Austin is in the throes of an “affordability crisis” that is being driven in large part by poor public policies, according to a recent op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman. In 2016, nearly 58,000 moved to the Austin area, marking a significant increase in population. But, as the author notes, city policies made it hard for...
Late last month, Houston-area taxpayers scored a big win. In what is being hailed as “perhaps the first time in state history that a Texas government entity has been forced to shutter by its own citizens”, the Montrose Management District voted to dissolve itself, according to the Texas Monitor. This was a hard fought win for...
A brand-new investigative report is raising serious questions about public employee misconduct, prompting some to ask: What does it take to get fired in the City of Houston? Source: KHOU-TV The new KHOU investigation details many examples of taxpayer abuse and unethical behavior. For example, one city employee was discovered to have filled an entire...
Excessive government intervention continues to brew trouble for the Texan beer business. The Foundation’s Carine Martinez-Gouhier’s recent Austin-American Statesman’s op-ed points out how recent legislation has tightened restrictions on brewer’s direct-to-consumer sales, reinforcing a longstanding posture favoring distributors. Since Prohibition, laws have kept the three tiers of the alcohol business strictly separated. Of the three...
Yesterday, the Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform released a shocking new chart showing property tax levy growth over the last ten years. It helps explain why Texans have become so fed up with property taxes. Source: Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform, Houston Hearing The largest growth, as shown in this...
Business and labor are two sides of the same coin. Hurt one and the other does not go about unharmed. The Austin city council ignores this truth with their newly proposed ordinance mandating paid sick leave. The proposed plan would force “any person, company, corporation, firm, partnership, labor organization, non-profit organization or association” in Austin...
A stunning new audit of Austin’s Matched Savings Account (MSA) program reveals the city irresponsibly managed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the point of “basically giv[ing] away free money.” MSA’s stated purpose is to financially empower low-income citizens by amplifying their savings accounts, specifically to buy a house, start or grow a small business,...
Property taxes continue to skyrocket, at great expense to taxpayers and at great gain to Texas’ local governments. Despite repeated attempts to stifle a growing tax burden, the local property tax “remains the largest tax assessed in Texas” representing nearly half of all Texan tax revenue (47.92% in 2015). Not only is the property tax...