(You can find your local Texas State Representative and Texas State Senator at wrm.capitol.texas.gov. If you visit your legislators’ home pages, you should find links there to email them.)
Dear Senator/Representative:
Thank you for your service to our community and the people of Texas. I am writing to ask that you please take action to address the staggering growth of Robin Hood recapture, which drains dollars from the local public schools that are working to educate our students.
Recapture removes $3 billion per year from local communities and, unless you act, this number will continue to grow. While it began as a way to equalize funding levels among school districts, recapture is now a major revenue source for the state. Legislators should not be relying so heavily on recapture dollars to balance the budget.
Recapture has now become a major source of revenue for the state. In fact, the state collects more in recapture funding per biennium than it collects in proceeds from the Texas Lottery.
Money that is collected through recapture should fund education — not other programs. Further, tax bills should clearly state how much of our payment in property taxes will be taken away through recapture. Taxpayers deserve this level of transparency.
Please take action to see that more local dollars are kept in local schools, which will help students and teachers across Texas. Thank you again for your service and your attention to this important issue.