Answer: Yes! A quick look at the data shows that there’s plenty of reason to support a third-party efficiency audit of the city of Austin’s finances. For fiscal 2018, the city’s budget totals almost $4 billion, which ranks on the high side compared to its peers. Of the big cities in Texas, only the city...
Property rights are paramount. That’s one of the key takeaways from a new Texas Supreme Court decision involving short-term rentals (STRs). In Tarr vs. Timberwood Park Owners Association Inc., the high court ruled in favor of Kenneth Tarr, a San Antonio-area homeowner-turned-STR-owner whose plan to earn a little extra money landed him in hot water...
Multifamily developers are seeing their costs increase as a result of government regulation. According to a new study from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), federal, state, and local regulations account for 32.1 percent of the cost of a multifamily development The study highlights the fact that...
Many Austinites are struggling with affordability right now, but there’s at least one person who’s not—the Austin city manager. In addition to his $325,000 base salary, $7,200 annual executive allowance, and other health and retirement benefits, the city manager is also the beneficiary of a very generous $4,500 per month housing allowance. If you’re curious...
Is the City of Austin prepared to use a boatload of taxpayer money to turn the old Seaholm facility into a multifunctional meeting space for concerts, food trucks, docking, and other activities? It certainly appears so. The Austin American-Statesman recently reported that the Austin Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that regularly receives grants through the City’s...
The City of Fort Worth had its bond rating recently downgraded by S&P Global Ratings who cited “the city’s rising pension liabilities and pension contributions below actuarially determined levels.” More specifically, S&P expressed concern over the Ft. Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund’s 42.4 percent funded ratio and its $3.1 billion unfunded liability. S&P’s recent action comes...
Question: How fast can things go from good to bad for a Texas pension plan? Answer: Fairly quickly. Less than 20 years ago, the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System (COAERS) was actually overfunded, according to a new TPPF report Evaluating Solutions for Austin’s Billion Dollar Pension Crisis. Today, the fund is nowhere near as...
When speaking about the different ways to spend money, famed free-market economist Milton Friedman had this to say: “There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the...
Texans are generally eager for traffic congestion solutions. But a recent legal opinion on toll roads has left some feeling unenthused. At issue is whether the Texas Transportation Commission can use money that voters dedicated to the State Highway Fund for projects that have both tolled and nontolled elements. The act of comingling voter-approved funds...
From soup to nuts, Austin’s controversial new paid sick leave ordinance is bad public policy. To start, the citywide mandate — which requires all employers to provide their employees with paid sick time — was rammed through at lightning speed. In fact, it wasn’t until a few months ago, on Jan. 19, that a first...
Paying more for housing? Blame City Hall. In spite of paying regular lip service to affordability, city officials continue to push big government policies that make it more expensive to live in Austin. In fact, officials are exploring a new one now. Earlier this month, Austin’s Code Department began seeking public input on a...
A new article lays bare the increasing irrationality of ISD administrator compensation. According to the Texas Monitor, over the last 15 months, ISDs around the state have approved severance packages to 24 superintendents worth an estimated $6 million or an average of $250,000 per official. Troublingly, many of these arrangements appear to have been much...