Progressive and regressive taxes impact the funding of programs in our society, including education. The differences between the two give rise to a highly controversial view of how school districts plan their budgets. Property taxes, earned income and personal income taxes, sales tax and lottery revenue are factors that explain these differences. Progressive taxes increase as the taxable base amounts increase. Progressive taxes affect income and spending. U.S. federal income is an example of a progressive tax because the higher a person's income, the higher the tax bracket rate. It affects the rich. The higher their income, the more taxes they have to pay (Wikipedia). Regressive taxes are the opposite of progressive taxes; regressive taxes that levy a higher percentage on low-income people than on high-income people. A regressive tax is generally a tax applied uniformly. This means it hits low-income people the hardest. Some examples include the gas tax and the cigarette tax. For example, if a person has $10 of their income and has to pay $1 in tax on a pack of cigarettes, that represents 10% of their income. However, if the person has $20 of income, this $1 tax only represents 5% of their income (Investopedia). People have to pay many types of taxes, some of which are progressive and some of which are regressive, such as property or real estate taxes. The property tax is based on the value of the property and is a regressive tax (Combs, 2010). Most of the revenue from this tax is used for education in the state of Texas and is collected annually. Residential and commercial properties are taxed. Second, there is sales tax. In Texas, the state charges a 6.25 sales tax, in Fort Bend, in southeast Texas, the property tax is $1.30 per taxable asset value. This revenue represents 52% of the district budget (Fort Bend ISD, 2010). Even a small loss in property tax revenue would hurt the district's budget and result in the loss of many teaching jobs. Works Cited Fort Bend ISD Financial Budget. (March 17, 2010). Retrieved from http://www.fortbendisd.com/finance/documents/2010_11%20Budget.pdfGarner, C.W. (2004). Education finance for school leaders: strategic planning and administration. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Kokernak, Louis. (2010). The growth of regressive taxes. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Growth-of-Regressive-Taxes&id=3811425Texas Lottery Supporting Education. (March 17, 2010). Retrieved from http://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/default/Supporting_Education/