Empower Texans has published a guest column by NLF principal attorney Jerad Najvar, pointing up the importance of a petition for review NLF has filed on behalf of Maverick County taxpayer Ethelvina Felan, including the following excerpts:
 

Before adopting a tax rate in a given year, taxing entities (like counties and cities) must use a statutory formula to calculate the “rollback rate,” which is basically the tax rate that would allow the entity to maintain its current level of operations plus eight percent.  If the government adopts a tax rate “that exceeds the rollback tax rate calculated as provided by [Tax Code chapter 26],” then voters can petition for a rollback election under section 26.07.  But what happens when a government unit (perhaps fearing a rollback petition) “inadvertently” miscalculates the rollback rate, and then taxes citizens at a falsely-inflated maximum rate, while at the same time denying them the right to petition for a rollback?

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If the state’s Supreme Court does not take this case and correct the error, Texas taxpayers are at the mercy of clever government officials flubbing calculations, so long as they do not openly admit to doing it on purpose.

The Supreme Court has until Monday, July 30, to take some action on the case (grant review, hold it for further review, request a response, etc.), or the lower court's decision will become final. We will keep you posted with any developments.


Jerad Najvar specializes in litigation and appeals in election and constitutional matters, and is founder of Najvar Law Firm, PLLC in Houston.  He secured a new election after prevailing in an election contest in Hidalgo County in 2014, and is currently litigating a challenge to the City of Houston’s billion-dollar pension obligation bond election held in November 2017.
 

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