For years, city halls around the state spent like drunken sailors, acting as if Texas’ economic expansion was without end. And then the crisis came. Now cities are weathering a deluge of bad budget news, with some expecting the worst. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said recently, “We work on the budget year round, and we anticipate even...
Both of these things can be (and are) true: Paid sick leave is a wonderful employee benefit, particularly during a pandemic, when we’re all worried about our family’s health. And government has no business mandating paid sick leave policies. A new Austin American-Statesman editorial calls on the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott to...
Sky-high property taxes are perpetuating an affordability crisis, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pointed out. Abbott told the Rotary Club of San Antonio, “One thing that is driving up the cost of housing and the cost of living is skyrocketing property taxes—skyrocketing property taxes that are beginning to force people out of homes they’ve lived...
Local governments are addicted to debt. Over the past decade, cities, counties, school districts, and special districts have been on a borrowing binge—and last year was no exception. New data shows that local government debt grew to more than $365 billion in fiscal year 2019, an increase of almost $11 billion over the previous year....
Answer: $86,109,622,354. That’s right, pension debt owed by Texas’ state and local retirement systems grew to more than $86.1 billion in February 2020, according the Pension Review Board’s latest actuarial valuation report. That’s a marked increase from the previous report (in October 2019) when unfunded liabilities totaled $3.4 billion less, at $82.7 billion owed. Source:...
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas has a big problem on its hands. A few weeks ago, it was discovered that TRS — the state agency responsible for overseeing teacher pensions — had signed a multi-year lease for luxurious office space in downtown Austin costing more than $326,000 per month. That handsome sum secured 100,000...
How Big is Texas’ Pension Debt? Answer: $86,109,622,354. That’s right, pension debt owed by Texas’ state and local retirement systems grew to more than $86.1 billion in February 2020, according to the Pension Review Board’s latest actuarial valuation report. That’s a marked increase from the previous report (in October 2019) when unfunded liabilities totaled $3.4...
Austin home prices are soaring. According to new figures released by the Austin Board of Realtors, the median price for a home inside the city limits rose to an eye-popping $384,750 in January 2020. That’s a year-over-year increase of 13 percent, signaling an incredibly hot market. Source: Austin Board of Realtors But that’s not the...
Leave it to Austin’s single-minded central planners to pitch a transportation plan that is both rooted in the past and a burden on future generations. While the newly unveiled proposal is still in its infancy, it aims to bring 18th-century technology back with a vengeance by adding and expanding fixed rail systems. That could include...
Public education advocates regularly criticize the Legislature for what they perceive as limited resources, tight budgets, and low salaries within the education system. But that narrative often doesn’t quite align with the facts. Case in point: sky-high superintendent pay. As the Foundation has noted in the past, superintendents in Texas frequently bring home six-figure salaries...
New open government legislation went into effect recently, letting the public finally get answers to some long-lingering questions, like how much did the city of McAllen pay entertainer Enrique Iglesias for a 2015 concert? According to the Texas Tribune, Iglesias was paid $485,000 for his performance and “provided with a chartered flight from Guadalajara, Mexico;...
With a nod to “Auld Lang Syne,” there’s plenty about 2019 that shouldn’t be forgot. There were successes, slight improvements, and setbacks—which hopefully will be remedied in 2021 when the legislature meets again. The big win for Austinites came when an appeals court struck down the city of Austin’s attempted ban on short-term rentals. All...