the way to Black belt, much less all the way to 3rd Degree Black. I am happy to say that both girls passed their tests. The older one is now one of only maybe 20 or so 3rd Degree Black Belts at our academy, yet she still wants to continue her training, compared to some who when they have reached a certain rank have simply stopped. Those sort of decisions make the journey that much more enjoyable..

Time Flies

I cannot believe that it has been over 2 years since I posted, things have changed and things are still the same. Hopefully I will be able to start posting more in the future. Stay Tuned.

2008 TKD Board Break a thon

I have been studying Tae Kwon Do for a over 2 years now and and have been sharing my story with everyone here about my success. Well our academy's booster club has an annual community fundraising event,a board break-a-thon, and all of the proceeds go to the Katy ISD D.A.R.E program. The past 2 years we have raised over $4500 per year as a group for the program and we want to do even better this year. It is a good program and a lot of fun for all of those that participate.

I hope to raise at least $400 this year if possible, and it all comes down to you my friends and readers. What I am looking for is for you all to sponsor my daughters in this event. For every $5 donated they get to break a board. So we are looking to get donations towards 80 boards, now I know that sounds like a lot but knowing my kids they will rip through that in no time flat.

As an added bonus if anyone wants, I will provide photos of myself or my kids breaking the boards that are purchased by anyone who sponsors us. And if you want I will even make sure your name is on the board. Please help support D.A.R.E. You can contact me through here or via E-mail at wtweldon@yahoo.com and use TKD in the subject line.



Thanks again,