La Joya ISD Superintendent Gisela Saenz resigned her position in the spring, after she supported a plan that would close two elementary schools and lay off 120 employees—this after LJISD used more than $20 million in public funds to buy an entire water park, including tube slides and a lazy river. The troubled school district—which...
“We knew it was coming,” Francisco Nuñez says. Housing is in such high demand in Austin right now that Nunez wonders if he can afford to stay in the city. In 2020, Austin gained an average of 180 new residents a day, causing a shortage of homes and driving up home prices dramatically. This demand,...
In Texas politics, lies travel like one-day express mail from Austin to the rest of the state, while truth often lumbers behind on the back of a slow horse. You’ve probably read the news about the horrors House Bill 2127 soon could inflict upon the Lone Star State: “water breaks banned,” “hairstyle discrimination,” which have...
It’s that time again when city officials all across the Lone Star State begin to consider where to set next year’s tax rate (the fiscal year for most political subdivisions begins Oct. 1 of every calendar year). The tax rate adoption process is one area in which city officials have tremendous discretion—which means that if...
“It belongs in a museum” could easily be used to describe progressives’ application of fiscal responsibility to big city budgeting. Of course, they all claim to believe in it. Even President Joe Biden said, “The (budget’s) first value is fiscal responsibility.” In practice, however, fiscal responsibility is the Bud Light of city government budgets: seemingly...
San Antonio City Councilmember Marc Whyte wrote an article last month in defense of the state’s major preemption legislation (House Bill 2127) and, while reading it, I was reminded of the words of a famous Texan, David Crockett, who said: “Be sure you are right, then go ahead.” Risking fierce criticism, Councilman Whyte explained the...
Sky-high public sector salaries have become a sore spot for many Texans, especially considering how much tax bills have grown in a relatively short period. But you may be wondering—exactly how much are these elite few making? In a previous post, we looked at the highest paid superintendents in Texas (with the top administrator raking...
Over the last few legislative sessions, policymakers have entertained a variety of proposals to place reasonable limitations on public sector administrator salaries. Such proposals—i.e., HB 1476 (88R), HB 1740 (86R), HB 4627 (86R), and SB 721 (86R)—have been driven, in large part, by growing public outrage over supersized superintendent salaries. While lawmakers have yet to...
The city of Dallas recently asked the public to attend a budget workshop to discuss its finances—and apparently, not that many people showed up. Now, I’m sure Dallas taxpayers had many good reasons why they couldn’t make this particular meeting, i.e. work, school, taking care of family, etc. But the public might want to make...
Public trust in media is embarrassingly low. And after reading the latest editorial board opinion piece from the Dallas Morning News, it’s no surprise why. On Tuesday, DMN’s editorial board published an editorial titled “Gov. Greg Abbott’s terrible property tax idea,” which tries to take aim at Gov. Abbott’s push to “put Texans on the...
As Texans continue to get crushed under the ever-increasing burden of property taxes, Governor Abbott has promised them the “biggest tax cut in Texas history” and the Legislature appears poised to deliver—eventually. During the closing days of the Regular session, legislators appropriated a massive $17.6 billion in tax relief for homeowners, renters, and businesses. But they hit...
On Thursday, the Texas House and the Texas Senate released the conference committee report for House Bill 1, which represents the state’s nearly complete budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The measure now goes back to both chambers for approval. It will take some time to fully grasp the 1,000+ page document, but a...