Tax-swap plan: Good deal or a wash?

DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News: "Paul Mayo says new taxes are like 'the old camel nose under the tent.'

'You can't let a camel get his nose under the tent because ... you're going to be sleeping with a camel,' the Pantego resident says.

And so, when assessing the proposed tax trade – lower property taxes for higher consumption taxes – being negotiated by state lawmakers, regular Texans are faced with one camel they know and one they don't.

For some area residents, the tax swap is a no-brainer. Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and her husband, lawyer Steve Wolens, could net a nifty $16,000 in savings with a one-third cut to the school taxes on their $4.3 million home. For Mark Cuban's $15 million mansion, the savings could be $66,000.

Conversely, those who own no property get only the short end of the swap.

Nonpartisan analyses of the trade indicate only the richest few percent of Texans would pay lower taxes under either the Senate or House plan. The poorest would roughly break even, while most Texans would pay slightly more."