With property taxes due Monday, there’s no time like the present to think about tax reform. As the Tax Foundation points out, Texas has the 14th highest property tax burden.

“Texas’ harsh property tax climate is creating serious financial hardship for homeowners and businesses all across this great State,” said James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “And without reasonable limits on how fast property taxes can grow, the problem only gets worse by the day. Local property tax bills continue to soar past sound economics. From 2000 to 2013, research shows that local property taxes rose by 101 percent, yet population and inflation grew just 70 percent.”

There are some solid arguments for abolishing the property tax and replacing it with a modified consumption (sales) tax.

First, the property tax undermines fundamental property rights. The power to tax is the power to take. It’s common for taxing entities to seize property for unpaid taxes, then sell that property. Government shouldn’t have that power.

“Property taxes do not allow flexibility in the face of financial hardship,” the TPPF pointed out. “Individuals are required to pay tax based on a prior purchase and the existence of an illiquid fixed asset, regardless of their current income or cash holdings. Property taxes are based on the value of land, which can fluctuate independent of a person’s actions. A spike in property value can quickly outstrip the owner’s ability to pay, pricing family out of land even if they’ve owned it for generations.”

Next, the property tax system lacks transparency.

“More than 4,000 localities levy property taxes, obscuring from taxpayers exactly who is responsible for raising them, how that money is spent, and whether any increase was necessary,” the TPPF contended. “Homeowners are obliged to invest a substantial amount of resources should they wish to understand who has a claim on their money. Local taxing units therefore do not often confront strong political pressure to exercise discretion when weighing tax increases. The result is a gradual but unceasing rise in property taxes.”

Finally, property taxes are a cumbersome, wasteful way to pay for government services.

“The property tax is an unfair and inefficient way to fund government,” said economist Dr. Art Laffer. “Texas would gain hundreds of thousands of new jobs and tens of billions of dollars in personal income just by abolishing the property tax and replacing it with a revised sales tax.”

What kind of sales tax hike would be necessary to replace property taxes? Quintero said a sales tax rate of 11 percent (compared to today’s rate of about 8.25 percent), if current exemptions – such as food and many medicines – are lifted. But keeping current exemptions, the rate would need to be closer to 16 percent.

We should note that the federal judge who ruled Texas’ school finance system unconstitutional specifically ruled against the property tax system, because of the disparities between property-rich and property-poor districts.

Abolition of the property tax system isn’t going to happen quickly.

But it’s time to start discussing it.