A lawsuit alleges misleading ballot language for a constitutional amendment authorizing additional debt.
Texas Scorecard
Grassroots organizations are continuing their fight to strike down a constitutional amendment passed in 2021 that would allow counties to issue more taxpayer-backed debt.
Proposition 2, which passed with 63 percent of the vote, authorizes counties to issue bonds (debt) to fund infrastructure and transportation projects in underdeveloped, unproductive, or blighted areas.
A lawsuit alleges that the ballot language that was put before voters failed to comply with common law requirements and was substantially misleading due to an omission of the phrase “ad valorem tax increases.”
Courts have previously ruled that ballot propositions be described with “such definiteness and certainty that the voters are not misled.”
In 2011, the same ballot proposition was put before voters with language noting the tax implications and failed to pass.
Link to Op/Ed here.
‘No’ on Prop 2 campaign urges voters to reject property tax increases
Amendment will guarantee rising property taxes
By Terri Hall
Texas Scorecard
October 7, 2021
Texas voters beware! Proposition 2 contains misleading ballot wording to hide the fact that this proposition uses local property tax increases to pay for transportation projects that should be funded by the state using your existing taxes. Prop 2 is the result of House Joint Resolution 99 (authored by Rep. Terry Canales, D - Edinburg) to give counties the ability to issue new road debt using an unpopular method backed by property tax increases called Transportation Reinvestment Zones (TRZs).
Lawmakers already tried to pass this in 2011 (then known as Prop 4), but voters rejected it. Now they think they can get it past voters this November by removing the phrase ‘ad valorem tax increases,’ and include ‘transportation’ (since ballot initiatives for transportation tend to pass with over 80% of the vote). In fact, Prop 2 would authorize counties to divert up to 65% of your property tax increases to projects the state should be funding with your existing road taxes.