Would you swap property taxes for sales taxes?

Tom Pauken, chair of the Texas Task Force on Appraisal Reform, says that the "the key to passing reform is producing a package of legislation, rather than focusing on the individual parts." OK, let's look at the whole package...

• Mandatory sales price disclosure: Good because it leads to accurate appraisals.
• Appraisal caps: Bad, because it distorts the real estate market.
• Revenue caps: Maybe. But let state legislators start by imposing a state revenue cap, just to show the local governments how well it works.

  And don't require a local referendum to set rates that will exceed those revenue caps. Government by referendum is how California is governed. Instead, just require local government officials to publicly vote on the tax rate each year. Voters can decide themselves to throw the bums out if they vote wrong.

• Direct election of appraisal boards: Bad because it politicizes the appraisal process. If the goal is accurate appraisals, this won't lead to it. Appraisers should be tasked with providing fair and accurate appraisals, not pleasing voters.
• Local option property tax-sales tax swap: Bad because Texas already relies too heavily on regressive sales taxes. Broad-based taxation is good. The last Legislature shifted some of the property tax burden to business. If more shift is needed, it's time to consider an income tax, the one leg of the table not yet holding any of the weight.