Texas Taxpayers and Research Association (TTARA)

We're excited to invite legislators and Capitol staff to our first Lunch & Learn session of the 89th Texas Legislative Session! Please join us for School Finance 101, an unparalleled expert look at the state's school finance and property tax system. The session is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 24 at noon in the Texas Capitol Legislative Conference Center (Room E2.002). It's open to legislators and legislative staff. Lunch will be served! We'll walk through how the school finance and property tax system works — and what it means for jobs and economic investment in the state. We'll also discuss the importance of a fair, balanced system that spreads a low tax burden equally and uniformly among a broad base of taxpayers, as well as some of the work that's required to create that system. We hope to see you on Friday the 24th! https://lnkd.in/gR3PSK6q #TxLege #PropertyTaxes #SchoolFinance #Jobs #Investment

The 89th Texas Legislative Session starts today! Amid the pageantry and drama, the session's big fiscal and tax decisions are already taking shape. Especially note the Comptroller's very important Biennial Revenue Estimate that was just released. Long story short: Texas is well-positioned on the budget front. TTARA will be working with legislators to use these critical resources to create a lower and fairer tax system, drive investment and innovation across the state, and extend the Texas economic miracle for the next generation. https://lnkd.in/dT_PjsCC #TxLege #Taxes #BRE #RandD #Innovation

Getting great feedback on TTARA's Legislative Preview webcast yesterday. It offered a comprehensive and compelling overview of what the 89th Texas Legislative Session could mean for property taxes, appraisal caps, truth in taxation, and the state budget. A link to the recording is below — however, it's available to members only. If you haven't already joined TTARA, please help us to boost investment and jobs across the state, ensure that taxes are both low and fair, and defend the Texas economic miracle. https://lnkd.in/gFWjZfxJ #TxLege #Taxes #PropertyTaxes #AppraisalCaps #TruthInTaxation 

TTARA President Jennifer Rabb dropped in on the Texas Talks podcast to chat with host Bradley Swail about Texas taxes. The episode includes great insight into the disproportionate tax burden that businesses carry, the need to focus on rate-setting rather than appraisals, and why replacing property taxes with sales taxes won't work. "It is, in the end, always going to boil down to property owners being engaged in the tax-rate setting process." Tune in here! https://lnkd.in/ghiyg3Ay #TxLege #TexasTaxes #PropertyTaxes #SchoolFinance #TXbudget

Happy New Year! Here's a quick reminder that members can dive into 2025 and the upcoming legislative session with our members-only legislative preview on Jan. 8. Tune in for the information you need on Texas taxes, tax administration, school finance, and the budget. And if you aren't a member, consider joining TTARA today!

Season’s Greetings from the TTARA Team! As we celebrate this holiday season, we want to express our gratitude for your support throughout the year. Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season and a wonderful New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2025 at our upcoming meetings and events. https://lnkd.in/gnF5dVUf #TxLege

The holidays are coming, and the Texas Legislative Session isn't far behind. So we're inviting TTARA members to dive into the new year and prepare for the session at a special members-only legislative preview on Jan. 8. The webcast will offer a comprehensive look at the 89th Texas Legislative Session. It will cover several critical policy areas that will be up for debate next year, including property taxes, state taxes generally, tax administration, school finance, and of course the state budget. The webcast will be from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Jan. 8. It includes two hours of continuing education credit for attorneys and accountants. Members can register here: https://lnkd.in/guQV6g8H Membership has its privileges! If you're a TTARA member, we look forward to seeing you in the new year. If you aren't, well, we can fix that. #TxLege #Taxes #PropertyTaxes #SchoolFinance #RandD

There was another Carl Walker sighting last week, this time at Opportunity Austin's Quarterly Investor Meeting. TTARA's Senior Analyst for Property Tax joined a panel on key issues in the 89th Texas Legislative Session, which starts next month. The panel included David Whitley, Owner/Principal of Gregory Strategies, and Katharine McAden, Google's Head of Public Policy and External Affairs (South). Carl focused on key economic development initiatives — especially the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation (JETI) Act, as well as the need to extend and hopefully expand the state's tax incentives for research & development. He also stressed the need to shift the property tax discussion away from valuation exemptions and limitations, and towards transparency and participation in local government spending decisions. All of these things will be critical issues at the Capitol during next year's legislative session. Expect to see Carl — and the rest of the TTARA team — there as well. #TxLege #Taxes #PropertyTaxes #EconomicDevelopment #RandD

This week, Carl Walker — TTARA's Senior Analyst for Property Tax — tried a tax policy version of speed dating. As part of an online event sponsored by the Tax Foundation, Carl had 60 seconds to run through the big issues that TTARA will be working on in 2025. He focused on: 1) Shifting property tax reduction efforts away from valuation exemptions and limitations and towards participation in local government spending decisions; 2) Extending and improving the state's vital R&D tax credits; and 3) Fixing significant issues in the Texas Comptroller's draft rule regarding taxes on data processing services. Keep watching this space in 2025 for updates on these important issues. For better or worse, we promise our updates will take a lot more than a minute. #TxLege #Taxes #TaxBurden #RandD #DataProcessing

We're closing out the year with something new: our first-ever end-of-the-year fundraising drive for the TTARA Research Foundation. Act now and your contribution will be doubled! The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that advances research to inform and shape public policy on the vital, complex tax and fiscal issues that are driving Texas' future. All donations are tax-deductible, and every dollar directly supports our high-quality, unbiased research. For the next three weeks — until Dec. 31 — your contribution will be matched (up to $100,000 total) by Ryan LLC, effectively doubling its impact. Big thanks to Ryan for their dedicated support. Click directly on these links to donate:  $20: https://lnkd.in/gT9cN_rZ  $30: https://lnkd.in/gnFeZp6P  $50: https://lnkd.in/gkqbBacM If you want to make a larger contribution, contact Alexandra Bello at abello@ttara.org. TTARA’s members include Texas’ biggest and best-known employers, touching every community in the state. We have worked for decades to drive investment, create jobs, and protect the Texas economy. The Foundation — and these contributions to it — make that work possible. Thanks for your support! #TxLege #Taxes #Donations #Research