Most Austinites, and certainly a majority of Texans, probably would agree that city government ought to be focused on fixing potholes and providing for public safety, not coming up with schemes to 'alter the behavior' of residents.
Some concerning new figures have just been released by the Pension Review Board (PRB) that shine a poor light on Texas’ state and local retirement systems.
City governments shouldn’t be able to trample on Texans’ private property rights through forced annexation.
On a broader level, this type of thinking from the city of Austin is emblematic of a much larger problem in Texas: liberty is frequently under threat, especially at the local level.
Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas city councilmembers had voted overwhelmingly to repeal its controversial 5-cent fee on single-use plastic bags. The reason? According to the DMN: “Keeping the nickel fee wasn’t much of an option after the city attorney advised that it probably wouldn’t stand up in court.” [emphasis mine]
The Dallas Morning News’ recent article, Texas legislators mostly kept hands off local control, offers an interesting but incomplete assessment of the 84th Regular Session’s fight to rein in local overreach.
In a speech given earlier this year to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Governor Greg Abbott warned that: “Texas is being California-ized and you may not even be noticing it.”
But the magnitude of Texas’ property tax problem has become so immense that not even these influential groups seem to be able to stop what’s coming.
Whatever the outcome of the lawsuit, we should all agree that local governments ought to observe and abide by state law.
Almost any way you cut it, it’s become clear that long-term structural reform is needed to protect Texans moving forward. Long-lasting changes, similar to what’s been proposed by the Texas Senate, are of the utmost importance.
According to the latest Bond Review Board data, total school district debt, including principal and interest, grew to more than $112.2 billion in fiscal year 2014—more than any other type of local government. Compared to the whole, school district debt accounts for about one-third of the total.
In August 2014, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott issued an advisory opinion finding that municipal ordinances restricting or prohibiting single-use plastic bags were likely in violation of existing state law. Ignoring the AG’s advice, the City of Dallas began implementing its 5-cent per plastic bag fee anyway in January 2015—and now the city could be in legal hot water.