Major property tax reform appears to be on the horizon. In response to growing public angst over soaring property tax bills, leaders in the Texas House are proposing House Bill 15, the Property Taxpayer Empowerment Act. Among other things, the bill would lower the rollback tax rate from 8 percent to 4 percent and require...
Dr. Vance Ginn's testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in support of simplifying Texas' business franchise tax and SB 142.
A new poll is spotlighting the fact that property taxes in Texas are out of control, and Texans consider lower property taxes a top Legislative priority. The UT/Texas Tribune poll, conducted Feb. 3-10, 217, asked Texans to identify the Legislature’s top priority and found that lowering property taxes was the overall top choice, getting 20...
For the fourth time in a row California’s cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas emissions fell flat, raising only $8.2 million out of a hoped for $600 million, leaving revenues $1.9 billion short over the past 12 months.
Bryan Mathew, Center for Local Governance, testified before the House Committee on Special Purpose Districts.
Should Houstonians be given a chance to vote on the issuance of $1 billion of pension obligation bonds (POBs) as part of the city’s overall reform package? Absolutely. With the possible exception of certificates of obligation issued for emergency purposes, local government debt should almost always be accompanied by a public vote. After all, it’s...
Dr. Vance Ginn, Economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy, testified before the Senate Finance Committee in support of SB 17.
Dr. Vance Ginn's testimony before the House Public Education Committee on School Finance on February 28, 2017.
The Conservative Texas Budget (CTB) Coalition has defined a conservative budget to be one where biennial appropriations (General Appropriations Act and supplemental appropriations, when available) of state funds (excludes federal funds) and all funds—the footprint of government—increase by no more than population growth plus inflation. The 2018-19 CTB limits are $147.5 billion in state funds...
In Northern Arizona, the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and a coal mine team to produce reliable, affordable electricity while providing 755 good-paying jobs, about 90 percent of whom are Native Americans. A federal report now threatens these jobs.
The solution to administrative bloat in public universities is less a challenge to the intellect than to the political will and courage of university trustees, chancellors, presidents, and state legislators.
Defined benefit retirement systems in Houston and Dallas are collapsing under their own weight, putting retirees and taxpayers in harm’s way. And while pension reform proposals are right now taking shape (see here and here), there’s a big problem with the outlines of both plans: they leave these systems locked in state law. As I’ve...