Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: Any City In Texas That Defunds Police Should Have Its Property Tax Revenue Frozen

NBC affiliate in DFW is reporting that in a press conference in Fort Worth this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is determined to get Austin to change course from their dangerous action to defund the police in Texas’ capital city.

The Texas governor cautions any city in Texas thinking about defunding the police to think again. The penalty for defunding or purposely underfunding their police departments will have their property tax revenue frozen. Abbott said that the Texas Legislature, who meets every other year, would be taking this matter up in the next legislative session in 2021.

This isn’t a minor threat as Gov. Abbott has said that this freeze will stop their revenue at the current level, forever. This would mean a substantial loss for the city of Austin.

Texas is one of the few states left in our country that doesn’t have an income tax. Taxation in any form is theft, and Texas is not without its taxation faults. Texas taxes just about everything else, but at least you have a say in what you buy and whether you want to spend money on taxable items. Income tax does not come with a choice; it’s taken before the ink is even dry on the check.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, among others who shared the stage with Gov. Abbott, said, “We will be ready in the Senate to work on this legislation and make it a priority.”

Patrick goes on to chastise the work to defund the police in Austin, saying, “What they have done in Austin should never happen in any city in the state, and we’re going to pass legislation to be sure that doesn’t happen again.”

The civil unrest in cities like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and New York was used as evidence that defunding the police is not the appropriate response to bad policing.

The Governor of Texas said that “defunding the police puts the residents in danger and it invited lawlessness into our communities.” Abbott hopes this will be an “effective tool” that will deter any other city from thinking of adapting the harmful policy to “reduce funding support for law enforcement agencies.”

These words come after the Austin City council took $150 million from the city’s police department. Part of these cuts included the cutting of three new cadet classes and a hiring/overtime freeze in immediate effect.

Gov. Abbott’s point is that if you are defunding the police and making it harder or impossible for them to help defend life and property, the city shouldn’t be able to collect revenue from said properties.

Abbott:

“To maintain the safety that our communities deserve, today, we are announcing a legislative proposal that will discourage defunding law enforcement agencies in Texas. The way this proposal works is this. Any city that defunds the police departments will have its property tax revenue frozen at the current level. They will never be able to increase property tax revenue again if they defund police. Cities that endanger residents by reducing law enforcement should not then be able to turn around and go back and get more property tax dollars from those same residents whose lives the city just endangered.”

Governor Abbott has done a lot of wrong during the coronavirus lockdown. He has disappointed me as a Texan, now living out of state. And, the rest of my Texas family and friends who currently live there feel precisely the same way.

It is hard to watch our Governor cave to the mob and severely restrict the state from re-opening.

Could this be his way of signaling that he is still one of us? If Democrats control the Texas Legislature next session, the reality of this bill passing is low. This could just be a political show from Abbott, who seems strong when it’s easy. I mean, it’s not that far of a stretch that the Republican Governor of Texas would be against defunding the police. He isn’t taking some out-of-character brave stance.

Saying that we will address this in the next legislature means that Austin will continue to become the lawless trash-hole just like all the others. 2021 is a long time to wait to protect the citizens of Texas.

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