We'll post them this weekend. Here's the bullet version:

Jesus! Too much on a Friday afternoon, y'all!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: MARK SANDERS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2005 (512) 469-9393

COMPTROLLER STRAYHORN PROPOSES PROPERTY TAX RELIEF FOR TEXANS 65 YEARS AND OLDER AND TEXANS WITH DISABILITIES, INCLUDING DISABLED VETERANS

(AUSTIN) – Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Republican candidate for governor in 2006, today proposed a 10 percent across-the-board property tax reduction and a mandatory freeze on all property taxes for Texas homeowners 65 years and older and all Texans with disabilities, including Texas’ distinguished veterans with disabilities. Additional 10 percent cuts in property taxes would take place continually every five years.

Strayhorn said this was the first of the policy initiatives she would announce during the campaign providing long-overdue property tax relief to Texans. This first initiative would make property tax freezes and reductions mandatory for cities, counties and all other taxing entities, which would be reimbursed by the state for their lost revenue the same way Texas’ school districts are reimbursed. State law already mandates school district property taxes be frozen at age 65.

“We have got to give relief to skyrocketing property taxes,� Strayhorn said. “This would give relief to Texans who are living on fixed incomes and who are at risk of losing their homes. It would help those who have paid the most and need it the most – those 65 years and older and Texans with disabilities, including our Texas veterans who have fought for our country and paid so dearly.�

Comptroller Strayhorn’s plan would save Texas homeowners 65 years and older and Texans with disabilities $185.3 million the first year, increasing to $395.4 million the fifth year.

Under Comptroller Strayhorn’s plan, homeowners would receive the current 65 and over homestead exemption and an additional 10 percent reduction before having their property taxes frozen. Homeowners would receive an additional 10 percent property tax reduction every five years after that. Strayhorn’s plan would also apply to all Texans with disabilities currently receiving the 65 and over homestead exemption, regardless of their age.

In 1999, when Rick Perry was sworn in as lieutenant governor, the property tax on an average home in Texas was $1,526. In 2004, after six years of Rick Perry’s failed leadership as lieutenant governor and governor, the property tax on an average home in Texas has risen 66.78 percent to $2,545.

“This is a matter of priorities,� Strayhorn said. “Gov. Perry would rather dole out the hundreds of millions of dollars in his slush funds every biennium to his friends and contributors in the form of corporate welfare rather than keep his promise to Texans and lower property taxes.

“I would rather that money stay where it belongs – in the pockets of our older Texans who have worked hard all their lives and Texans with disabilities, including our veterans,� Strayhorn said. “The state used to pick up 60 percent of the share for educating our elementary and secondary students and local property taxes 40 percent. Now there is a total reversal – local property taxes are picking up more than 60 percent of the share and the state only 38 percent.

“We have got to give relief to skyrocketing local property taxes. The state has got to pick up more of the tab and we have got to have equity.�