Because school facilities taxes are part of many taxpayers’ total school property tax bill, the way that facilities are funded should be a fundamental part of comprehensive school finance reform. The growing investment of state tax dollars to help local school districts pay off facilities debt lends particular urgency to the need for state policymakers to establish standards, accountability, and controls for the debt that local school districts elect to incur and pass along to every taxpayer in the state.
Bigger in Texas: Sizing Up the State’s Finances
Every even-numbered year, the state’s Legislative Budget Board (LBB) publishes a helpful, user-friendly summation of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), otherwise known as the state’s two-year budget. On Wednesday, the LBB published the next iteration—its 2024-25 Fiscal Size-Up. From a 30,000 ft. level, this new report provides “a comprehensive review of how tax dollars were...