Upon news that the city of San Marcos could soon be officially designated as “the mermaid capital of Texas,” the Texas Public Policy Foundation submitted the following Public Information Act request: “Please provide a list of mermaid-related expenses in fiscal year 2020. City expenditures may include (but are not limited to): marketing, advertising, public art,...
Yesterday, the Foundation released a new poll of 800+ registered voters, conducted by WPA Intelligence between Feb. 2 – 4, 2021, that asked Texans whether local governments should spend tax money to hire lobbyists. The poll’s findings mirror results from a similar survey conducted in 2019. Here’s the major takeaway: Texans overwhelmingly oppose allowing tax...
Think that a pronounced economic crisis has ushered in more cost-efficient local government? Think again! New data from the Bond Review Board shows that in 2020, total local debt rose to $375.7 billion, an increase of more than $10 billion over the previous fiscal year. Source: obtained from Public Information Act request and Bond Review...
Almost 60 state and local elected officials agree: Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for lobbyists who advocate for higher taxes, more spending, and bigger government. As a concrete show of support, these officials have put their names to a new pledge to ban lobbying funded by taxpayers. The pledge to end this practice—which allows...
Public schools are handing bags of cash to superintendents as they walk out the door. And the bags keep getting bigger. The latest example of excessive superintendent severance pay comes courtesy of Lancaster ISD, a small school district in Dallas County with only about 7,500 students. Two weeks after finalizing a five-year, $1.6-million contract, the...
The Texas elections are over and one thing is clear: Voters want small government. Despite a flood of outside money pushing liberal causes and candidates, Texans rejected the siren call of socialism and sent many of its most ardent supporters packing. The electorate left no doubt that the Lone Star State remains red and its...
Just when you thought school spending couldn’t get any worse, this happens. Two weeks after signing a five-year, $1.6 million contract, Lancaster ISD’s superintendent was let go for unknown reasons—but not before being sent away with a severance package worth more than $2 million. The buyout is so massive that it threatens to “virtually clear...
The media got it wrong. Again. For months, we were told that Texas was turning blue. One outlet confidently assured us that: “the state is just as competitive as more traditional battleground states (and more competitive than some!)” Another commentator declared: “For the first time in 18 years, Democrats are seriously challenging Republicans’ political monopoly...
Today, the Houston City Council will consider adopting a property tax rate of $0.561840 per $100 of taxable value, which is very small decrease from the prior year but will still cause bills to grow given the appraisal increase. If adopted, the tax rate is expected to increase city taxes on the average homestead by...
Answer: El Paso. By far. Newly published documents reveal that Sun City imposes a much higher property tax rate than its peers. For fiscal year 2021, the El Paso City Council set its total tax rate at 90.7301 cents per $100 of taxable value. The next highest tax rate was set by Dallas at 77.65...
If you live in Austin, then you probably have a sense that property taxes are high. But do you know exactly how high? If not, the Travis County budget office has you covered. According to the county’s new Budget-in-Brief, the average Travis County homeowner’s tax bill will reach almost $9,000 this year. That’s roughly $500...
Some local officials get huge paychecks. Others walk away with supersized severance packages. Still others are handed pricey perks. Case in point: Bexar County. Included in one of the county’s budget documents is a compensation chart for top officials. The chart includes a column specifying the car allowance given to each official. Some, like the...