What a freaking crock this is. Another reason to vote NO on all of the bond issues November 6th. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5238129.html County OKs 1-cent property tax rate cut BILL MURPHY 2007 The Houston Chronicle Commissioners Court voted today to cut a penny from Harris County's property tax rate, saving the average homeowner about $12 annually. County Judge Ed Emmett said a cut was in order because property appraisals rose 12 percent this year and the county does not need to grow at that rate. "It is absolutely the right thing to do, given the rising appraisals in Harris County," said Emmett, who is engaged in a bitter race for the Republican nomination for the seat next March. Emmett's opponent in the March primary, former Harris County District Clerk Charles Bacarisse called the one-cent cut an insult to taxpayers. He has called for a rate decrease of 5 cents. The court voted 4-1 for the rate cut, with Commissioners Steve Radack, Jerry Eversole and El Franco Lee joining Emmett in supporting it. Commissioner Sylvia Garcia cast the lone vote in opposition, but then asked the court to reconsider the motion and cast a vote in favor of the cut. She had pushed for cutting the tax rate by a half-cent this year and next year, saying she feared bond rating agencies will view a penny cut in a year as too precipitous. "I think our credit rating will be impacted, which will cost us more in the long term than what we save today," she said. The cut lowers the county's overall property tax rate to 62.99 cents per $100 of assessed value
Which is why I won't be voting for Emmett, Eversole, Lee, Garcia, and especially that moron Radack when they come up for re-election.
