Of late, several Texas cities and counties have established guaranteed income programs (GIPs), which employ redistributive means to provide regular cash payments to select members of a community,
with no strings attached and no work requirement. These publicly-administered programs tend to be “organized around the principles of collectivism, social justice, and government control” (Quintero & Kirwin, 2024, p. 2). Despite certain constitutional and statutory limitations, numerous Texas cities and counties have attempted to establish these types of programs, including the cities of Austin and San Antonio, as well as El Paso and Harris counties.
Taxes & Spending
These 12 Small & Mid-Sized Cities and Counties are Threatening Huge Tax Hikes
Many small and mid-sized cities and counties are right now considering tax rates that, if ultimately adopted, will result in homeowners paying higher taxes. In some cases, those threatened tax hikes are dramatic. To better understand which Texas taxpayers are in the danger zone, I recently surveyed numerous Notices of Public Hearing on Tax Increase,...
September 14, 2026