So I received my 2007 Notice of Appraised Value from the Travis County Appraisal District today. The appraised value of my house more than doubled. The land the house sits on exactly doubled. And, thus, my property taxes more than doubled, with the single highest tax, of course, being for Austin ISD.

But that’s not what interested or bothered me about the document. I’ll protest just for the hell of it and, if I lose, I’ll pay up. Whatever. Taxes are the dues of democracy. No, what really irked me was this statement, printed in bold italics, just beneath the total estimated tax:

The Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your local taxes. Your property tax burden is decided by your locally elected officials, and all inquiries concerning your taxes should be directed to those officials.

Okay, while the above is technically true, it’s also highly disingenuous. The fact is, if the Legislature properly funded education, refrained from handing down unfunded mandates, invested in health care and actually funded the many other necessary services for which cities and counties are currently being forced to pick up the tab, our local officials wouldn’t have to set a high “tax burden.”

Hell, if the state only invested more in education our taxes would significantly decrease.

So, don’t just complain to your locally elected officials about your taxes — bitch out your legislators (who, by the way, forced the appraisal districts to add that little blurb) for not effectively serving their constituents.