Do as I say, not as I do!

Right now, the Texas Legislature is considering bills that would tighten up the provisions for rollback elections due to tax increases. The bills would lower from 8 percent to 2.5 percent the cutoff for tax increases that would automatically be subject to rollback elections. This is a poor policy choice.

First, it is rarely pointed out that the legislature itself is not subject to any such restriction. The Texas Legislature can raise taxes at will to cover disasters, litigation, or other policy choices.

"But they don't," you might counter. "They would be voted out of office if they did." And neither do cities in Texas. And city councils would be voted out of office if they raised taxes unnecessarily. In fact, the city elections are closer to the people that state representative offices, and are subject to the same political forces.

This proposal ignores another political reality. Politicians are awarded for doing things for their constituents. Politicians are penalized for taxing to pay for it. In this instance, the state legislature is trying to take credit for lowering the taxes paid by city and county residents, while avoiding the penalty of taking away some of the things that government does for people. So Representative Smith and Senator Jones get the credit for lowering taxes, but Councilmember White and Mayor Brown get criticized for not fixing the roads, or not raising police pay, or closing a fire station.

City councils face reelections every two years, and will have to answer for raising taxes. Let the voters of that city choose whether to penalize the council for raising taxes, or to reward the council for providing services. The city council is in a better position to judge the mood of their constituents, and to react accordingly.