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By Colin Guy
Staff Writer
A variety of religious, environmental and consumer-oriented organizations contributed to a study released Monday they hope will provide the state Legislature with a novel and environmentally-friendly approach to consider as it attempts to develop a school finance plan.
The report, titled "Bridging the Gap: Green Tax Options," outlines seven proposals for new taxes the contributors claim could raise $1.5 billion for Texas schools over the next two years while reducing pollution at the same time.
Organizations that contributed to the study include Texas Impact, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, Environment Texas, Public Citizen and the Texas Center for Policy Studies.
"A number of these proposals have been (bills) or were discussed at the regulatory level, but this is the first attempt to put a brand on them as taxes to fund schools," said Cyrus Reed, director of the TCPS.
The proposed taxes include:
n A severance, or use tax, on coal proponents say could raise $100 million to $275 million biennially if levied at 7.5 percent, the current severance tax rate for natural gas
- An electricity efficiency tax on power plants, which proponents say could be passed on to consumers at a cost of about $1.30 per month and which would raise $650 million biennially
- An emissions tax that charges industries $1 per pound of toxins reported on the Toxic Release Inventory which could raise an additional $100 to $160 million every two years
- An adjustment to the taxes on gasoline and diesel that would be tied to CPI inflation, which would generate $45 million biennially in conjunction with a $0.05 cent increase on high-sulfur diesel fuels, which would raise an additional $60 million
- A 1 or 2 percent surcharge on certain, low-mileage vehicles, which could generate $200 million biennially
Some of the ideas outlined in the report were presented in January to members of the Texas Tax Reform Commission, a group established by Gov. Rick Perry to help develop a proposal to finance schools and potentially lower property taxes by one-third.
John Sharp, who heads the commission, said the committee is prepared to submit its final recommendations to the Legislature and none of the proposals in the report made it into the list.
"There were thousands of ideas, most of them good," Sharp said. "Our whole plan was to find $5.9 billion in the best possible way that wouldn't hurt the economy and those didn't enter the mix."
Sharp said the ideas "didn't get any traction" among the commission's members but Reed said he did not expect any of the proposals would be included in the school finance bill the Legislature will attempt to draft during April's special session.
"They're all politically difficult to do," Reed said. "But I think the idea that tax structures should be (based) partly on pollution... it goes across political lines. There are liberals and conservatives that like the idea."
Speaker of the House of Representatives Tom Craddick, R-Midland, said in a prepared statement he has not had an opportunity to examine the proposals and could not comment on whether he would support any of them.
"At this point in time, we are looking forward to having the governor's Tax Reform Commission lay out its recommendations and to working with the governor and the lieutenant governor on finding a successful solution to the public school finance issue in Texas," Craddick said.
Reed said the goal of the study is not necessarily for it to be adopted into the school finance bill, but rather to "get it out there." He said he expects that if a school finance bill is passed in April it will be "very limited" and the Legislature likely will take a much broader look at the state's tax structure when the regular session convenes in 2007.
"I think we're hopeful some of these will lead to legislation being introduced and they'll get a fair hearing," Reed said.
