A year ago, Texas governments were making it up as we went along. Officials responded to COVID-19 by upending our lives, shutting down the economy, and closing schools. Parents became teachers and grocery store stockers became vital front-line troops. Governments further closed bars, mandated masks, and enforced stringent measures that chipped away at our fundamental...
Most people know that the city of Houston will spend almost $1 million on contract lobbyists this year. But some may be surprised to learn that it also employs in-house lobbyists. And these Bayou City boosters excel at pushing for higher taxes, more spending, and less government accountability. The city’s in-house lobby team, otherwise known...
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is taking its message on local government lobbying to every corner in the Lone Star State. Earlier this week, the Foundation launched an aggressive statewide radio campaign educating Texans on the insidious practice of spending taxpayer money to lobby for more taxpayer money. The campaign comes on the heels of...
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has just published a new report detailing the extent of property tax growth over the last few years. The data is revealing. According to the 2018-19 Biennial Property Tax Report, almost 4,300 local taxing units levied $67.3 billion in property taxes on homeowners and businesses in 2019. That’s a...
School district property taxes are massive. In 2019, Texas’ local governments walloped homeowners and businesses with property taxes totaling $67.3 billion, according to a new Texas Comptroller report. Of the total tax levy, school districts, by far, imposed the greatest burden at $36.2 billion or 54% of the whole. By comparison, property taxes levied by...
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...