Cause and effect

Austin, Texas, is the home of the University of Texas, one of the largest institutions of higher learning in the world. It's also the home of this individual:

“I’m at the breaking point,” said Gretchen Gardner, an Austin artist who bought a 1930s bungalow in the Bouldin neighborhood just south of downtown in 1991 and has watched her property tax bill soar to $8,500 this year.

“It’s not because I don’t like paying taxes,” said Gardner, who attended both meetings. “I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can’t afford to live here anymore. I’ll protest my appraisal notice, but that’s not enough. Someone needs to step in and address the big picture.”

The big picture is that Ms. Gardner would like someone else to pay for all these amenities. The problem is that Texas doesn't have a state income tax, so there's no easy way to make someone in Galveston or Lubbock pay for Ms. Gardner's light rail line. Of course, we don't have such problems here, where we all get to pay for the light rail line. I'm sure we have some 1930s bungalows available here, too.